40 years ago Mount St. Helens exploded, where were you?

[skyking]

I was in Selah at the family home. It is about 100 miles East-Northeast of the mountain. My mom and I did not hear the explosion, nor were we listening to the news.
We drove up to the big farm about 4 miles away, and I noted that "that is a big ugly storm coming our way". We had water to change and we hurried back.
As we returned home, you could see the ash just beginning to appear. It was not visible in the air, but when you passed another car you could see faint swirls behind the other car, just like very light snow does.
Now the cloud was overhead and we heard the news. 
The sky darkened and the sun was an angry red eye to the east, then a glow, and by 11 AM it was dusky dark. it was as if night fell again.
Mom and I stayed inside as the sandy grains fell. I went out on the patio and you could hear it on the metal roof. It was both dusty and sandy at once. 
The little sparrows had gathered in the patio under the roof.
They were completely bewildered and I could just scoop one up in my hand
About 4:30 the sun started to glow through the cloud again. It appeared as that angry red orb for maybe an hour before setting again.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Cartagena, Columbia.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I was in Paso Robles, California.

I didn't hear it.

My sis was in a boarding school up in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. She came home a couple of weeks later with a small plastic bag of ashes.

[brewerb]

Grad school, eastern Nebraska.

We may have had red skies, I don't remember.

[skyking]

It dropped around 3/4" at Yakima. The deepest ash downwind was in the Moses Lake area.
We had a 1974 Cornbinder 1600 ( International ) 2.5 ton 16' flatbed dump, and I spent the next 3 weeks hauling ash
The city would gather it up with equipment in piles and then we had a motley fleet of what ever would run, hauling it out to places that would eventually become pastures and parks.
The next few weeks it got hot. Hot, dusty, nasty. I had the most bizzare left sided sunburn on my arm and face.

[Dancefortwo]

Down in California. I was a kid.  We weren't affected at all but it sure was an amazing event.  That's a huge mountain, or was at the time.  It's still enormous even with 1/4 of the top blown off.  When we moved to Portland one of the first family trips we took with our kids was up to Mt. St. Helens to see the observatory there.  It's really an amazing place.  My husband climbed it about 4 or 5 years ago.  He said when he got to the top and CAREFULLY  looked over the rim down into the vast crater it literally took his breath away. 

 

People have climbed it and fallen over the edge.  You're a-gonner if that happens.

[brewerb]

People have climbed it and fallen over the edge.  You're a-gonner if that happens.

You're also a looney if you get close enough to let that happen!

(guess who's afraid of heights)

[Dancefortwo]

Some photos taken at the time.



Below is a view of it from Portland before the explosion.  It's 96 miles away (154 km) from Portland.



Same view point while it was happening.

[Dancefortwo]

That first photo I posted with the car and motercycle,  is that a Pinto?  And why is the motorcycle propped up on the bumper like that?   More importantly, why isn't the person not running to their car and speeding away?  Geesh.

[Deesse23]

At home celebrating my b-day with friends.

[brewerb]

Dirt bikes towed by a Pinto as just the best. Thanks DFT!

[Minimalist]

Long Island, New York....about as far from Washington as possible while still remaining in the US.

[Dānu]

Home in Minnesota. It didn't leave much of an impact on my life, so I don't remember anything more specific.

[Thumpalumpacus]

That first photo I posted with the car and motercycle,  is that a Pinto?  And why is the motorcycle propped up on the bumper like that?   

It is a Pinto. I think the motorcycle is up on some sort of tow rig -- it looks like there's a frame attached to the fender.

More importantly, why isn't the person not running to their car and speeding away?  Geesh.

Common sense ain't all that common.

[skyking]

I suspect he was in the process of turning around!

[Thumpalumpacus]

I suspect he was in the process of turning around!

Showing the ass-end of a Pinto to a pyroclastic cloud is almost as scary as the eruption itself.

[skyking]

Down in California. I was a kid.  We weren't affected at all but it sure was an amazing event.  That's a huge mountain, or was at the time.  It's still enormous even with 1/4 of the top blown off.  When we moved to Portland one of the first family trips we took with our kids was up to Mt. St. Helens to see the observatory there.  It's really an amazing place.  My husband climbed it about 4 or 5 years ago.  He said when he got to the top and CAREFULLY  looked over the rim down into the vast crater it literally took his breath away. 

 

People have climbed it and fallen over the edge.  You're a-gonner if that happens.

In the early years I flew the 310 over the rim from the south and did a push over down the path of the eruption @ 160 MPH---->220 MPH 
while somebody videotaped it out the front window. Never did get a copy of that. 
I flew many missions around it while showing NW visitors both St. Helens and Rainier.

[TheGentlemanBastard]

Though I lived in Salem, Or. at the time, I was in Bamberg Germany for my brother's wedding when St. Helens blew. Didn't know it had happened until we got back and realized we'd missed a once in a lifetime event. Still, I wouldn't have traded that month in Germany for it.

[mordant]

I was 23 at the time and remember it being all over the news but I was living in Michigan, so it was just an interesting / unusual event that was in the news for a few days but it wasn't until years later that I actually read up on it and understood the real scope.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Any bets Harry Truman wouldn't believe in the Covid-19 either?

[Chas]

That first photo I posted with the car and motercycle,  is that a Pinto?  And why is the motorcycle propped up on the bumper like that?   More importantly, why isn't the person not running to their car and speeding away?  Geesh.

I believe it is a '76 Pinto with a tow rig for the motorcycle.

[airportkid]

The Pinto Story

Not a Studebaker.

I was in a new job in Cupertino and don't have any recollection of the day it blew since it had been huffing and spouting for some period of time prior.

Historic occasions I vividly recall, in no particular order:

JFK assassination.  I was 9.  Of all events since, that once stays with me for some reason.

Challenger disaster.

!989 Loma Prieta Earthquake (this one is sort of cheating because I was in the middle of it and it took place on my 35th birthday.  Party plans were severely altered).

The Shuttle that disintegrated over Texas (Columbia? - see, I don't even remember the name, but I remember listening to the radio in the kitchen that morning).

The Moon landing in 1969.

9/11/2001.


I certainly recall other historic events, but not where I was and what I was doing at that moment.  And, in the fog of aging memory, often misremember which events happened before others.

[Chas]

The Pinto Story

Not a Studebaker.

That was my first impression, but I did a little more looking.

[Dancefortwo]

The Pinto Story

Not a Studebaker.

I was in a new job in Cupertino and don't have any recollection of the day it blew since it had been huffing and spouting for some period of time prior.

Historic occasions I vividly recall, in no particular order:

JFK assassination.  I was 9.  Of all events since, that once stays with me for some reason.

Challenger disaster.

!989 Loma Prieta Earthquake (this one is sort of cheating because I was in the middle of it and it took place on my 35th birthday.  Party plans were severely altered).

The Shuttle that disintegrated over Texas (Columbia? - see, I don't even remember the name, but I remember listening to the radio in the kitchen that morning).

The Moon landing in 1969.

9/11/2001.


I certainly recall other historic events, but not where I was and what I was doing at that moment.  And, in the fog of aging memory, often misremember which events happened before others.

I read your link. Wow, what an incredible story.

[RobbyPants]

I was still an infant living with my parents in Michigan.

I learned about the volcano in 4th grade when we all got to pick books to read. I'd always assumed volcanoes involved flowing lava and was surprised about the raw destruction that could be caused by ash and super-heated mud. I was also pretty shocked about the guy who captured all the pictures knowing he couldn't escape and shielded his camera with his body.