Mount St. Helens looked like it was erupting. It’s old volcanic ash

Mount St. Helens looked like it might be erupting again.

Commercial pilots flying in the area Tuesday reported clouds of fine volcanic ash rising into the air above the collapsed dome of the Cascades’ youngest and most active volcano.

The plume, reminiscent of the stratovolcano’s catastrophic eruption in 1980, was captured by the Johnston Ridge Observatory webcam.

But it was no explosion, luckily.

Strong easterly-southeasterly winds picked up loose volcanic ash that was deposited during the 1980 eruption, the U.S. Geological Survey said, resuspending it over the once decimated landscape. The phenomenon is the result of high winds and dry snow-free conditions.

The federal agency assured that there was no volcanic activity and that alert levels remained normal.

Mount St. Helens erupted