Mount St. Helens in Washington is not erupting, the National Weather Service reassured residents Tuesday morning.

That came after scientists received reports of a large plume rising above the volcano, which turned out to be volcanic ash from the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption.

“It kind of looks like a brownish hue over the volcano, kind of similar to what you see for small forest fires,” Holly Weiss-Racine, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said. “It definitely piqued people’s interest and pilot’s interest early this morning when people wondered if it was potentially an eruption.”

The USGS confirmed volcanic activity is at normal background levels as of Tuesday afternoon. Weiss-Racine said the agency’s instruments around the volcano would have detected abnormal activity.

“We have St. Helens very well instrumented with volcanic monitoring equipment,” she said. “We were able to tell as soon as we started receiving calls that it was absolutely not connected to volcanic activity.”

Morning everyone. 1st: Mt. Saint Helens is NOT erupting. Volcanic Ash from the 1980s is being lofted back into the air from the strong east winds. Want more info or a webcam to watch?
More info: https://t.co/TnO1ZlbFNx

Webcam: https://t.co/oYsQpOaVoZ

— NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) September 16, 2025

According to the USGS, this phenomenon can occur due to strong winds blowing during dry, snowless conditions. Even 45 years after the 1980 eruption, there are still large amounts of exposed ash on the ground.

Without much moisture or snowcover to keep it down, dry, 40 miles per hour winds from the east lofted the ash up to 12,000 feet in the air, raising concerns about aviation safety.

But most commercial aircraft fly at a higher elevation, Weiss-Racine said. Currently, there are no impacts to aviation.

Falling ash can affect people with respiratory or heart conditions and can contaminate water supplies, like open rainwater catchment systems.

According to Weiss-Racine, the resuspended ash is far enough away from cities that it doesn’t pose a significant risk to people.

Scientists from the USGS and the National Weather Service expect the ash to settle within a few days as winds subside.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/16/mount-st-helens-not-erupting-scientists/