In case you haven't heard, the USGS has reported earthquake swarms near Mt. St. Helens over recent weeks. Have you ever wondered how Twin Falls would be affected if Mt. St. Helens erupted again? The best way to estimate this is to look back at what happened in 1980.

The earthquake activity intensified on Friday leading the USGS to post the following information on Facebook.

This could all lead to nothing eventful for quite some time. But, what if it did? In case you weren't around back in 1980, here's the path of the ash cloud back then.

USGS, Rice University
USGS, Rice University
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Idaho only saw trace amounts of ash from the 1980 eruption and very little came anywhere close to the Magic Valley. Unless the magnitude of a future eruption greatly eclipsed the 1980 blast, we would likely not having any direct effects. But, that also depends on winds and the jet stream at the time.

Let's put it this way. We're close enough that at the very least we should pay attention to what's happening with the volcanoes in Washington. Oh, and let's hope the USGS is right about all this recent activity probably not pointing to anything imminent.

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