Seismic Data Records 15 Minute Long Avalanche on Mount Hood
Avalanches usually run for a few minutes max, but large propagating slides, like the one recorded on Mount Hood on March 14th, can run for quite a bit longer.
According to the Northwest Avalanche Center, a series of storms that brought 11 inches of precipitation to the Mt. Hood area in less than a week were able to cause quite a bit of damage around the mountain. New snow stacked up over a crust that was buried on March 8th, and while much of precipitation began as snow, it did turn into a few inches of rain toward the end of the cycle.
Seismic data from the United States Geological Survey is able to show how large these avalanches were and how long they lasted, in addition to showing the general location. Crews with the SUGS pinpointed and documented some of the very large avalanches after the storms slowed down.
One of the most impressive avalanches released on March 14th, running for a total of 15 minutes according to the seismic data. It was a widely propagating slab, breaking at roughly 9,800 feet on the Wy’East Face before ripping through Clark Canyon and stopping at 5,300 feet.
This was one of the biggest slides that occurred during the mid-March storm period, but there were several other massive avalanches reported around the canyons and on the north side of Mt. Hood.
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