The Ash Turned Day Into Night
During the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, an ash column shot 80,000 feet into the atmosphere. By noon, Spokane was so dark that visibility dropped to 10 feet.Mount St. Helens: When Ash Crossed America
The Cloud Kept Racing East
Strong high-altitude winds carried the ash about 60 miles per hour. It reached Yakima by 9:45 a.m., Spokane by 11:45, Yellowstone that night, and some of it circled the globe within about two weeks.Mount St. Helens: When Ash Crossed America
