On March 27, 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. A series of phreatic blasts occurred from the summit and escalated until a major explosive eruption took place on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am. The eruption, which had a volcanic explosivity index of 5, was the first to occur in the contiguous United States since the much smaller 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California. It has often been declared the most disastrous volcanic eruption in U.S. history.
I was living on St. John when the volcano on Montserrat blew in 1995. Even though we were 250 miles away, the skies were filled with volcanic ash for a week. Combining that with the Sahara dust that blows over from Africa every year at the same time, you couldn't see a cloud in the sky if there was one. That was the worst humidity I have ever experienced. We ended up wearing masks for a week. The only relief available to us was to sit in a bar and drink heavily every day. That's exactly what we did.
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