Volcano Watch

The new lava dome inside Mount St. Helens' crater continues to grow, accompanied by small emissions of steam and volcanic gases. On Sunday morning, clouds obscured the mountain. Federal scientists planned no Sunday fieldwork near the volcano. A few earthquakes, ranging from magnitude 2.5 to 3 on the Richter scale, were recorded Saturday night, part of an ongoing pattern of frequent earthquakes. Scientists say such "swarms" of earth-quakes have occurred on several occasions during the past month and are not unusual.

     Closures: The U.S. Forest Service has prohibited access within a five-mile radius of the volcano. The Coldwater Ridge and Silver Lake visitor centers are on winter hours. At Coldwater, the visitor center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. Silver Lake is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. seven days a week. Johnston Ridge Observatory is closed for the winter. Major road closures include state Highway 504 at Coldwater Ridge and Forest Road 99 at the Wakepish Sno-Park. A full list of road and trail closures is available on the Mount St. Helens Information Hot Line at 360-891-5202.

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