In 1980, the science of predicting when volcanoes might erupt was a seat-of-the-pants kind of thing. Don Swanson, one of the young hotshot volcanologists flown into Washington state by the U.S.

Government scientists confirmed Mount St. Helens is not erupting despite recent concerns. Commercial pilots reported seeing what they believed to be ash near the volcano. Strong winds are lifting old ...

Everybody saw the eruption coming. Nobody could have predicted how bad it would be. The devastating eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, was a global event in more ways than one: As ash from ...