Mt. Fitzherbert

Potential ash hazards: Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that ash clouds that rise above the crater rim today would drift northward to northeastward.

Recent observations: Dacitic lava dome growth continues within the crater of Mount St. Helens. New images from revived remote cameras show that the dome has increased significantly both in height and breadth compared to earlier images from December. Yesterday at 4:42 p.m. PST a shallow M 2.7 earthquake triggered a rockfall from the new dome generating an ash plume that filled the crater before dissipating and drifting northward over the pumice plain. Unlike some larger earthquakes from the past month, there was no interruption of the smaller “drumbeat” earthquakes associated with dome extrusion. Field crews returning from repairing repeater sites observed the event. No fieldwork is planned for today as a storm system approaches the Northwest.