BREAKING NEWS MOUNT ST. HELENS BLOWS!!!!!!!

[dhweather]

Hopefully there's no more to blow!

[GalvestonDuck]

Live video (finally found it) - http://www.KING5.com

[jpigott]

someone on WWBB just said they are now picking up harmonic tremors and more lava flow (a possible indication of a larger eruption)

[charleston_hugo_veteran]

JUST SAW ON FOXS NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hemmmm...I thought this was a hurricane forum??

[Josephine96]

LOL

[alicia-w]

It was not a real eruption, it was a harmless plume of steam and ash.

I was living in Washington when there was a real eruption and this was NOT one of those. Not even close. Even the geologists called it just a hiccup. Dont get people all excited by saying MT ST HELENS BLOWS!! when she merely belched.

[Sanibel]

They say today's lava movement tremors are stronger than yesterday's before the steam eruption...

[HollynLA]

It is picking back up again today so there may be more to come. Is it normal for volcanoes to "hiccup" before a larger eruption??

[alicia-w]

yes, it is normal.

[Sanibel]

It is possible that advancing magma heats the earth above it so much that it geysers out steam...

[HollynLA]

New info has prompted scientist to raise level to 3 as they now fear the explosion will be larger than anticipated. Now, seismic activity is a pure tremor which means magma is rising upward.

[canegrl04]

Helen has not been behaving like the scientists thought she would.Now they are saying she will blow her top in an angrier fashion. If new magma is rising,she'll do a repeat of 1980 People being evacuated from nearby towns.This is getting pretty serious

[HollynLA]

canegrl
They are still saying it won't be near as bad the 1980 erruption. Although it is supposed to be worse than believed it would be yesterday, nothing like 1980.

[canegrl04]

Yes,I have heard them say over the past several days that it won't do a 1980 MSH,but I am uneasy about the current situation.People are being evacuated now.There was a report that lava may be involved in the next eruption,which would cause it to be more violent.They are not sure yet if the lava will stream out,come out with an explosion.So far,MSH has befuddled the scientists,so at this point,anythinf could happen

[Wnghs2007]

canegrl
They are still saying it won't be near as bad the 1980 erruption. Although it is supposed to be worse than believed it would be yesterday, nothing like 1980.

Yeah. But you never know. Things like this cant really be planned out. If this old center of lava leaves enough gap it could draw fresh more pressurized lava up and then who knows what. But it has constantly gotten worse. The earthquakes have stablized some after the second eruption today. But are expected to pick up.

[Wnghs2007]

Mount St. Helens Notice of Volcano Alert, October 2, 2004

A notice of Volcano Alert (Alert Level 3) was issued today at 2:00 p.m. PDT

Immediately after the small steam emission at 12:15, seismic activity changed from principally rock breakage events to continuous low-frequency tremor, which is indicative of magma movement. We are increasing the alert level to Volcano Alert the highest alert level indicating that an eruption could be imminent.

The cause and outcome of the accelerating unrest is uncertain. Explosions from the vent could occur suddenly and without further warning. During such explosions the dome and crater floor are at greatest risk from ballistic projectiles, but the rim of the crater and flanks of the volcano could also be at risk. Explosions would also be expected to produce ash clouds that rise several to tens of thousands of feet above the crater rim and drift downwind. Currently wind forecasts from the National Weather Service, combined with eruption models, show that ash clouds will move to the northwest. If ash emissions are large, drifting ash could affect downwind communities. Minor melting of the glacier could trigger debris flows from the crater that are large enough to reach the Pumice Plain. There is very low probability that downstream communities would be impacted by these hydrologic events. .

We continue to monitor the situation very closely and will issue additional updates as warranted, whether activity escalates or returns to background levels.

[HollynLA]

Well, I do agree that it can't be predicted with 100% certainty. It's a little scary to think that something like 1980 is even remotely possible. Let's hope the scientist are right and no more surprises are in store. Wow, doesn't this remind anyone of tracking hurricanes.

[Wnghs2007]

Well, I do agree that it can't be predicted with 100% certainty. It's a little scary to think that something like 1980 is even remotely possible. Let's hope the scientist are right and no more surprises are in store. Wow, doesn't this remind anyone of tracking hurricanes.

Yeah, this, this, Just really scares me some. The cause and outcome of the accelerating unrest is uncertain.

[LAwxrgal]

Wow...this has been some year eh?

First the hurricanes, now Mt. St. Helens.

What next?

[Wnghs2007]

Wow...this has been some year eh?

First the hurricanes, now Mt. St. Helens.

What next?

Supernovae....not around us though.

Explosions in the Sky: Supernovae Imminent?
SpaceRef | 09/30/2004 | NASA

After a Trio of Explosions Scientists say Supernova is Imminent

Three powerful recent blasts from three wholly different regions in space have left scientists scrambling. The blasts, which lasted only a few seconds, might be early alert systems for star explosions called supernovae, which could start appearing any day.

The first two blasts, called X-ray flashes, occurred on September 12 and 16. These were followed by a more powerful burst on September 24. The burst seems to be on the cusp between an X-ray flash and a full-fledged gamma ray burst, a discovery interesting in its own right. If these signals lead to supernovae, as expected, scientists would have a tool to predict star explosions, and researchers could watch explosions from start to finish.

A team led by Dr. George Ricker of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, detected the explosions with NASA's High-Energy Transient Explorer (HETE- 2). Science teams around the world, using space- and ground- based observatories, have joined in, torn and conflicted over which burst region to track most closely.

"Each burst has been beautiful," Ricker said. "Depending on how these evolve, they could support important theories about supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. These past two weeks have been like 'cock, fire, reload.' Nature keeps on delivering, and our HETE-2 satellite keeps on responding flawlessly," he said."

Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions known other than the Big Bang. Many appear to be caused by the death of a massive star collapsing into a black hole. Others might be from merging black holes or neutron stars. In either case, the event likely produces twin, narrow jets in opposite directions, which carry off tremendous amounts of energy. If one of jets points to Earth, we see this energy as a gamma ray burst.

The lower-energy X-ray flashes might be gamma ray bursts viewed slightly off angle from the jet direction, somewhat similar to how a flashlight is less blinding when viewed at an angle. The majority of light particles from X-ray flashes, called photons, are X-rays, energetic, but not quite as powerful as gamma rays. Both types of bursts last only a few milliseconds to about a minute. HETE-2 detects the bursts, studies their properties, and provides a location, so other observatories can study the burst afterglow in detail.

The trio of bursts from the past few weeks has the potential of settling two long-standing debates. Some scientists say X- ray flashes are different beasts all together, not related to gamma-ray bursts and massive star explosions. Detecting a supernova in the region where the X-ray flash appeared would refute that belief, instead confirming the connection between the two. Follow-up observations of the September 24 burst, named GRB040924 for the date it was observed, are already solidifying the theory of a cosmic explosion continuum from X-ray flashes up through gamma ray bursts.

More interesting for supernova hunters is the fact X-ray flashes are closer to Earth than gamma ray bursts. While the connection between gamma ray bursts and supernovae has been made, these supernovae are too distant to study in detail. X- ray flashes might be signals for supernovae; scientists can actually sink their teeth into and observe in detail.

"Last year HETE-2 sealed the connection between gamma ray bursts and massive supernovae," said Prof. Stanford Woosley of the University of California at Santa Cruz, who has championed several theories concerning the physics of star explosions. "These two September bursts may be the first time we see an X-ray flash lead to a supernova."

"We all expect much more of this type of exciting science to come after the launch of Swift," said Dr. Anne Kinney, director of NASA's Universe Division. The Swift spacecraft, scheduled to launch no earlier than late October, contains three telescopes (gamma ray, X-ray and UV/optical) for quick burst detection and immediate follow-up observations of the afterglow.

HETE was built by MIT as a mission of opportunity under the NASA Explorer Program. It was built in collaboration among U.S. universities, Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., scientists and organizations in Brazil, France, India, Italy and Japan.

For information about HETE results and related animations on the Internet, visit: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0930grb.html