Will Mt. St. Helens erupt out the side of the top the next time it erupts and is there an estimated time?

Answer 1

Here is today's (nov 5) status report on St. Helen's from USGS: [not copyrighted].
MOUNT ST. HELENS UPDATE

Current Volcano Alert Level WATCH ; Aviation Color Code ORANGE : Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continues, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash. During such eruptions, changes in the level of activity can occur over days to months. The eruption could intensify suddenly or with little warning and produce explosions that cause hazardous conditions within several miles of the crater and farther downwind. Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard along the river channel upstream.

Potential ash hazards: Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that any ash clouds rising above the crater rim today would drift eastward.

Potential ash hazards to aviation: Under current eruptive conditions, small, short-lived explosions may produce ash clouds that exceed 30,000 feet in altitude. Ash from such events can travel 100 miles or more downwind.

Recent observations: The volcano is not visible today owing to clouds and heavy rain. Anecdotal reports and signals recorded on acoustic flow monitors on Saturday night suggest that the rains triggered debris flows that descended both the South Fork Toutle River and North Fork Toutle River, but these remain unconfirmed by field checking yet.

Answer 2

We don't know when, but earthquake and extra gas emissions will give us warning.

Since it is still growing now in a constructive eruption, it is hard to know how (which direction) it will erupt next time, because the shape is changing.