I was working at the Boeing plant in south Seattle during the run-up to the final eruption. My route home from work was due south, pointing roughly in the direction of Mount St. Helens. I didn't have that fact in mind as I drove, reached the height of a rise, and saw directly in front of me what for all the world looked like a nuclear mushroom cloud over where the city of Tacoma was! It took me a few seconds to realize that it was just an ash cloud from St. Helens, but those were a very spicy few seconds.
I was working at the Boeing plant in south Seattle during the run-up to the final eruption. My route home from work was due south, pointing roughly in the direction of Mount St. Helens. I didn't have that fact in mind as I drove, reached the height of a rise, and saw directly in front of me what for all the world looked like a nuclear mushroom cloud over where the city of Tacoma was! It took me a few seconds to realize that it was just an ash cloud from St. Helens, but those were a very spicy few seconds.