Some Pacific Northwesterners woke Tuesday to an unusual sight: A smoky haze shrouded Mount St. Helens , the large, active stratovolcano in Washington state that erupted catastrophically in 1980. But a new eruption was not to blame for the foggy scene this week, scientists said. Instead, ash from the blast that occurred 45 years ago had suddenly begun to swirl around the mountain.

Strong winds in the area caused the decades-old debris to circulate, according to the United States Geological Survey and forecasters in Portland, which is about 50 miles away from the summit of Mount St. Helens across the Oregon border.

"Mt. Saint Helens is NOT erupting," Portland's National Weather Service office assured in a social media post Tuesday. "Volcanic Ash from the 1980s is being lofted bac

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