Lava lobe rising quickly inside volcano’s crater

The new lava lobe inside Mount St. Helens’ crater has sprouted a pistonlike protrusion the size of a 30-story building – glowing red at night.

“The magma is pushing the plug upward. It’s going high in the sky,” said hydrologist Carolyn Driedger of the U.S. Geological Survey at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, about 50 miles from the southwest Washington mountain.

One section of the new lobe has risen by 330 feet in the past nine days, Driedger said.

“The whole area is lifting or rising,” she said. Exact dimensions are not yet known but will be determined from photos taken Thursday.

“It seems like every time you think you know what’s going on, (the volcano) twists and does something different,” said Jeff Wynn, chief scientist for volcano hazards at the observatory.

Two scientists flew into the crater by helicopter Thursday and landed beside the new structure, under strict orders to stay no longer than 10 minutes to collect samples, he said.

The new lobe, which began building last month, had grown to roughly the size of an aircraft carrier. Scientists described it as 900 feet long, 250 feet wide and 230 feet high.

Magma, or molten rock, is reaching the surface at the rate of 7 to 8 cubic meters per second – or about one large dump truck load every second, Wynn said.