Malden, WA: Lost/Milwaukee Depot and May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens Explosion

(Satellite)

Colin McLean posted two photos with the comment:

In recognition of Mt. St. Helens Sunday [May 18, 1980], 45 years later, east and west views of volcanic ash on the ground here at the abandoned station and yard at Malden, WA.  The date on these are unknown but probably summer or early fall of 1980 after a couple rains went through.

From my own collection via the MilWest Archives, the photographer here is F. James Futterer who took some amazing shots of the Washington and Idaho divisions during the latter years of operations before Lines West shut down.

Mack Reid: I take it there's nothing left but maybe a trail at this location? [The trail is called John Wayne Pioneer Trail.]

[I was on a business trip flying from an Intel plant in California to one in Oregon, and I saw the eruption cloud outside the airplane window.]

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Colin McLean commented on Mack's comment
Not much left, Mack. There were a couple of scattered structures there when I visited in 2017. But when a huge wild fire ripped through Malden in September of 2020, 80% of the town was destroyed. So it would be safe to assume those structures are also gone now, as well. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Dave Rodewald Schneider commented on Colin's post
My first volcano. 1987. The beginning of a career in volcanology. The place where I’m standing was “owned” by the Burlington Northern in 1980. They inherited every other section in the National Forest from the Northern Pacific, including the center of Mount St. Helens.

This topo map made it east to determine the location of the depot.

1964/65 Malden Quad @ 24,000

USGS Volcanoes posted

May 18, 1980, 9:20 AM: It was a roiling, twisted helix.

USGS scientist Don Swanson speeds to Pearson Airpark and takes off at 9:20 AM. He was readying to drive to Coldwater II when the seismograph goes wild. He dashes up to the radio room and tries Dave Johnston but gets no response. Reports are of a huge eruption.

From the plane, Swanson sees a tremendous gray column standing above Mount St. Helens. A roiling, dark column that pumps and convects, rotating up and to the right, a twisting helix. It looks very slow, but from its enormous size, it must be very fast. Twice, the clouds pull back enough to see the column jet from a great hole.

Swanson radios—the top of the mountain’s gone! By 10:38, the lower part of the column narrows, and they see the edges of a mile-wide crater where the summit had been. At 10:50, they see the new crater isn’t circular. The north side has blown away. Swanson can hardly believe what he sees. The rim is chopped off above Northwest dome, more than a thousand feet below yesterday’s summit. On the ridge between the South Fork and Castle Creek the trees are down, some burning. All this time lightning flashes every few seconds within the ash column.

Gray ash boils over the rim. The flows look slow, but seeing the large size of the mountain, they must be fast. At 11:19, dark-gray mud flows down the southwest flank and by 11:40, invades Butte Camp flat. Small mudflows creep down the south flanks; the hot blocks falling high on the cone melting snow.

Video by USGS scientist Don Swanson on May 18, 1980. Watch more at https://www.usgs.gov/.../mount-st-helens-eruption-may-18...

Extract from "In the Path of Destruction: Eyewitness Chronicles of Mount St. Helens" by USGS scientist Richard Waitt.

USGS Volcanoes posted

Gary Rosenquist and friends had camped on a high point off Forest Road 100 (later Road 99) 11 miles northeast of the volcano near Bear Meadow. Earlier in the morning, Rosenquist mounted his camera on a tripod and aimed it at the volcano. 

The ground shakes. Through binoculars, William Dilly sees the mountain get fuzzy and then a part of the mountain is sliding. Hey Gary, he calls, there it goes! Rosenquist turns to see the whole side of the mountain sliding down. He dashes to the tripod, grabs the camera with both hands, but accidentally turns it slightly right (that will center the eruption cloud) and punches the shutter. He advances the film. It is happening too fast to adjust the camera. The film runs out.

The cloud comes over the first ridge. It’s running low, hits a ridge and part of it seems to bounce up in the air but keeps bearing down. Camp gear is abandoned, and they are driving like crazy. A wind kicks up, the cloud comes closer, overtakes them; it turns dark. For 2-3 minutes rocks fall, sounding like hail. A mudball whacks the windshield, then many. Rosenquist rolls down the window and wipes some off – fairly warm, dry mud. It comes down heavier and he sees nothing in front or behind, twice driving onto the shoulder. They stop; sit there disoriented. The ash starts to fall like dry snow. Another vehicle drives slowly by, and they pull out to follow, creeping along at 5 mph.

Photos help scientists understand event. Graphic shows landslide, lateral blast, vertical column with photos by Gary Rosenquist. Graphic from “Field-trip guide to Mount St. Helens, Washington” https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20175022D.

Extract from In the Path of Destruction, Eyewitness Chronicles of Mount St. Helens by Richard Waitt. See also, Volcanic eruptions of 1980 at Mount St. Helens: The first 100 days. USGS Professional Paper 1249, https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/pp1249.

Bonneville Power Administration posted

On this day in 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted🌋.

For weeks afterwards, BPA and utility maintenance crews across the region worked around the clock dusting, blowing and washing ash deposits from substation and transmission equipment.

BPA’s high voltage system suffered no outages.

Douglas Lamont: Very clean for a volcanic plume. Looks more like a cumulonimbus.

Sharon Swaja Meeuwsen: Douglas Lamont never seen this, but it sure looks like the descriptions of the north blowout and the vertical eruption, probably within seconds of it happening.

Douglas Lamont: Sharon Swaja Meeuwsen hi - I’m no expert but just doesn’t look like all the other photos of St Helens with the leaden plume.

[I agree that this must have been at the beginning of the eruption because a temperature inversion is still holding a ceiling on the plume.]

Stan Hunter commented on the BPA post
From the roof of my house.

Bonneville Power Administration posted

On this day [May 21] in 1970, BPA energized the direct-current line of the Pacific Northwest-Pacific Southwest Intertie, now known as the Pacific Direct Current Intertie.

It was the first and longest high-voltage (800kilovolt)⚡DC line in the nation (running 846 miles from the Celilo Converter Station above The Dalles to Los Angeles).

Its construction contributed significantly to DC technology throughout the world.

Stuart Watchman: the original system used mercury arc rectifiers and inverters, later upgraded to thyristor electronics. Look up HVDC in Wikipedia.

[As you can probably imagine, there are a lot of comments about AC vs. DC.]

25:50 video @ 0:26
Mount St. Helens Eruption: 45 Years Later