For weeks volcanic ash covered the landscape around the volcano and for several hundred miles downwind to the east. Noticeable ash fell in eleven states. The total volume of ash (before its compaction by rainfall) was approximately 0.26 cubic miles (1.01 cubic kilometers), or, enough ash to cover a football field to a depth of 150 miles (240 kilometers). In this photograph, a helicopter stirs up ash while trying to land in the devastated area.
