After nearly two years, the camera at the site of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption is back online.
Steven Friederich, public information officer for the Washington Emergency Management Division, said the camera came online a couple of weeks ago after power was restored for the first time in nearly two years following a landslide that damaged a portion of Spirit Lake Memorial Highway in 2023.
Friederich said the camera is located at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, north of Mount St. Helens, and provides different viewpoints to monitor the volcano as well as give people from all over the world the opportunity to view the scene.
The images refresh every five minutes and are from a United States Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory research camera, according to the United States Geological Survey’s website.
“While there are many, many monitors on Mount St. Helens, having a camera just gives a visual perspective,” Friederich said in an email.
People cannot visit the site of the camera in person.
Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, also known as State Route 504, is closed at milepost 45.2 due to a landslide that dropped over 300,000 cubic yards of debris onto the roadway, damaging a bridge to Johnston Ridge Observatory. According to the Washington state Department of Transportation, access to the road will not be available until 2027.
View the camera’s footage at www.usgs.gov/media/webcams/johnston-ridge-observatory-mount-st-helens.
