Setting the Climatic Stage for the Oso Landslide

Last year’s massive landslide near the town of Oso, Washington, resulted in the loss of 43 lives, making it the largest such tragedy in the United States in decades. Now a new study is helping unravel the unusual climatic events leading up to the March 22, 2014 disaster. The study, published in the American Meteorological…

A New Approach to Tracking Hydrologic Responses to Climate Change

Rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns are leading to major shifts in when and how streamflows occur. But deciphering how climate change might affect any given watershed can be both time-consuming and expensive. Now a new study focusing on the Pacific Northwest offers a quick, inexpensive alternative to traditional climate downscaling and hydrologic modeling. The…

Taking Issue with 1,200-Year Drought Study

Much of the Western United States is now in the grips of moderate to severe drought. According to some, California is experiencing its most severe drought in over a millennium. But just how good is that claim?

Reconstructing the Great Coastal Gale of 2007

THE NORTHWEST’S current drought makes it difficult to recall times when storms were many and snow was plentiful. But 2007-2008 was just that. A series of storms in early December 2007 blanketed low elevation ski resorts with deep powder and pummeled the coastline with hurricane-strength winds and surging seas resulting in flooding that closed highways…