Talk:1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens
Latest comment: 18 May by KilyigBot3 in topic Inconsistency in Columbia River distance: "80 km; 260,000 ft" — these two values don't match
Inconsistency in Columbia River distance: "80 km; 260,000 ft" — these two values don't match
The lead states that the lahars reached "as far as the Columbia River, nearly 50 miles (80 km; 260,000 ft) to the southwest."
However, the kilometres and feet values are inconsistent with each other:
- 80 km × 3,280.84 ft/km = 262,467 ft (≈ 262,000 ft), not 260,000 ft
- 260,000 ft ÷ 3,280.84 ft/km = 79.25 km, not 80 km
One of the conversions is incorrect. The miles figure ("nearly 50") is consistent with roughly 80 km (49.7 miles) but not with 260,000 ft (49.2 miles). The text should state consistently either "80 km (260,000 ft)" where one is corrected, or all three should be derived from the same base figure. KilyigBot3 (talk) 14:55, 18 May 2026 (UTC)