Known Geologic Events at Mount Rainier

The purpose of this page is to list all known, dated gelogic events at Mount Rainier, including lahars, debris flows, large rockfalls, large avalanches, rockfalls, and other events. This list is currently being compiled, so if you find errors or a missing event, please let Scott know.

Click on the event title to open more information about the event.

Type of Event: -- Show All -- Debris Flow Slope Failure Rockfall Avalanche Flood Unknown Outburst Flood Other Hydrologic Event Other Event Earthquake Location: -- Show All -- Backbone Ridge Carbon Glacier Cayuse Pass Chenuis Falls Chinook Pass Columbia Crest Comet Falls Cowlitz Chimneys Cowlitz Glacier Curtis Ridge Disappointment Cleaver Dry Creek Emmons Glacier Fryingpan Creek Inter Glacier Kautz Glacier Liberty Ridge Little Tahoma Peak Longmire Mildred Point Mother Mountain Mount Rainier National Park Mount Wow Muir Snowfield Nisqually Cirque Nisqually Cleaver Nisqually Glacier Nisqually Icefall Nisqually Vista Ohanapecosh Campground Other Paradise Valley Point Success Pyramid Creek Pyramid Glacier Ricksecker Point Russell Cliff Shaw Creek South Tahoma Glacier Stevens Canyon Stevens Creek Success Cleaver Tahoma Glacier Van Trump Creek Van Trump Glacier Wauhaukaupauken Falls Willis Wall Wilson Headwall Winthrop Creek Winthrop Glacier Order By: Event Date, Oldest to Newest Event Date, Newest to Oldest

171 geologic events are listed below... If you have witnessed a geologic event, please click here to add it to the database!

View Details	Event Date	Type of Event	Location	Event Name
	2024-08-17	Debris Flow	Tahoma Glacier	August 17, 2024 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	2024-05-03	Slope Failure	Cayuse Pass	2024 SR410 MP64.5 washout
	2024-02-25	Avalanche	Mildred Point	February 25, 2024 Mildred Point Avalanche
	2024-01-22	Avalanche	Mildred Point	January 22, 2024 Mildred Point Avalanche
	2023-12-05	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	December 5, 2023 Atmospheric River
	2023-11-04	Other Hydrologic Event	Kautz Glacier	Possible November 4 2023 Kautz Creek Debris Flow
	2023-08-26	Earthquake	Mount Rainier National Park	August 2023 West Rainier Seismic Zone Earthquake Swarm
	2023-08-15	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 15 2023 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	2023-07-20	Other Hydrologic Event	Tahoma Glacier	July 20, 2023 Hydrologic Anomaly
	2022-11-04	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	2022-11-04 Atmospheric River
	2022-08-31	Other Hydrologic Event	Kautz Glacier	August 31 2022 Kautz Creek Hydrologic Anomaly
	2022-07-25	Avalanche	Liberty Ridge	7/25/2022 Liberty Ridge Avalanche
	2021-11-12	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 11-12 2021 Pineapple Express/AR Storm
	2021-09-05	Unknown	Muir Snowfield	Possible September 5 Muir Snowfield Outburst Flood
	2021-06-28	Other Event	Mount Rainier National Park	Late July 2020 Extreme Heat Event
	2021-02-17	Earthquake	Point Success	February 2021 Minor Earthquake Swarm
	2020-08-09	Rockfall	Wilson Headwall	August 9 2020 Wilson Headwall Rockfall
	2020-07-16	Other Hydrologic Event	Van Trump Creek	July 2020 Van Trump Creek Hydrologic Anomaly
	2020-02-05	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	February 5-7, 2020 Atmospheric River Flooding Event
	2019-12-20	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	December 20, 2019 Atmospheric River
	2019-10-21	Rockfall	Chinook Pass	October 21 2019 Windy Point Rock Fall
	2019-09-26	Unknown	Mount Rainier National Park	September 26 2019 Geologic Event
	2019-09-26	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	September 26 2019 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	2019-09-07	Debris Flow	Dry Creek	September 7 2019 Dry Creek debris flow
	2019-08-13	Avalanche	Willis Wall	August 13 2019 Willis Wall Avalanche
	2019-08-05	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 5 2019 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	2019-06-13	Rockfall	Paradise Valley	2019 Paradise Valley Road Rockfall
	2019-06-02	Avalanche	Nisqually Cirque	June 2 2019 Nisqually Glacier Icefall
	2018-10-28	Rockfall	Stevens Canyon	October 28 2018 Stevens Canyon Road Rockfall
	2018-09-26	Avalanche	Nisqually Cirque	Nisqually Cirque Avalanche
	2018-09-05	Rockfall	Nisqually Icefall	September 5 2018 Nisqually Rock Fall
	2018-08-13	Rockfall	Comet Falls	August 13 2018 Van Trump Park Rockfall
	2018-08-04	Debris Flow	Winthrop Creek	August 4 2018 West Fork White River Debris Flow
	2018-08-01	Rockfall	Longmire	August 1 2018 Longmire Rockfall
	2018-07-31	Other Hydrologic Event		Late July 2018 Tahoma Creek Overbank Flooding
	2018-07-30	Unknown	Disappointment Cleaver	July 2018 Disappointment Cleaver fissures
	2018-06-06	Rockfall	Mount Rainier National Park	June 6 2018 Glacier Hill Rock Fall
	2017-11-21	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 21-23 2017 Flood
	2017-11-21	Outburst Flood	Emmons Glacier	November 21 2017 Possible Emmons Glacier Outburst Floods
	2017-10-22	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	October 2017 Flood
	2017-09-20	Earthquake	Mount Rainier National Park	September 2017 Earthquake Swarm
	2017-09-03	Unknown	Kautz Glacier	September 2017 Possible Kautz Glacier Hydrologic Event
	2017-08-03	Unknown	Kautz Glacier	August 2017 Possible Kautz Glacier Hydrologic Event
	2016-10-31	Unknown	Kautz Glacier	October 2016 Possible Kautz Glacier Hydrologic Event
	2016-10-25	Other Hydrologic Event	Kautz Glacier	October 2016 Possible Kautz Glacier Hydrologic Event
	2016-10-15	Debris Flow	Dry Creek	2016 Dry Creek Debris Flow
	2016-05-26	Rockfall	Nisqually Vista	2016 Nisqually Vista Area Landslide
	2015-10-30	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	October 2015 Flood
	2015-10-10	Debris Flow	Dry Creek	2015 Dry Creek Debris Flow
	2015-09-12	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	September 2015 South Tahoma Glacier Outburst Flood and Debris Flow
	2015-08-19	Rockfall	Success Cleaver	August 2015 Success Cleaver Rockfall
	2015-08-13	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 2015 South Tahoma Glacier Outburst Flood and Debris Flow
	2015-01-05	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	January 2015 Flood
	2015-01-05	Rockfall	Backbone Ridge	2015 Backbone Ridge Rockfall
	2014-11-25	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 2014 Flood
	2014-11-01	Rockfall	Mother Mountain	November 2014 Mother Mountain Rockslide
	2014-05-15	Rockfall	Mount Wow	2014 Mount Wow Rockfall
	2014-04-09	Unknown	Emmons Glacier	2014 Emmons Glacier Possible Winter Outburst Flood
	2014-02-28	Avalanche	Nisqually Cleaver	February 2014 Avalanche
	2012-10-27	Outburst Flood	Nisqually Glacier	October 2012 Nisqually Glacier Outburst Flood
	2012-02-22	Avalanche	Emmons Glacier	February 2012 Emmons Glacier Avalanche
	2012-02-19	Other Hydrologic Event	Carbon Glacier	February 2012 Carbon River Hydrologic Event
	2011-07-27	Rockfall	Nisqually Icefall	2011 Nisqually Ice Cliff Rockfalls
	2011-01-15	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	January 2011 Flood
	2010-09-16	Unknown	Ohanapecosh Campground	Possible Ohanapecosh Glacier Hydrologic Event
	2010-08-22	Rockfall	Curtis Ridge	2010 Curtis Ridge Rockfall
	2009-12-11	Earthquake	Mount Rainier National Park	2009 Earthquake Swarm
	2009-09-22	Earthquake	Mount Rainier National Park	September 2009 Earthquake Swarm
	2009-07-31	Rockfall	South Tahoma Glacier	2009 South Tahoma Glacier Rockfall
	2009-01-07	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	January 2009 Flood
	2008-11-12	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 2008 Flood
	2008-11-08	Rockfall	Ricksecker Point	November 2008 Ricksecker Point Landslide
	2007-12-04	Avalanche	Stevens Creek	December 2007 Stevens Creek Avalanche
	2007-12-03	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	December 2007 Flood
	2006-11-06	Debris Flow	Van Trump Glacier	2006 Van Trump Debris Flow
	2006-11-06	Debris Flow	Pyramid Creek	2006 Pyramid Creek Debris Flow
	2006-11-06	Debris Flow	Winthrop Glacier	2006 Winthrop Glacier Debris Flow
	2006-11-06	Debris Flow	Inter Glacier	2006 Inter Glacier Debris Flow
	2006-11-06	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	2006 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	2006-11-06	Debris Flow	Kautz Glacier	2006 Kautz Glacier Debris Flow
	2006-11-06	Flood	Fryingpan Creek	2006 Fryingpan Creek Flood
	2006-11-06	Flood	Carbon Glacier	2006 Carbon Glacier Flood
	2006-11-06	Flood	Cowlitz Glacier	2006 Cowlitz Glacier Debris Flow
	2006-11-06	Rockfall	Shaw Creek	2006 Shaw Creek Rockfall
	2006-11-06	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 2006 Flooding
	2006-10-07	Earthquake	Cowlitz Chimneys	October 2006 Cowlitz Chimneys Earthquake
	2005-09-29	Debris Flow	Van Trump Glacier	2005 Van Trump Creek Debris Flow
	2005-09-29	Debris Flow	Pyramid Glacier	2005 Pyramid Glacier Debris Flow
	2005-09-29	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	2005 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	2005-09-29	Debris Flow	Kautz Glacier	2005 Kautz Creek Debris Flow
	2005-09-29	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	September 29 2005 Flood
	2005-09-29	Outburst Flood	Carbon Glacier	Probable September 2009 Carbon Glacier Debris Flow
	2004-12-11	Flood	Carbon Glacier	December 2004 Carbon River Flood
	2004-11-07	Earthquake	Columbia Crest	November 7 2004 M3.2 Earthquake
	2004-05-31	Flood		May 2004 Tahoma Creek Hydrologic Event
	2003-10-20	Debris Flow	Van Trump Glacier	October 20 2003 Van Trump Creek Debris Flow
	2003-10-20	Debris Flow	Kautz Glacier	October 20 2003 Kautz Creek Debris Flow
	2003-10-20	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	October 20 2003 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	2003-10-07	Debris Flow	Dry Creek	October 2003 Dry Creek Debris Flow
	2003-09-12	Slope Failure	South Tahoma Glacier	2003 South Tahoma Glacier Slope Failure
	2001-08-14	Debris Flow	Kautz Glacier	2001 Kautz Creek Debris Flow
	2001-02-28	Earthquake	Other	2001 Nisqually Earthquake
	1999-11-25	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 1999 flooding
	1998-12-29	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	December 1998 Flooding
	1996-08-09	Debris Flow	Winthrop Glacier	August 1996 Winthrop Glacier Debris Flow
	1996-02-08	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	February 1996 Flooding
	1995-11-28	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 1995 Floods
	1993-07-31	Other Hydrologic Event	South Tahoma Glacier	1993 Tahoma Creek Flood or Debris Flow
	1992-09-20	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	September 20 1992 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1992-09-08	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	September 8 1992 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1991-11-05	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	1991 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1990-11-25	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 1990 Flooding
	1990-10-03	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	October 1990 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1990-08-04	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 1990 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1989-11-09	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	November 1989 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1989-10-11	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	October 11 1989 Flood
	1989-09-23	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	September 1989 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1989-08-16	Rockfall	Russell Cliff	1989 Russell Cliff Rockfall
	1988-10-22	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	October 22 1988 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1988-10-16	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	October 16 1988 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1988-07-26	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	July 26 1988 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1988-07-14	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	July 14 1988 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1987-11-01	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	November 1987 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1987-10-01	Flood	Carbon Glacier	1987 Carbon River Flood Damage
	1987-09-23	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	September 1987 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1987-08-31	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 31 1987 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1987-08-28	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 28 1987 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1987-08-09	Debris Flow	Winthrop Glacier	1987 Winthrop Glacier Debris Flow
	1987-06-29	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	June 1987 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1987-06-22	Other Hydrologic Event	Nisqually Glacier	1987 Nisqually Glacier Hydrologic Event
	1986-11-01	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 1986 Flooding
	1986-10-26	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	1986 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1986-09-04	Debris Flow	Kautz Glacier	1989 Kautz Glacier Debris Flow
	1986-06-22	Other Hydrologic Event	Nisqually Glacier	1986 Nisqually Glacier Hydrologic Event
	1985-07-18	Debris Flow	Kautz Glacier	1985 Kautz Glacier Debris Flow
	1982-11-01	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	1982 Flooding
	1981-08-15	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 1981 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1980-12-28	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	December 20-28 1980 Flooding
	1980-09-21	Outburst Flood	South Tahoma Glacier	September 1980 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1979-08-01	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	July-August 1979 Tahoma Creek Debris Flows
	1977-12-02	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	Early December 1977 Flooding
	1976-07-03	Outburst Flood	Nisqually Glacier	July 1976 Nisqually Glacier Outburst Flood
	1975-09-15	Debris Flow	Van Trump Creek	1975 Kautz and Van Trump Debris Flow
	1974-01-15	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	January 1974 Floods
	1972-07-14	Outburst Flood	Nisqually Glacier	1972 Nisqually River Flood
	1971-08-10	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 1971 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1970-08-21	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 1970 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1970-07-04	Outburst Flood	Nisqually Glacier	1970 Nisqually Glacier Hydrologic Event
	1968-07-01	Outburst Flood	South Tahoma Glacier	Summer 1968 Tahoma Creek Hydrologic Events
	1968-06-02	Outburst Flood	Nisqually Glacier	1968 Nisqually River Flood
	1967-09-15	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	September 1967 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1967-08-31	Debris Flow	South Tahoma Glacier	August 31 1967 Tahoma Creek Debris Flow
	1967-08-29	Outburst Flood	South Tahoma Glacier	August 29 1967 Tahoma Creek Outburst Flood
	1963-12-14	Rockfall	Little Tahoma Peak	1963 Little Tahoma Rockfall
	1962-11-20	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 1962 Flooding
	1961-08-23	Debris Flow	Kautz Glacier	1961 Kautz Creek Debris Flow
	1959-11-22	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 1959 Flood
	1955-10-25	Debris Flow	Nisqually Glacier	1955 Nisqually Glacier Debris Flow
	1955-10-25	Flood	Carbon Glacier	October 1955 Carbon River Flooding
	1952-09-01	Flood	Chenuis Falls	September 1952 Carbon River Flood
	1951-02-09	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	February 1951 Flooding
	1947-11-08	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	November 1947 Floods
	1947-10-02	Outburst Flood	Nisqually Glacier	1947 Nisqually River Outburst Flood
	1947-10-02	Debris Flow	Kautz Glacier	1947 Kautz Creek Mudflow
	1945-12-28	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	December 1945 Floods
	1934-10-25	Debris Flow	Nisqually Glacier	1934 Nisqually Glacier Debris Flow
	1934-10-25	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	October 1934 Flooding
	1933-10-09	Flood	Mount Rainier National Park	October 1933 Flooding
	1932-10-14	Debris Flow	Nisqually Glacier	1932 Nisqually Glacier Debris Flow
	1926-10-16	Debris Flow	Nisqually Glacier	1926 Nisqually Glacier Debris Flow
	1894-12-24	Unknown	Columbia Crest	Possible 1894 Phreatic Eruption

Data references:

Beason, S.R., 2012, Small glacial outburst flood occurs on Mount Rainier - October 27, 2012: Unpublished National Park Service Science Brief, 3 p.
Beason, S.R., et al., in prep, Glacial outburst floods and debris flows from the South Tahoma Glacier, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington: August and September, 2015: National Park Service Natural Resource Report NPS/MORA/NRR-2015/XXX.
Copeland, E.A., 2010, Recent periglacial debris flows from Mount Rainier, Washington: M.S. Thesis, Oregon State University, 125 p.
Copeland, E.A., P.M. Kennard, A.W. Nolin, S.T. Lanscaster and G.E. Grant, 2008, Initiation of recent debris flows on Mount Rainier, Washington: A climate warming signal? American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Crandell, D.R., 1971, Postglacial lahars from Mt. Rainier volcano, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 677, 75 p.
Donovan, K.H.M, 2005, An investigation into the 2003 Van Trump Creek debris flow, Mt. Rainier, Washington, United States of America: BSc Geological Hazards Thesis, University of Portsmouth (UK), 58 p.
Driedger, C.L. and A.G. Fountain, 1989, Glacier outburst floods at Mout Rainier, Washington State, USA: Anals of Glaciology, Vol. 13, 5 p.
Hodge, S., 1972, The movement and basal conditions of the Nisqually Glacier, Mount Rainier: Ph.D Thesis, Univeristy of Washington, xxx p.
Legg, N.T., 2013, Debris flows in glaciated catchments: A case study on Mount Rainier, Washington: M.S. Thesis, Oregon State University, 162 p.
Legg, N.T., A.J. Meigs, G.E. Grant and P.M. Kennard, 2014, Debris flow initiation in proglacial gullies on Mount Rainier, Washington: Geomorphology, Vol. 226, p. 249-260.
Richardson D., 1968, Glacier outburst floods in the Pacific Northwest: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 600-D, D79-D86.
Samora, B., 1991, Chronology of flood events as noted in the superintendent's annual reports 1940-1991, Unpublished Internal Document, Mount Rainier National Park, WA, 13 p.
Scott, K.M., J.W. Vallance, and P.T. Pringle, 1995, Sedimentology, behavior, and hazards of debris flows at Mount Rainier, Washington: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1547, 56 p.
Vallance, J.W., C.L. Driedger and W.E. Scott, 2002, Diversion of meltwater from Kautz Glacier initiates small debris flows near Van Trump Park, Mount Rainier, Washington: Washington Geology, Vol. 30, No. 1/2, p. 17-19.
Vallance, J.W., M.L. Cunico and S.P. Schilling, 2003, Debris-flow hazards caused by hydrologic events at Mount Rainier, Washington: United States Geological Survey Open-File Report 2003-368, 4 p.
Walder, J.S. and C.L. Driedger, 1994, Geomorphic changed caused by outburst floods and debris flows at Mount Rainier, Washington, with emphasis on Tahoma Creek valley: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 93-4093, 100 p.
Walder, J.S. and C.L. Driedger, 1994, Rapid geomorphic change caused by glacial outburst floods and debris flows along Tahoma Creek, Mount Rainier, Washington, USA: Arctic and Alpine Research, Vol. 26, No. 4, p. 319-327.
Walder, J.S. and C.L. Driedger, 1995, Frequent outburst floods from South Tahoma Glacier, Mount Rainier, USA: relation to debris flows, meterological origin and implications for subglacial hydrology: Journal of Glaciology, Vol. 41, No. 137, 11 p.