Mount St. Helens

Remembering an eruption

Do you remember May 18, 1980? The stories below were submitted by members of our community; if you have stories or photographs about Mount St. Helens before, during, or after the eruption, we'd love to have them.

share your story of May 18, 1980

Stoned in the woods in Eastern Washington, volcanic ash clouds, fallout blew their minds

"When we turned on the radio, the first thing we heard was: 'We're all in this together.' We were terrified. WHAT had happened?!?"

Sharp-eyed girl spots eruption

"I remember watching the cloud of ash continue to grow larger and larger until it overtook the sky. It was an amazing sight and one that I will never forget."

Sightseers found a way around the roadblocks - for a while

" I can remember hearing a low rumbling sound. And though some snow was on the ground, I could feel that the ground was (ahem) warm. So, we decided to go back."

How would you wrap it?

"What an anniversary present -- an erupting volcano."

Grandparents' camera captured eruption

"I doubt these have actually been seen by many people, as I found them stuffed at the bottom of a photo box."

A birthday to remember

The May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens put an exclamation point on her 21st birthday celebration.

Caught in a volcano-watcher traffic jam

"If the wind would have changed directions, there would have been an extreme panic and we, along with everyone else on that highway, would have been added to the deadly statistics."

Six-year-old awed but not scared

Childhood memories include an interrupted church service, a bucket of ash and a fascination with Harry S. Truman.

"What are they looking at?"

Motorcycle trip with his kids took a turn when they realized all those people were watching the eruption of Mount St. Helens.

One last night at cabin proved fatal

Real estate agent's client slipped past roadblocks to spend the night of May 17, 1980, with his girlfriend at a cabin on Spirit Lake. They were killed the next morning.

Helping prevent Spirit Lake flooding

His company provided pumps that protected area until a diversion tunnel could be completed.

An outdoorsman's paradise despoiled

"As we watched the ash plume rise into the air, we knew that all we would have left were our memories."

Geology field trip cut short by eruption

"It was decided to cut our trip short and race back to Portland to save our homes. My thought was: How stupid. If that was the case, it was already too late and there wasn't a damn thing you could do about saving your home."