OCR Text |
Show It was estimated that four or five feet of the new snowpack slid on the older snow surface. Coding is difficult for these slides since data are lacking. Both these slides and those in report 56- 3 were probably hard slabs, but lubrication from the rain could have participated in their release. Size is estimated at 3 or 4. Code: HS- N- 3 or 4, climax. COMMENTS This same area was the scene of an avalanche which caught a train in 1936 and killed two people. It is interesting to note that the first of the two avalanches covered the highway with 6 to 10 feet of snow, even though the road was 30 feet above the creek. Since the creek bed was filled with only 15 to 20 feet of snow, it is evident that a considerable volume of snow and trees was airborn when it reached the bottom of the draw. The casualty list for this slide follows: 1. 300 - 400 feet of telephone line. 2. A dented fender and cracked windshield on the car that was caught. 3. A number of " growth study" plots that were in the plantation. 4. Several squirrel homes in the plantation. ( Immediately after the slide, a number of very confused and disoriented squirrels were seen running around on the uphill side of the road, on the tip of the deposited avalanche snow.) No. 56- 3 2 March 1956 WEATHER FACTORS A two week storm, with prevailing southwest winds, had deposited 6- 12 inches, of snow each day prior to the avalanche. On 1 March, it warmed, and a wet snow fell most of the day. Later, very high winds came up, and were still blowing at the time of the accident. ACCIDENT SUMMARY This report covers the destruction caused by an avalanche on the western or Idaho side of Lookout Pass. Two slides on the Montana side ( east) also did some damage, and this is covered in report number 56- 2. Approximately 13 hours after the two slides had run on the east side of Lookout Pass, another ran near the small town of Mace, Idaho. At 0115 on 2 Marchj I956, a four foot slab released and traveled nearly 5000 feet down a gulch. The snow ricocheted off a side ridge near the mouth of the 23 |