Mount St. Helens VolcanoCams
Welcome!
Welcome to the home of the Mount St. Helens VolcanoCams.
We have been providing near real-time images of Mount St. Helens since the late 1990s. The near real-time images of Mount St. Helens are taken from the Johnston Ridge Observatory (JRO) using two VolcanoCam High Definition cameras. The (JRO) and VolcanoCams are located at an elevation of approximately 4,200 feet, about five miles from the volcano. The cameras look approximately south-southeast across the North Fork Toutle River Valley.
VolcanoCamHD One
- This is a near real-time view of Mount St. Helens taken from our new high definition camera. The new camera was installed in June, 2014.
- You must manually refresh your browser to see the latest image. Use this keyboard key combination to force your web browser to do a "deep refresh" appropriate for your computer's operating system:
- Windows <CTRL>-<F5>
- Mac/Apple: Apple + R or command + R
- Linux: F5
Some Camera Details
- This is a high definition camera using H.264 compression. This camera has the capability to offer live streaming. However, our current bandwidth limitations and government security requirements do not allow for live streaming right now.
- Maximum resolution: 2560x1944 pixels. We have deliberately set the resolution on maximum.
- Camera Lens: 4 - 8mm, 90°-47° wide, Auto Iris and Manual Focus/Zoom.
- Camera Focus and Zoom: Manual. Wind vibration is causing the camera to slow drift in and out of focus. The zoom function is also manual.
- Camera View: We want to show the greater foreground of Mount St. Helens in the image where you can see the 30 plus years of erosion.
Rotating Images Archive
New camera images update to the server every three minutes. However, with network latency, images posted here may not refresh as often. You can view the last ten images from this camera in a constantly updating image archives.
VolcanoCamHD Two
- This is a near real-time view of Mount St. Helens taken from our older high definition camera. This camera was originally installed in 2007.
- You must manually refresh your browser to see the latest image. Use this keyboard key combination to force your web browser to do a "deep refresh" appropriate for your computer's operating system:
- Windows <CTRL>-<F5>
- Mac/Apple: Apple + R or command + R
- Linux: F5
Some Camera Details
- This is a high definition camera that has been operating since 2007.
- Maximum resolution: 2048x1536 pixels. We have deliberately set the resolution at 1024x768 pixels.
- Camera Lens :8-48mm, 45°-8°, Motorized Zoom/Iris/Focus.
- Camera Focus and Zoom: Auto-focus. We are able to control the zoom from our base in Vancouver.
- Camera View:The top of the image is partially obscured by the building eaves overhang. The bottom of the image is partially obscured by the external camera housing. The top and bottom issues are caused by the lens and an internal camera mount that has come loose.
Rotating Images Archive
New camera images update to the server every three minutes. However, with network latency, images posted here may not refresh as often. You can view the last ten images from this camera in a constantly updating image archives.
VolcanoCams Support
No federal tax funds were used in the purchase of the VolcanoCam cameras and associated hardware. All funding comes from donations managed on our behalf by Discover Your Northwest.
Discover Your Northwest is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (PDF document warning) social enterprise based in Seattle, and are licensed to operate in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, and Montana.
Discover Your Northwest promotes the discovery of Northwest public lands, enriches the experience of visitors, and encourages stewardship of these special places today and for generations to come. Discover Your Northwest passionately believes in the people-value of Northwest public lands and are dedicated to ensuring that our public lands are places of education, recreation, and inspiration for everyone.
Discover Your Northwest are proud to be partners with the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers, City of Seattle Parks and Recreation, and Washington State Parks.
VolcanoCams Status and News
- 06 February 2018 - The MSH VolcanoCams have returned!! After jumping through a number of enhanced security hoops we finally restored VolcanoCam images to the site. We apologize for the inconvenience.
- 06 February 2018 - Our older VolcanoCam is showing an incorrect time stamp. The configuration switches to properly set the time do not "stick." We will continue to troubleshoot the problem. If we cannot correct the error we may disable the time stamp on the image.
- Internet Explorer users sometimes report issues with this web site. The problem rests with IE and not with this site. Contact the VolcanoCam Webmaster if you experience IE issues.
Contact Us
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
(Mailing Address):
501 E. 5th St., #404
Vancouver, WA 98661
360-891-5000
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument Headquarters
42218 N.E. Yale Bridge Rd.
Amboy, WA 98601
360-449-780
Online Web Form
You may contact the VolcanoCam Webmaster directly using our online form. Please understand that not all queries may receive an answer, but rest assured every email sent to us via the web form is read by the VolcanoCam webmaster. That said our goal is to personally respond to every query, as time permits.