National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists in Portland, Oregon, assured people that Mount St. Helens was not erupting after clouds of ash became visible in the air.

"The winds are slowly in the process of subsiding as we go throughout the remainder of the day," NWS meteorologist David Bishop, who works at the Portland office, told Newsweek .

Why It Matters

Mount St. Helens, in Washington state's Skamania County, is among the most dangerous volcanos in the U.S. The volcano's eruption on May 18, 1980, was the deadliest volcanic eruption in U.S. history , killing 57 people, inflicting more than $1 billion in damage and destroying hundreds of homes.

What To Know

Strong winds were sending decades-old ash from the 1980 eruption aloft on Tuesday.

"Strong easterly–southeasterly wi

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