MT. ST. HELENS, Wash. -- No, Mt. St. Helens is not erupting, but to many in Washington and northern Oregon , it sure looked like the volcano had suddenly reawakened Tuesday afternoon as strong winds stirred up leftover ash from the historic eruption 45 years ago.

I mages from web cameras monitoring the volcano showed plumes of ash drifting around the crater and surrounding area of the volcano nestled in the southern Washington Cascades.

"There is no change in Volcano Alert Level or Aviation Color Code at this time," the U.S. Geological Survey reassured nearby residents . "Mount St. Helens remains at normal, background levels of activity."

A strong thermal trough is parked over western Washington, drawing in strong easterly winds across the Cascades Tuesday and stirring up the decades-ol

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