In other words, they have no idea.

A small steam eruption is taking place right now at Mount St. Helens. The steam and ash cloud is moving slowly southeast. Earthquakes continue as the activity steadily increases. USGS suggest “somthing more” coming. This follows a steam eruption last night at 10:40PM. Scientists have measured a 100 foot bulge in the crater dome, leading some to believe that a larger eruption is coming. The question may not be if at this point, but when.

From The Seattle Times:

CASTLE LAKE VIEW POINT — Mount St. Helens continued to quiver and quake yesterday in a probable prelude to a magma-powered eruption.

“There’s a lot of energy, and it’s relatively close to the surface,” said Peter Frenzen, chief scientist for the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. “The big question still is how big of an event will occur.”

COLDWATER RIDGE VISITOR CENTER — A brief steam release yesterday followed by steady tremors deep within Mount St. Helens have led scientists to believe an eruption larger than Friday’s 24-minute ash event may happen within days.

In a sharp reversal of earlier predictions, scientists say they now believe the volcano is capable of a substantial explosion that could create an ash cloud rising tens of thousands of feet and a lava flow from new magma entering the volcano.

I found this to be most interesting:

While scientists say an eruption, expected within the next few days to a week, is unlikely to eclipse the May 18, 1980, event, they do believe the volcano could hurl ash and rocks more than five miles — which would still be in the uninhabited area around the mountain. Last week’s activity at the mountain is the most powerful since the 1980 blast that killed 57 people.

Based on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, which measures the power behind an eruption, scientists yesterday predicted a 50 percent chance of a new eruption reaching Level 2 on the scale from 1 to 10, and a 30 percent chance of a Level 3, according to a preliminary estimate from Thomas Pierson, a USGS hydrologist.

By comparison, Friday’s combined steam and ash cloud measured less than 1 on the index, while the 1980 eruption measured 5.

Meanwhile the US Forest Service has evacuated the Johnston Ridge Observatory. This family picture was taken at that site in July.

From Kiro TV:

MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. — Mount St. Helens quieted down after spewing a plume of steam and ash — but only briefly.

Within hours of the eruption Friday, seismic readings suggested pressure was building again inside the volcano, which had been dormant for 18 years.

The article continues:

The earthquakes started Sept. 23 and grew steadily stronger, finally reaching a magnitude of 3.3 Thursday and Friday. After the eruption, they stopped for several hours, said Wynn, of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Then, the tremors resumed, hitting a one-per-minute pace, said Bill Steele at the University of Washington seismic laboratory. A couple exceeded magnitude 2.

A few more steam explosions are likely, Steele said, “until enough debris is cleared, and then there is a significant chance that lava could be extruded at the surface.”

Tom Pierson, a USGS geologist, said officials will monitor the site “on a very intense scale until we can determine that the thing has really gone back to sleep.”

The eruption was described as steam with cold residual ash, the plume was said to travel 10,000 feet in the air and dissipate within 5 miles of the crater. It does not appear that magma made it to the surface.

The geologists are now saying that all seismic activity has stopped, suggesting that Mount St. Helens did her thing and will quiet down for now.

I am planning a return trip to Mount St. Helens next summer where I, (along with my family), will keep a detailed journal of our trip.

Lasted: 24 minutes

Described as “beautiful and breathtaking” by observers.

Light dusting of ash seen on cars in local towns. Geologists call this a cold ash eruption with no magma.

From The Seattle PI:

MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. — Mount St. Helens belched a roiling plume of white steam and ash Friday, more than a week after a flurry of earthquakes first warned an eruption was on the way.

“This is exactly the kind of event we’ve been predicting,” said U.S. Geological Survey scientist Cynthia Gardner.

Steam frequently rises from a lava dome in the crater of the volcano, which erupted with devastating force and killed 57 people on May 18, 1980. But there had been no eruptions in 18 years.

A few minutes after noon, the steam and ash cloud poured from the southern edge of a nearly 1,000-foot-tall lava dome in the volcano’s crater, where a large section of glacier had fractured and risen as much as 11 yards since Thursday afternoon. After about 20 minutes, the mountain calmed and the plume quickly dissipated, heading south-southwest.

Breaking News from KIRO TV Channel 7 in Seattle:

MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. — Geologists have raised the alert level at Mount Saint Helens to a “volcano advisory,” the second highest warning of a possible eruption.

Geologists holding a news conference in Vancouver, Wash., said the likelihood of an eruption has increased.

Earlier, scientists said the lava dome in Mount St. Helens’ crater apparently is growing, possibly a new sign of an impending eruption.

Read the article here.

Meanwhile I thought I would post some links to Mt. St. Helens web sites of interest:

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Mount St. Helens Johnston Ridge Observatory VolcanoCam

Mount St. Helens Seismicity Information

The latest news from Google

The latest news clip from discoverychannel.com:

Sept. 29, 2004 — Mount St. Helens, a volcano that devastated swathes of the Northwest when it erupted 24 years ago, has rumbled back to life, raising fears of a fresh explosion, seismologists said Monday.

Experts believe that a sudden and potentially dangerous event could be on the way after a wave of nearly 100 small earthquakes began hitting the area in the states of Washington and Oregon in recent days.

I plan on daily updates while this activity is taking place. Tune in.

Yesterday, we returned home from our camping trip. I’m not sure if I have ever appreciated my bed more than I did last night. We had a great time and look forward to more short trips like this in the future. The area we went to would be considered Southwest Washington and on one of our day trips we ventured east to Mt. St. Helens.

For you techie people, I took these pictures with my Nokia 3650 Camera Phone. These shots are taken from the Johnston Observatory. The first shot, above, is the standard tourist picture. Note how the kids aren’t looking anywhere near the camera, this is madatory in a tourist shot.

The shot below is of a tree that was completely torn apart in the volcanic blast of 1980.

I still remember the day that Mt. St. Helens erupted and actually felt the eruption even though we lived over 200 miles away. It is interesting to now go back and see how animal and plant life are just now talking root in some areas. There are some great learning centers and observatories, funded by public/private cooperation. The Forest Learning Center has been pimped by Weyerhaeuser Corporation and is very educational and entertaining for kids and adults.