Event reporting on Mount Saint Helens SNOTEL, flexibility for the future

The eruption of Mount Saint Helens on May 18, 1980 demonstrated the need for an event identification system to monitor changes in the snowpack caused by either meteorological or volcanic contributions. An event system was developed and installed on Mount Saint Helens that demonstrated both the flexibility and expandability of the Soil Conservation Services' Snow Telemetry System (SNOTEL). With minor modifications, as demonstrated by the Mount Saint Helens event system, there is a potential for an addition to the SNOTEL system. The flexibility of the system shows different data needs can be solved by use of the SNOTEL system.