Todd's Take: May 18th, 1980 - A Date That Lives in Infamy
Where were you when the mountain blew? I was around 9 1/2 years old and keenly aware of the possibility of a volcanic eruption as it was being broadcast on national, as well as local news, on an almost nightly basis. May 18th, 1980 was a Sunday. I remember playing outside before having to be drug to Sunday School when a neighbor kid came over and said, " Our friends from Castle Rock just called and said the mountain blew!" Living in West Valley (Yakima) gave us a pretty good view of the Cascade mountains, so my dad jumped onto the roof of our house and - sure enough - he could see a plume of ...