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Summary: 280,000 areas of burned out areas of steep hills and mountains above populated areas as 2-6 inches of rain falls in a short time When: Monday and Tuesday Where: southern CA burn scar areas including the huge 440 sq mile Thomas burn scar in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties , also the Creek fire burn scar Discussion: The largest fire in CA history is almost fully contained. A strong wet storm system will be moving into the area...with 1-3 inches likely around the coast and valleys . However south winds just above the surface will crash into the higher...

I don't know if anyone heard about this -- if you follow the news you might have. A natural dam holding back a naturally-dammed lake broke last week on New Zealand's foremost volcano, Mount Ruapehu, causing an impressive lahar, which since it went right down a lahar channel, really didn't cause any harm. (Unlike in 1953 -- read the linked article.) But it was very big. I couldn't find any good pictures of it last week, but NASA provided the shot from space below, and I found a ground-level shot. The Weather Channel's "It Could Happen Tomorrow" has been criticized...

Link post, provided to interested Freepers in the News/Activism section so that they may access the post in the General/Chat section (and post thine commentary THERE): Geology Pictures of the Week, July 10-16, 2005: Landslides, Ash Layers, and Property Values

Learned a few new things last week, leading to this week's posting: The town of Orting, in Washington, sits right on top of the landslide deposits from the Electron mudflow generated by Mount Rainier. A buried tree stump excavated from the Electron mudflow. Ash layers from Mt. St. Helens. I learned last week that after the 1850 BC eruption, the native population abandoned the area for about 2000 years. That's a pretty long length of time for "you don't want to live in that neighborhood" to get passed along around the campfire.

Imagine living in a country where three volcanoes are erupting at the same time, two others could blow in the very near future and 169 others are capable of awakening -- including scores deemed worthy of constant monitoring. Imagine living in a place where, in the past 25 years alone, communities have been wiped out by lava flows; eruptions have flattened huge expanses of land and killed people miles away; and avalanches of volcanic debris have swept people to their deaths. If you live in America, you live in such a country. . . . For about $15 million, the...