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.
Database ID#: 94
Date: Sunday, November 25, 1990
Location: Mount Rainier National Park
Glacier Name: None
Drainage Basin:
Event Type: Flood
Weather:
Season: Wet
Notes:
From Samora (1991):
November, 1990 extensive damage from heavy rains that caused severe damage throughout most of western Washington. November 21-25, 14.38" rain at Paradise (the highest mean 24 hr. value was 5.72" on 11/24; the 40 yr. mean for Paradise for the entire month of November is 14.54").
Damaged facilities included Longmire dike, Kautz Creek Bridge, Tahoma Creek Bridge, West Side Road, washouts and rockslides on Stevens Canyon Road, general road shoulder/ditch washouts and pavement damage parkwide. Also Ohanapecosh campground access road, Cheunuis Falls parking area, numerous footlog bridges on trails throughout the park.
Peak Flows:
Carbon River - 13,000 cfs (41.48 yr RI)
Nisqually River - 11000 cfs (6.17 yr RI)
From Carbon River EA:
"In November 1990, fourteen inches of rain fell in five days. According to Catton (1996:569), resultant flooding damaged the dike at Longmire, undermined bridge abutments at Kautz Creek, damaged the riprap protection above and below the Tahoma Creek bridge, washed out sections of the West Side Road at and above Fish Creek, damaged the Stevens Canyon Road below Bench Lake, and wiped out a turnout on the Carbon River Road at Chenuis Falls. A turnout at Chenuis Falls was destroyed by Flood Waters (NPS 2006a:18,60). Chenuis was rebuilt by the park as an expanded turnout retained by riprap to accommodate a picnic area."
From Catton 1996:569:
"The worst damage to roads and bridges in recent years occurred in November 1990, when fourteen inches of rain fell in five days. The flooding damaged the dike at Longmire, undermined the bridge abutments at Kautz Creek, damaged the riprap protection above and below the Tahoma Creek Bridge, washed out sections of the Westside Road at and above Fish Creek, damaged the Stevens Canyon Road below Bench Lake, and wiped out a turnout on the Carbon River Road at Chenuis Falls. The estimated cost of repairs was $2,177,450; the park received a mere $487,814 (Ref: Superintendent's Annual Reports, 1990-1991, Administrative Files, File H2623). Consequently the Westside Road was closed at Fish Creek."
Estimated Velocity:
Estimated Peak Flow:
Estimated Volume:
References:
Samora (1991)
Carbon River EA
NPS 2006a:18,60 in Carbon River EA
Catton 1996
Superintendent Annual Report 1990-1991
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.