Re: Dins (and others)
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:13 pm
I was just over the West Hills. We went up to Pittock Mansion in the hills to watch the aftermath, where we'd watched smaller eruptions earlier. Was impressive for a while -- but the mass of ash in the air started backing up the wisps of clouds coming in off the ocean, and eventually it became very overcast and dark. Fortunately, the wind was bowing straight from the west, so Yakima and Tri-Cities bore the brunt (to the tune of a few feet of ashfall -- was dark there for a couple of days, and no one could get out). An earlier eruption did blow our way, and it was a freaking mess. The ash stuck around for a few years, and it smelled bad. And scratched up the paint on every car, even just from hosing it off. Before 5/18/1980, we could see the near perfect conical top of St. Helens from the West Side -- after that 1300' went away, not anymore.
I was driving by St. Helens during the last decent eruption (maybe 10 years ago)... no big deal. The others weren't a big deal, except the big explosion. But I'm about 50 miles or so as the crow flies, and nowhere near any of the river drainages that it affects.
One of these days, sooner or later (hopefully much later), Mt. Hood will erupt again (a small one was finishing up when Lewis and Clark went by it). Hopefully when it does, it's a small event. A big eruption would effect hundreds of thousands of people -- and I'm unlikely to be one of them, being a West Side guy. Again, I'm probably about 50 miles or so as the crow flies from the top of Hood. I'm much more worried about a Casciadia earthquake off the coast (which is about due, based on geological records and whatnot -- been 317 years since the last one... Paleface wasn't here then, but the Japanese are quite familiar with the date, since the tsunami killed a whole shitload of them).
Further south, South Sister is the second-most active of the Cascade Volcanoes (after St. Helens). A few years ago, one side of it started bulging pretty quickly, but it's stopped over the last several years. Eugene/Springfield is a long way from there, but a lahar could get ugly.
But I don't think about volcanoes in my day-to-day life. When they start getting earthquake swarms (like St. Helens has recently), I'll start taking a little interest. But when I was just short of 13 years old, watching a mountain I grew up seeing all the time (clearly visible from most parts of Portland proper, particularly the north side of town) open up, spew steam and ash, then explode with the force of a bunch of nuclear bombs was pretty weird. And when it started again 20 years later, I was like "meh. Been there, done that." It's pretty cool to drive up there in summer, though.
I was driving by St. Helens during the last decent eruption (maybe 10 years ago)... no big deal. The others weren't a big deal, except the big explosion. But I'm about 50 miles or so as the crow flies, and nowhere near any of the river drainages that it affects.
One of these days, sooner or later (hopefully much later), Mt. Hood will erupt again (a small one was finishing up when Lewis and Clark went by it). Hopefully when it does, it's a small event. A big eruption would effect hundreds of thousands of people -- and I'm unlikely to be one of them, being a West Side guy. Again, I'm probably about 50 miles or so as the crow flies from the top of Hood. I'm much more worried about a Casciadia earthquake off the coast (which is about due, based on geological records and whatnot -- been 317 years since the last one... Paleface wasn't here then, but the Japanese are quite familiar with the date, since the tsunami killed a whole shitload of them).
Further south, South Sister is the second-most active of the Cascade Volcanoes (after St. Helens). A few years ago, one side of it started bulging pretty quickly, but it's stopped over the last several years. Eugene/Springfield is a long way from there, but a lahar could get ugly.
But I don't think about volcanoes in my day-to-day life. When they start getting earthquake swarms (like St. Helens has recently), I'll start taking a little interest. But when I was just short of 13 years old, watching a mountain I grew up seeing all the time (clearly visible from most parts of Portland proper, particularly the north side of town) open up, spew steam and ash, then explode with the force of a bunch of nuclear bombs was pretty weird. And when it started again 20 years later, I was like "meh. Been there, done that." It's pretty cool to drive up there in summer, though.