Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. The volcano, located in southwestern Washington, used to be a beautiful symmetrical cone about 9,600 feet (3,000 meters) above sea level.

At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. In a few moments this slab of rock and ice slammed into Spirit Lake, crossed a ridge 1,300 feet high, and roared 14 miles down the Toutle River.
The avalanche rapidly released pressurized gases within the volcano. A tremendous lateral explosion ripped through the avalanche and developed into a turbulent, stone-filled wind that swept over ridges and toppled trees. Nearly 150 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing.
At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond. Wet, cement-like slurries of rock and mud scoured all sides of the volcano. Searing flows of pumice poured from the crater. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments.
A vast, gray landscape lay where once the forested slopes of Mount St. Helens grew. In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.
Credit: USDA/USFS
- The ash from the Mount St. Helens eruption blanket the region. (Photo Archive / The Spokesman-Review)
- Harry R Truman Mt St Helens Lodge Photo Credit: The Oregonian
- Harry R Truman Mt St Helens Lodge
- Harry Truman Mt St Helens Lodge Photo Credit: The Columbian https://www.columbian.com/news/2010/apr/01/the-old-man-and-the-mountain/
- Harry R. Truman Sitting on the front porch of Mt St Helens Lodge.
- Harry R Truman Mt St Helens Lodge
- Harry R Truman Owner of the Mt St Helens Lodge
- Harry R Truman Owner of Mt St Helens Lodge Photo Credit: George Barker Photo year:
- The Coal Banks bridge over the Toutle River is swept away by mud and logs on May 18, 1980 because of the Mount St. Helens eruption. Roger Werth, The Daily News Todays info: If traveling east on SR 504, this would be the bridge across the Toutle River leaving the town of Toutle, headed towards Mt St Helens.
- Log jam on Cowlitz River as a result of Mt St Helens eruption Photo credit: Cheryl Haselhorst; May 18, 1980
- Log jam on the Cowlitz River as a result of Mt St Helens eruption.
- Going outside after the eruption of Mount St. Helens meant donning some type of mask to filter out the swirling clouds of ash during the months after the May 18, 1980 event. (Photo Archive / The Spokesman-Review)
- Two ladies in Odessa, Wash., stand ready with masks and broom to save their gardens and homes – or at least try battling the ash. With its fine texture and easy transport by wind, the ash moved from one house and right into the next door neighbor’s. Many homes found that cleaning up was an exercise in frustration. By the time you finished the second room the first one was full again. (Photo Archive / The Spokesman-Review)
- Don Pease waits to take off in his experimental Boeing F-86 as the ash cloud from Mount St. Helens approaches Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane around 2:30 p.m., May 18. 1980. (The Spokesman-Review)
- Phil Harris went to Wenatchee for the weekend. On his way home he had to stay overnight in both Moses Lake and Ritzville and cleaned his air filter four times in order to make it home. Ash covered his motor home inside and out. (Photo Archive / The Spokesman-Review)
- A man waits for a bus in downtown Spokane on Sunday, May 18 at 3 p.m. as ash begins to fall from the eruption of Mount St. Helens. (J. Bart Rayniak)
- Washington State Patrol Trooper Jim LaMunyon set up a road block at Interstate 90 and Geiger Road in Spokane. An emergency was declared in Eastern Washington, and all State Highways were closed for several days after Mount Saint Helens erupted. (J. Bart Rayniak / The Spokesman-Review)
- Air Force police officers stand beside a line of evacuation vehicles from Fairchild Air Force Base about 3:15 p.m. on May 18, 1980. The base was having its annual Open House with about 60,000 people viewing aircraft and exhibits. With the explosion of Mount St. Helens and the lack of adequate radio or news reports to the extent of the ash cloud, most of the people were still enjoying the show when ash started falling around Spokane. Getting 60,000 people out of the air base turned into one hectice chore, compounded by the total darkness. (J. Bart Rayniak / The Spokesman-Review)
- J. BART RAYNIAK/PHOTO ARCHIVE The Spokesman-Review (Photo Archive / The Spokesman-Review)
- Harry Truman & William O. Douglas In front of Mt St Helens Lodge Photo Credit: Devianart
- Keith Domina takes a break from cleaning up ash from the eruption of Mount St. Helens in this May 19, 1980, file photo in Ritzville, Wash., one of the hardest hit towns in the aftermath of the eruption. (Jim Shelton / The Spokesman-Review)
- Ash from the Mount St. Helens eruption covered fields and streets in Eastern Washington. (Photo Archive / The Spokesman-Review)