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#: 64
Date: Sunday, October 16, 1988
Location: South Tahoma Glacier
Glacier Name: South Tahoma Glacier
Drainage Basin: Tahoma Creek
Event Type: Debris Flow
Weather:
Cool and very rainy
Season: Wet
Notes:
The seismograph from Longmire showed debris flow signals between 05:30 and 06:02 and 14:53 and 15:43. Park ranger J. Wilcox observed one of these flows. Deposits locally exceeded 8 m in thickness near river km 7.7. Mud lines showed there had been a rise in stage of about 5 m at river km 6.5. On the basis of superelevation on trees, J.J. Major and C.L. Driedger, USGS, estimated peak discharge of 600 m3/s near river km 6.0. Westside Road was seriously damaged. At the highway bridge, water level rose about 1 m; after flow had returned to ambient level, the stream bed was seen to be littered with tree trunks, causing concern about bridge safety. Sunshine Point Campground near the confluence with the Nisqually River was closed because of potential flood hazard.
*** From Nov 2 Memo re: Observations of Recent Flood Events on Upper Tahoma Creek and Nisqually River ***
Eye-witness account of flood surge on the afternoon of October 16, 1988
NPS Ranger John Wilcox observed a high water event from a vantage point on the Westside Road near the road barricades east of Mt. Wow. He judges that at 3:45 p.m. about one-half of Tahoma Creek's flow was moving down the center of the Westside Road (at the location of previous washouts). The flow jointed [sic] Fish Creek and ponded against the road embankment. Most of the water flowed through a culvert, but some flowed over the road and stranded rounded boulders up to one-half meter in diameter. Fifteen minutes later, this channel was dry.
About 1 km downvalley, Tahoma Creek was establishing a new channel at the base of the road embankment. The flow undermined the embankment and broke off half-meter sections of the road at a time and fractured that remaining with concentric cracks. At one point, the channel changed direction over the course of only one or two minutes and left one or two cuts high and dry. Wilcox judged that the flow was water for the most part, and it transported large boulders and logs. One large boulder that slide into the mainflow showed that water depth was about 2m. By 4:15 p.m., the channel was carrying only about one-eighth its previous discharge. NPS staff members Bill Dengler and John Wilcomx videotaped approximately twenty minutes of streamflow and related activity near the end of the event.
***NEWS ARTICLE FOUND ON PAUL'S DRIVE***
Seattle Times, Oct 19, 1988
Title: Gusher from a glacier wrecks Rainier roadway
Associated Press
ASHFORD, Pierce County - A torrent of water, mud, sand and boulders from the South Tahoma Glacier has brought more major damage to the West Side Road in Mount Rainier National Park
All but about three miles of the road have been closed since a gusher in July, and park officials said they know of no one who was trapped or injured by the repeat performance over the weekend.
The earlier flood of water and rock buried part of the road in boulders, mud and car-sized chunks of ice.
The latest outburst on Sunday [Oct 16, 1988] eroded the road in three places and caused huge stress cracks, said park spokesman Cy Hentges.
Lost in the torrent was government flood recording equipment, complicating efforts to find a way to protect the road to Lake George, Klapatche Park, Emerald Ridge and other popular hiking areas.
The gusher poured down the Tahoma Creek bed, leaving boulders to a depth of 30 feet, said Chuck Swift, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Tacoma.
"It must have been something to see," Swift said.
Swift said USGS scientists believe that outbursts occur when rocks, mud, sand and water are caught beneath the glacier burst out like a powerful flash flood, but he added that heavy rain might have figured into the one Sunday.
Estimated Velocity:
Estimated Peak Flow: 600 m3/s (21,189 ft3/s)
Estimated Volume:
References:
Walder and Driedger (1994) (Page 81)
Scott et al. (1995)
Legg (2015)
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.