Snow Avalanche Extremes and Climate for Northern Utah in the late 19th Century
Topics:
Keywords: Snow avalanches, mountains, avalanche climatology
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract
Authors:
Cary Mock, University of South Carolina
Grace Hamilton, University of South Carolina
Hannah Poellien, University of South Carolina
Peter Sutton, University of South Carolina
Julianne Warren, University of South Carolina
Karl Birkeland, U.S. Forest Service
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Abstract
This presentation examined extreme snow avalanche fatalities and characteristics, as well as synoptic weather patterns for Northern Utah in the late 19th century. The study period corresponds to a prominent period of mining activity in Utah, when miners were quite susceptible to snow avalanche hazard, particularly in the town of Alta, Utah in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Historical avalanche data comprised of a few thousand newspaper accounts, as well as some limited personal diaries, and weather data comprised of volunteer observers, fort data, and Signal Service data from valley floor locations. In addition, synoptic weather data were examined from plots via the 20th Century Reanalysis Dataset for the North Pacific and Western North America. Results reveal hundreds of specific avalanche accidents and fatalities, with prominent accidents and peaks in the 1870s and 1880s. Numerous avalanche events relate with severe abnormal continental and coastal avalanche winter characteristics, deviating from typical intermountain events (e.g., Mock and Birkeland 2000). The synoptic climate context correspond to conditions generally typical of Late Little Ice Age activity, which is not seen nearly as prominent in the modern record.
Snow Avalanche Extremes and Climate for Northern Utah in the late 19th Century
Category
Poster Abstract
