Minute by Minute: The Eruption of Mount St. Helens 

I lost my brother that day...not a day goes by i dont think of him! He saved 6 people from imminent death and gave the ultimate sacrifice and im so very proud yet heartbroken to this day its bitter sweet...rip my big brother

I was one of the first helicopters on the scene that day and this docu brought back many memories of that mission. I was a pilot for a well known Aviation company from McMinnville, OR and will never forget the devastation I witnessed. One of my missions was to fly geologists into and around the crater in between the two major eruptions to visually measure/estimate the size of the daily growth of the gaps (fissures) in the lava dome forming in the crater. This gave them an estimate of when the next eruption, if any, would occur. It was a memorable experience!

Finally a channel that doesn't show a ad every 2 minutes . Thank you for these documentaries .

I feel so bad for the loss of David Johnston. He was actually 'subbing' for someone else. He saved a lot of lives because of his diligence!

The yellow shirt guy seems proud for not listening to the warning.. kinda irritating to listen to.

I remember after the eruption, a group of people decided to sue the state. A judge threw the whole suit out saying you were warned to stay out, several times. You don’t get to sue for that.

Mt. St.Helens was signalling trouble for weeks. I can’t understand why anyone, especially those with very young children, would go camping anywhere near that mountain. Those who were working there had no choice, but some did.

It was hard to watch how callous Robert Rogers about the whole situation. I can't imagine what everyone else went through.

I miss that old school A&E.! How times have changed.

8:28 Local: “I’m not afraid!” Yoda (whose big-screen debut would be just four days later): “Oh, you will be. You will be!”

This is so riveting, I watched it twice. Once by myself, and then I had to make my husband watch it too. We were born in 83 & 84, so we weren't in existence yet when this happened. I've known, peripherally, about the eruption, but I never got this level of detail about it. Absolutely terrifying. No disrespect to the folks who went through this, and especially not to the ones who lost their lives--I understand that as time went on, it became more and more difficult to convince people of the impending danger. But I was very struck by Robert Rogers' flippant attitude. Maybe he just has a different kind of coping mechanism, but it felt very disrespectful to the gravity of the situation. How lovely for him that he, essentially, effed around and found out, and lived to tell the tale, while many others weren't so lucky. I found his take on things to be a bit tasteless. A tiny bit of humility wouldn't hurt him. I also wonder what happened to the "we pay our taxes!" people who signed waivers to get back on their properties. Did they later have to be rescued? It's hard not to notice some of the parallels with current events, yeah? Makes you realize some things really never change. Anyways, thank you for sharing this informative piece. I'll be carrying it with me long after viewing.

I stumbled across this video on RU-vid and I am so grateful. This documentary was so well done; I appreciate the people who made it. Thank you.

My dad's family had been staying in Yakima during the eruption and called home (Spokane) to warn relatives once it occured. The neighbors were confused as to why my great uncle was outside covering the cars with tarps. They soon got their answer when ash began falling from the sky. There was so much of it despite the distance and it ended up getting into a lot of car engines, ruining them, but since my uncle had a warning, he was able to prepare and save his cars. I still have some ash jars that my grandma had scooped up out of the street from it.

this documentary was released 21 years after the event ... and im watching it 21 years after the documentary

" I'm not afraid. " Famous last words.

It's one of the few times people had ample warning, even though many ignored it. Scientists were knowledgeable enough to save lives.

This is a much more informative program than you see on A&E these days.

Just showed this video to my teenagers. So interesting. They had both learned about in school but were so surprised at the sheer scope of the event. Thank you for posting.

To this day when you drive certain portions of Oregon highway you can still see the huge piles of ash on the roadside now grown over with grass. The amount of debris and dirt that was spewed and the energy it took to send it out for miles and miles is mind boggling.

It was truly a miracle that these helicopters’ engines didn’t choke while looking for & picking up survivors. My family had to evacuate our home due to an uncontrolled raging fire. The ash had been flowing like snow for 3 days by that time, had 5 mins to gather kids & pets, throw everyone in the van. Husband hopped on his bike, but called me after 15 mbs, his bike’s engine choked w/ash, drivers weren’t allowed to pull over or stop. We were bumper/bumper.. Hubby had to run carrying heavy duffle bag with food & essentials. He caught up, barely able to breathe due to ash inhalation. Lucky that eruption didn’t claim more victims. RIP

No, I don't hate Robert Rogers, but it's just that he is so disrespectful towards what happened and those that died. He thinks the whole thing is funny when it was a bona fide disaster... I'm just shocked as he acts like a little boy that never grew up... there's just something wrong how he acted at the time of this video...

I was 7 years old with my grandparents. We were on our way to Vancouver in their Winnebago when Helens blew. We had just left Astoria and crossed the Columbia River. The ash plume was insane. My grandfather said something like "ok summer vacation over". He turned right around and we went straight back to California.

I was 6 when this happened and I remember seeing it on the news as a kid for a few nights. As I got older I learned more about that disaster and the stories of survival and heroism. Thank you for sharing this!

I was just a young boy at home in the UK. My whole family watched with bated breath. Hoping they'd find More people alive. It was such a horrific thing to watch. I hear that people bear the Scars mentally and physically for the rest of their lives. My heart goes out to everybody, including the ones that were lost.😢❤

I knew David Johnston very well since I was a geology student at the U of W from 71-75 and Dave was a field geology instructor working on his masters at the time. He was selfless and extremely brave since his major was volcanology. My family drove by Mt. Saint Helens on I5 the day before and the bulge of the north side of the mountain made it look pregnant. I commented to my wife that the mountain didn’t have long to go before another eruption.

First Responders and all who helped are heroes for sure. Thank you for your unselfishness and risking your own lives to help others.

Thank you for posting this. Great shows like this get lost now.

I had just gotten to my unit at Ft. Lewis. Quite the experience. My first encounter with mountains. The power and devastation made it something I have never forgotten.

I was in Beaver Oregon. A little community about 14 miles south of Tillamook. We heard this loud boom and our mobile home shook. Ash started falling silently like big flakes of gray snow and covering everything. At first no one knew if the ash was toxic or not so we stayed in doors. I’ll never forget that sound as Mt. Saint Helens blew her top.

Living in Longview it was a day that's unforgettable! We watched as pieces of homes, belly up fish and timber filled the Cowlitz river from side by side. A few days later the ash cloud came down mixed with rain, transformer blowing one after the other. A once in a lifetime experience .

Such a wonderful show for such a big tragedy.. thank you to everyone who made it possible to recognize the lives of the lost. And congratulations to the living.

It always tickles me when I hear people born in the 50s and 60s say millennials will do anything for views on the tiktok, meanwhile they were climbing an actively erupting volcano in their 20s to smoke doobies and sell t shirts.

My mother was a university student living just south of Vancouver, Canada when this happened. She said she felt a huge blast that rocked the whole house, then her roommate came rushing in and yelled for her to look outside. A few minutes later a helicopter that was forced to divert by the ash plume made an emergency landing right in their front yard! By midday ash was falling like snow to a depth of about six inches. To this day she says it’s the most insane thing she’s ever witnessed.

the stupidity of the family with the two small children unbelievable putting those babies in danger like that.

R.I.P. Dan Miller Passed Away In October Of 2021 From Cancer

I'm in my late twenties and just now watching this. This is why history is so important.

This is one of the best documentaries i've ever seen About mount saint helens

Would like to have heard what the 3-year old girl remembered of the day. Also, what she thinks of her parents for bringing her and how the trip was supposedly "for her".

I was 5 years old and lived in Yakima when this happened. I remember it very well. We knew something was going to happen as the air felt heavy and all the birds were dead silent that morning when we left for church. It happened while we were in church and had to drive home in pitch black at noon. Such a strange and scary time. We had to remove 40 wheelbarrow loads of ash off our roof.

The eruption on 5/18/80 was about a week before my high school graduation. In the Mid-West, we didn't grasp the magnitude of the eruption until all the film and pics were released. Several friends traveled to Mt. St. Helen's in the summer of '81 to assist with clean-up. They brought back a baggie of ash which weighed 6 lbs. That's what those poor souls were inhaling.

We lived in Yakima at the time of St. Helen's eruption. I was 10 at the time, and staying the weekend with my best friend David. When the ash cloud reached us, it looked at first like someone had split the sky in two. One side, bright blue, the other black as night. I was stuck at my friends house for more than a week, the ash was so thick on the roads.

I remember watching this on TV when I was just a sophomore in high school. I had just got my first car in hopes of having it running by the time I was 16 a year or so later. I remember walking past my car and seeing a fairly thick film of what looked like very small flakes of Ash. I figured it was from a local forest fire a few miles away days earlier but the Ash film was gray and the fire was all but out. It turned out that this was Ash from the Mt St Helens volcano. I grew up in Granada Hills, CA. more then one thousand miles away from Mount St. Helens.

12 yrs after eruption I camped in this area many times. Despite the devastation caused it is still one of the most awesome areas for hiking & camping.

Amazing shots and heroic work by the rescue teams. RIP to the people that lost their lives that day.

First off thoughts for all these who didn't make it out of the eruption. I live in New Zealand, in the mid section of the north island. I liked this production, even if with the sad thoughts of lost lives. It was an intense eruption for sure yet in world terms of eruptions I know there have been much bigger eruptions, even here in New Zealand. The size of our country I know when there is finally another huge eruption here it is likely to cause many loss of lives if there is little warning or no where to go to get far enough away. It's a good reminder that the power of nature can be so amazing at how in an instant our world goes from beauty to destructon to the birth of new beauty again. The cycle continues. To have the mindset that all who live around or near a volcanic or fault line zone that nothing will happen is taking thing's for granted. Everyday we all wake to another beautiful day and have the one's we like and love we should always be so very grateful

"That mountain and that lake is a part of Truman, and I'm part of it." -Truman's defiance of authority wins him a Darwin award at 8:33 AM

You hear that a mountain is on the verge of erupting and there have been numerous earthquakes on said mountain, then you decide "Yeah, I'm gonna take my 3 month old camping right on that mountain" or take m sweetheart camping there. Hopefully they acquired some commonsense from these experiences.

I was 16 years old when this happened and remember having ash on our cars a few days after the eruption. We live in New Jersey so this gives you an idea how incredible the power of this eruption was.

Why would these couples go knowing the danger and ignoring the warnings especially bringing innocent babies. Im glad they made it but seriously

I think this was the most incredible geological event of our lifetime. To just snap three foot wide trees like that for MILES is just incredible force, and when Carter said the infamous moon looks like a golf course in comparison, he put it into proper perspective. I think he was right from looking at aerial footage.

I wasn't born then, but living in the Portland area my whole life and being able to see Mt. St. Helens on a clear day means I've known about the eruption my whole life. My mom was about two or three at the time, and she told me once she remembers playing in the fallen ash in her backyard like it was snow.

We lived in southern California , Long Beach area when I was 13 and remember this on the news. About a week after, ashes from Mt St. Helens eruption covered everything and fell from the sky for a few days until it rained. I remember it being eerie and wondering how much devastation was caused for ashes to travel that far.

I lived 18 air miles northeast from Mt. Saint Helens at the time of the eruption. Thankfully we had a couple of mountain ridges between us and the mountain. Small pieces of pumice started raining down on us then ash and charred pieces of wood. We were at the Cispus Environmental Center. It was dark with ash until late afternoon. The communities of Glenoma, Randle , and Packwood are the ones who experienced the ash fall first. After the eruption you had to get permission from the Forest Service to visit us and you had to be out by 5pm. I taught school in Packwood Washington at the time. They closed the school for the students but the teachers still had to attend. Interesting and unusual times and very sad because of the 57 people lost. The people who went in to rescue people are certainly heroes.

It's not much news to offer, but in Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles County, California, I remember we had a couple inches of ash on our cars, lawns, rooftops, etc. for at least 2 or more weeks, post eruptions. My first sighting of it, I asked my Mom, as she was hosing off her vehicle, ' What's causing all this ' ? She told me, ' That's the volcanic ash being carried by wind, travelling down from Mt. St. Helens. We' need say prayers for those that were right in the thick of it ' . I tried to picture an image. Your footage now gave me that glimpse.

I was stationed at Ft Lewis in Tacoma. I'll never forget May 18th, 1980. An incredible day. Just unbelievable power.

My family and I were able to climb Mt. St. Helens last summer. I watched this documentary many times prior to our hike. Being 17 when the eruption happened, I was intetested for 43 years before I actually stood on top myself. Unbelievable to see how that area is still affected. Being there has only kept my fascination and appreciation alive. The force of nature and the incredible response of those involved is inspiring.

I was monitoring the AP machine at SJSU in the days before it blew. I kept saying it was going to go soon, and I hoped people got out. My classmates kept saying I was an alarmist and it was no big deal, despite the writing on the wall. The minute it happened, I told them "Mt. St. Helens just blew." They laughed, not believing it. After they got calls about it on their newsroom phones (there was no Internet then), they stopped laughing. So tragic.

l was 18 years old, working on an oil rig just North of of St. Helens. We didn't feel that blast but it wasn't long before the skies darkened and we knew something had happened - something huge. lt was amazing, it was historical and l'm glad l was that close.

I was living in Medford, Oregon when this happened. Small amounts of ash landed on my car and house roof. Nothing compared to the survivers of the blast. I will remember this for life b/c my first instinct was to protect my 3 small children from air particles in the ash we did have.

I'm so happy this old cable program has been viewed by so many people worldwide over the years, and thankful to all who shared their memories. After years of reading your replies, I've got some thoughts: 1) **A lot of you** hate or cannot stand Robert Rogers. Given how he presents himself in the video, it's understandable. Robert is, fairly, not everyone's cup of tea in the personality department. In fact, I think its funny that it's enough for some to comment the only thing they took away from this video was that Robert Rogers was annoying. Appreciate the patronage, but that's it? However, I've seen a few comments over the years saying that Robert should've died so that another person could've lived, or something along those lines. Full stop, wishing death on Robert Rodgers is pretty vile. Go ahead and don't like him, you've got reason to do so, but he did nothing to put anyone else's life in danger except his own back in 1980. Just a really inexcusable reaction to a person sharing their experience on a decades-old television show. 2) Those who criticize people like Mike Moore for taking his family near St. Helens when it was deemed "dangerous" should understand why they felt safe to be there in the first place. While scientists believed a landslide was likely due to the mountain's growing instability, the risk of a lateral blast stretching miles beyond its flanks was just one of several possible scenarios detailed before May 18. Given the information available, there was no way anyone could've known the eruption would've played out just as it did. Mike and Lu Moore, like Bruce Nelson and Sue Ruff, were 12 miles north of the volcano behind ridgelines some 5-6,000 feet high -- outside restricted zones. The Blue and Red restricted zones around the mountain, improperly set up by the state due to the influence of private landowners like Weyerhaeuser on WA Gov. Dixy Lee Ray, led many to believe they were in no direct danger. In fact, only four people were in the red restricted zone: Harry Truman, Bob Kaseweter, Beverly Wetherald, and David Johnston. All four had permission to be there. The rest of those that died were outside restricted areas. Sure, there's a level of personal responsibility that goes into being near danger, but that's the hindsight of knowing what volcanoes are capable of now in a post-St. Helens world. And yes, there is an element of our culture today that would make enforcement of restricted zones in 202x far more challenging than in 1980. Still, I stand by the fact that many of those who died on May 18, 1980, were innocent victims. If you want to disagree with me, that's your opinion. Yet, I cannot believe the largest landslide in recorded history and a lateral blast equal to many times the magnitude of an atomic bomb explosion was something even the most seasoned USGS geologists could've anticipated. One of many terrible lessons learned from the eruption that led to better public safety decision-making around active volcanoes. 3) Everyone, you've got to chill reading too much into Roald Reitan and Venus Dergan's relationship. Let me put it to you like this: Imagine how much your life would change if you went through a traumatic experience like what they shared on May 18. That shared moment would bond you together in some way for the rest of your lives, regardless of the paths you took. The excellent book Echoes of Fury, which profiles survivors and eyewitnesses who lived through the eruption, explains what happened to Roald and Venus after 1980. They went their separate ways, got back together years later, and realized they were better as friends. It's not the happy ending you want, but it's how life goes. There was no "friend-zoning" or anything of the sort. They were 20-year-olds with their whole lives, thankfully, ahead of them. -- Okay, I've edited this comment god knows how many times, but thanks again, and check out my other St. Helens videos. Cheers!

My mother passed in 1979, I was 12 years old. I really thought it was the end of the world. And then I saw the eruption amount Saint Helens and I was blown away. I have been following step-by-step what has happened to that mountain ever since. I have even been to the observatory, Mount Saint Helens reminds me of my mothers death

40 years on and trees still can't grow in the area that was blown away. The environmental impact of this deadly event will never go away

Where were we when it blew? I was in my Seattle business, a "mom and pop" record store in the north end of the city. Our narrow back door to the parking lot had a perfect view to the mountain, one I hadn't even known existed until it blew. I watched in amazement as the eruption continued for hours. Knowing that there were people in harm's way, it's a day I will never forget. Hearing their stories brings it all back. Not a pleasant memory.

Its amazing with how time has passed, the forests are/ have come back. The animals have returned to breed; the grass/ trees, and the fish. Its still an active volcano. We didn't believe that It was coming.

That lady at the road block saying I’m not afraid….you will be….you…will…be

Almost 1 year before St Helens blew I had circled May 18 and wrote Mount St Helens. I had climbed the Mountain several times, it was my favorite of many I had climbed. I was planning a year ahead as I was going to make the climb with my brother in law who lived in Alaska. May was a great time to climb the mountain. The mountain still had snow making it easier to climb than later when you were climbing on loose rock. I liked to summit about 8 am as I had done in the past. Night climb gave you frozen snow and easier to climb. In our favor was the mountain was red zoned prior to the date it blew so the climb was off. I was in Florence Oregon running in a 10k when it blew. We got enough ash to say, What is that?

I was 20 years old, when this happened. I was far removed from the event, in Louisiana, but this eruption made me aware of the ENORMOUS energy Volcanos can exert, during eruption, and how those eruptions can affect global weather, for years.

38 years later living near Portland Oregon, we went up to Mount St Helens observation deck. Nothing grows at the top of the mountain, the trees look like toothpick all laying in a row.

Back in 1980 - I worked with a guy, whose wife was good friends with a woman who was recently divorced. During the time that her husband had time with their two young girls - he kept taking them to Mt St Helens - even though it didn't seem reasonable to do so. The wife even went to court to try and keep the husband from taking the children to Mt St Helens. She lost in court .. and so the husband continued to take the children there .... until the day of the eruption. He and the two girls perished in the blast ... and it seems so sad that the court allowed those deaths to happen. It was heartbreaking to hear the details of the saga as it unfolded.

I miss these presentations, they were so exciting to be glued to the tv wondering what will happen next!

My parents, who lived in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, at the time, said they got about a quarter inch of volcanic ash deposited on them, getting into everything, it was so fine. In nearby Spokane, Washington, it was like it was the middle of the night. I can't recall if it was the same in Cd'A, but it's only about 30 miles away, so I imagine it was the same.

I live in Yakima Washington.I was loading our motor home for our outing with our daughters. I looked out to the west and this humongous black,what I thought was a cloud, came baring down on us. The sky turned black raining ash. For 24 hours it was dark. No light. We didn’t know if the ash would ruin the motor’s of our cars. My two y/o ran a temp. I luckily was able to drive the car so I could take her to the doctor. We survived and in places you can still see ash

I lived in Florence Oregon and to this day that is still the loudest sound I have ever heard.

We heard the eruption here in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. I'll never forget that. We'd been following the stories and were expecting it, but it was still a shock. A huge BOOM, and I gasped and looked at Mom and we said together 'That was the volcano', and sure enough it was.

Wow. Never ceases to amaze me no matter how many documentaries I see on Mt St Helens.

The "I am not afraid" lady to enter the danger zone to visit her property on May 17th must have looked mighty dumb the very next morning if she had stayed the night.

Hard to feel bad tbh. They were warned by Scientists to stay off the mountain. It astounds me to this day how much people will ignore warnings out of defiance, ignorance, or even curiosity.

A vivid reminder that we humans are insignificant to the power of the earth. The best thing we can do is learn from nature and not interfere with it.

This video is awesome, I remember here in Virginia the air getting hazy after the eruption but watching this helps me to realize just how devastating it was , Thankyou for sharing.

Let me take my 4 year old toddler and 3 month old newborn to an active volcano and camp out.....wtf is this guy thinking???

My parents out in illinois actually saw a bit of ash from the eruption. Mind you, at the time, they lived near chicago, and they were in a bit of shock

Thank you for this informative in-depth look on this day! I was camping on the coast that weekend & didn't know until we headed home!

A&E states that ash went "as far south as Oklahoma" but, I collected ash off the hood of my dads car in Ft Worth Texas that was covered in approximately 2" of ash from Mt St. Helens.

I was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with a classmate having fun rafting down the Snake River. The next morning we went to my car to leave, only to find it completely covered with 1/4” of ash! Baffled, we then found out Mt. St. Helens had erupted! Wow!!

I know a guy that was on vacation and went to see the after effects of this eruption. He collected a bunch of ash, and gave me some. He said it was shocking to see it in person.

31:47 Not only is the volcano more powerful than a nuke, it maintains that intensity of power over the duration of an eruption.

I was 12 and living in southwest Washington state in Vancouver, WA. We watched it all day, from the backyard.

I was in Woodinville and heard the eruption.... I could see the big cloud over Mt Rainier going WAY up into the sky..... You could see the lighting in the plum even 150 miles away .... It also erupted many times after and we could see the plumes... Nothing obviously was as big as the May 18th one.... This was a great documentary!! Thanks!

Great video but who decided to put super annoying beeping sounds into the video every time they change scene. 🤨

At 45,000 feet on the day of the eruption of Mt. St. Helen, I was in a passenger jet flying directly over the site. I remember the Captain saying over the plane's intercom." If you look to the left you will see the Mt.St.Helens' eruption. Many passengers ran to the port side of the plane, including myself and there directly below us was a thick grey mushrooming cloud from Mt.St.Helens, billowing skyward and we all gasped in awe that we were witnesses to this incredible sight. What we never witnessed was the utter ground destruction the lives lost, both human and animal and the total destruction of the North face of the volcano.

My uncle died when it went off , he was a photographer. My mothers youngest brother. I was only 8 yrs old but I remember him fondly. God bless all of God's children that died that day and their family members that were affected by this erudition

I lived in Longview, WA when this happened. I remember how beautiful it was up there before this happened and how devastated it was after. I remember the terrible ash, seeing the homes, trees, mud, coming down the river, through Castle Rock. Fish flying out onto the banks, trying to escape the boiling hot water. I remember it all. I never imagined I would ever experience such a thing. So sad. So much loss. It took me a few years before I could face going up there to see the destruction. It truly was like stepping onto another planet. Unreal. It has recovered but of course will never be the same.

I was 11 at the time. We lived in Milwaukie just outside of Portland. I had gone to spend the weekend with my grandparents in Salem to go fishing with my grandpa that Sunday. We had gotten up early, went to some lake, and weren't there very long when my grandma drove up and told us what had happened. There was already ash covering grandpa's car by then. My dad worked for PP&L and we had gone to a campsite owned by PP&L a year or two before, right along the Toutle River. The river was basically even with the land at the campsite, but after May 18th, when surveyors went to see the condition of the campsite, there had been so much ash dumped, the campsite had a cliff where the river was, but now the river was about 14 feet lower-or the campsite was now 14 feet above... Our front room window in Milwaukie faced North, and we had almost a perfect framed view of Mt. St. Helens...I will never forget it!

The most incredible & strangely impressive sites I have ever seen, the side of the mountain being blown outwards.

As a family we camped there the summer before. My Nan took a small pine tree sapling home with us so quite possibly the only surviving tree is now growing in petersfield Hampshire UK! I have pumice from the eruption too I was 10 then and something I'll never forget

Being from the other side of the Pacific, and only 1yo when this happened, I didn't really know about this event until I read Devolution by Max Brooks (Mel Brooks' son, also wrote World War Z) about the fictional eruption of Mt Rainier, and I had to look up whether Mt Rainier was a real place. I recognised the name Mt St. Helen's on the map on that Wiki page, and read about the eruption in 1980, and then I ended up watching this video, and only now does that novel (Devolution) makes real sense, I had no idea the USA had volcanoes outside of Hawaii, let alone having had such a huge volcanic event (and in my lifetime)!! Thanks for uploading this, it gives a good sense of how it all unfolded (and why panic set in for the characters in the novel… but no more spoilers from me!)

Venus broke Roald's heart. You can tell

I wouldn't have gotten 100 miles near that mess knowing it could errupt at anytime

I will never forget this. We lived In Yakima at the time. I was almost 5 years old. I still have a jar of the ash that my parents collected from our front yard. It was horrific.

I grew up 12 hours away in Montana and was 11 years old. The ONLY 'snow days' that called school off, literally EVER,,,, were due this eruption. Inches of ash, hundreds of miles away. 40 years later my kids found baby food jars with ash , labeled Mt St. Helens at Grandma's house , amazing. I recall it being exhilarating and apocalyptic simultaneously . Mother Nature has no match