Volcano Watch

Weather permitting, U.S. Geological Survey scientists plan to fly over the volcano next week to measure gas emissions, determine temperatures on the emerging lava dome and take a new set of aerial photographs. No field work was planned Saturday. The mountain was partly obscured by clouds Saturday morning, but ash from the Jan.16 explosion was visible on the south and east crater walls.

    A 17-minute steam and ash eruption Jan. 16 destroyed a pair of instruments that scientists had placed on and near the new lava dome on Jan. 14. Scientists this week said they had calculated the new magma-driven uplift of rock, glacial ice and lava to be 44 million cubic yards in mass more than a third the size of the lava dome that took six years to ooze from the crater's surface in the 1980s. A lava cap sitting atop the entire uplift now measures about 1,500 feet north to south, 1,300 feet east to west and more than 400 feet vertically.

    Hazard status: Alert Level 2, second on a three-point scale.

    Closures: The U.S. Forest Service prohibits public access in a five-mile radius around the volcano. At Coldwater Ridge, the visitors center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. The Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Major road closures include state Highway 504 at the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center and Forest Road 99 at the Wakepish Sno-Park. A complete list of all road and trail closures is available by visiting the Gifford Pinchot National Forest's Web site at www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/.

 columbian