MOUNT ST. HELENS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Wash. -- Mount St. Helens blew steam into the sky again Monday, shooting a billowing white plume thousands of feet high in another reminder that the volcano could blow at any time.
Live pictures from KIRO 7 Eyewitness News showed the plume starting about 9:44 a.m. A thick, white cloud billowed and shrouded the volcano's summit, then wind slowly steered the cloud to the west.
Within 30 minutes or so, the cloud had dissipated and the summit was clearly visible again.
"This is more significant than (Friday's eruption) was," said KIRO 7 Eyewitness News South Sound Bureau Chief Richard Thompson. "It looks like it has a lot more volume to it."
Scientists stopped short of calling the steam burst an actual eruption, saying no volcanic material apparently was emitted. The steam did not threaten any structures near Mount St. Helens.
There was no seismic warning, and no earthquake activity following the event, said a University of Washington seismologist -- indicating magma worked its way to the surface virtually undetected until now.
"This can go on and on for weeks," said Bill Steele in a live interview with KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.
Scientists speculated the steam was due to hot rock coming into contact with ice and snow contained in the glacier.
"Now most of us are convinced there's fresh magma down there," hydrologist Carolyn Driedger said.
Jeff Wynn, chief scientist for volcano hazards in nearby Vancouver, Wash., said the lava dome within the crater had risen another 100 feet in the dome's southern area.
"Something is driving -- like a piston -- something is driving up. We believe it's magma. We believe new magma is involved. And new magma is potentially more gas rich and therefore more explosive," Wynn said.
Scientists did not expect much impact outside the remote, unpopulated area around the volcano in southwest Washington.
Monday's steam release followed a similar blast and 20-minute tremor late Sunday.
The volcano alert remained at Level Three, meaning an eruption is imminent.
Scientists said they did not expect anything close to the devastation of Mount St. Helen's May 18, 1980, explosion, which killed 57 people and coated much of the Northwest with ash.
The action at Mount St. Helens has drawn thousands of visitors to the monument, including Patricia Cusic of Live Oak, Fla., who arrived Saturday with her daughter, and her three grandchildren who live in Arlington.
"Now we can go home and say, 'Hey, we saw a volcano erupting!' This was a good time to come," Cusic said excitedly at the Coldwater Ridge Visitors Center, about 81/2 miles from the rim.
During the weekend, officials shut down areas closer to the mountain as a precaution. The Johnston Ridge Observatory, about five miles from the crater, was evacuated, and most air traffic was prohibited within a 5-mile radius of the volcano.
Copyright 2005 by KIROTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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