wiser
06-30-2002, 02:30 PM
Yes, the river is blown out of shape. Previous reports regarding the cause seems to be erroneous. The following information and picture came to me from a hydrologist working in the area.
Some time around noon on Friday June 14 there was some event in the upper
Muddy Fork of the Sandy River. I believe it was a landslide on the valley
wall that reached the channel of the Muddy Fork and became a debris flow
and then travelled several miles down stream. I don't think it was a
glacial outburst flood. I'm not sure how the media got started on that. If
you recall we had some warm weather leading up to the 14th, and then a few
days later, Sunday night, the rain started. We had quite a bit of rain
Monday and some on Tuesday. The freezing level was low enough to allow 12
inches of snow on Mt. Hood. When I went out on Wednesday to look for the
source we narrowed it to the upper "north fork" of the Muddy Fork. The new
snow came down to about 6000 feet in that area and it may have hidden some
evidence, but it looked to me like there was a landslide at about 5400
feet. The debris flow continued down to about 3600 feet. Muddy water
continued far below that.
The media were contacting USGS but they didn't know much about it and were
contacting me to find out what I knew. By Wednesday night (when I finally
knew something) the story was "over" as far as the media was concerned.
Conditions will likely be the same when significant rains occur though the near future.
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/450313180.jpg http://www.ifish.net/uploads/450313180.jpg
[ 06-30-2002, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: Wiser? ]
Some time around noon on Friday June 14 there was some event in the upper
Muddy Fork of the Sandy River. I believe it was a landslide on the valley
wall that reached the channel of the Muddy Fork and became a debris flow
and then travelled several miles down stream. I don't think it was a
glacial outburst flood. I'm not sure how the media got started on that. If
you recall we had some warm weather leading up to the 14th, and then a few
days later, Sunday night, the rain started. We had quite a bit of rain
Monday and some on Tuesday. The freezing level was low enough to allow 12
inches of snow on Mt. Hood. When I went out on Wednesday to look for the
source we narrowed it to the upper "north fork" of the Muddy Fork. The new
snow came down to about 6000 feet in that area and it may have hidden some
evidence, but it looked to me like there was a landslide at about 5400
feet. The debris flow continued down to about 3600 feet. Muddy water
continued far below that.
The media were contacting USGS but they didn't know much about it and were
contacting me to find out what I knew. By Wednesday night (when I finally
knew something) the story was "over" as far as the media was concerned.
Conditions will likely be the same when significant rains occur though the near future.
http://www.ifish.net/uploads/450313180.jpg http://www.ifish.net/uploads/450313180.jpg
[ 06-30-2002, 02:58 PM: Message edited by: Wiser? ]