urn:oid:2.49.0.1.212.0.2011.2.5.2.57.59 askCVO@usgs.gov 2011-02-05T02:57:59-00:00 Test Alert Public en Met volcano Expected Minor Possible USGS Volcanoes Program Mount St Helens Volcano Advisory (aviation color code ORANGE) Current status is Volcano Advisory (Alert Level 2); aviation color code ORANGE: Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continues, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash. During such eruptions, changes in the level of activity can occur over days to months. The eruption could intensify suddenly or with little warning and produce explosions that cause hazardous conditions within several miles of the crater and farther downwind. Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard along the river channel upstream. Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that any ash clouds that rise above the crater rim today would drift principally eastward. Under current eruptive conditions, small, short-lived explosions may produce ash clouds that exceed 30,000 feet in altitude. Ash from such events can travel 100 miles or more downwind. http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Eruption04/ Craig Weaver 1-206-553-0627 Image file image/jpeg http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/ Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States (96 miles south of Seattle, Washington and 53 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon 46.2,-122.2 0