Here's why Mount Baker got all steamed up last weekend

Mount Baker hiccuped on Saturday morning, but such belches of gas and steam are an everyday occurrence — even though a big white plume atop the active volcano drew the attention of many awestruck Bellingham-area residents.

"The crater degasses all day, every day," said Dave Tucker, a board member of the Mount Baker Volcano Research Center and a research associate in the Geology Department at Western Washington University.

"(It's) sometimes visible, sometimes not. But gas clouds are always present. I saw a tiny plume myself on Saturday," Tucker said.