Mount St. Helens Institute

(Runtime 4:14) In the shadow of Mount St. Helens’ summit, 20 girls spent a week studying pumice, ash and lava at a GeoGirls camp. The famous Washington…

In the days leading up to the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption 40 years ago, Cowlitz County sheriff’s deputies tried to prevent people from getting too close to the growling, shaking mountain.

The photos of Mount St. Helens’ eruption taken on May 18, 1980, suggest a cataclysm that remains in the past, safely ensconced in history and available for warm recollection of when the world exploded and we survived. But that’s wrong.

There were once big plans for many public events to mark the 40th anniversary of the catastrophic 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The coronavirus pandemic blew up those plans, but many are resurfacing online this week and next.

Eighteen volcanoes are classified as “very high threat” in the United States; eight of them are located in the Pacific Northwest. And right now only Mount St. Helens is considered well-monitored. The National Volcanic Early Warning and Monitoring Systems Act, passed in February, sets out to change that.

A glitch this week was the second technological setback for Mount St. Helens permit buyers in recent weeks. On February 1, heavy use crashed the website after just 20 minutes. Monday’s reopening was supposed to showcase a successful new platform built to accommodate higher traffic.