In writing about the recent atmospheric events in California, see for example my January 9th post, I have been thinking about mud and debris flows over burn scars. I suspect that many of you may be aware of the devastating mud and debris flows in Montecito CA less than a month after the Thomas Fire was reported in December 2017. The Thomas Fire burned over 280,000 acres. I wrote about the mud flows in a January 10, 2018 article and Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today wrote an article with video and pictures in Wildfire Today on January 9, 2018. Those mud and debris flows in January 2018. I read an article by Professor Amir AghaKouchak, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science at the University of California in Irvine on California's wildfire burn scars raise fears of deadly mudslides: this is what cascading climate disasters look like.". Professor AghaKouchak's article was written in October 2021 and updated on January 10, 2023. This is an excellent article, I have read it once and will reread. In the article he writes about how multiple hazards work together to cause disasters an example being the mud flows that hit Montecito in January 2018 killing 23 people and destroying over 400 homes. He also addresses the issues of climate change. As I was reading this article, thanks to Mike Archer of Wildfire News of the Day for pointing me Professor AghaKouchak's article.
After reading Professpr AghaKouchak's article -- thanks to Mike Archer of Wildfire News of the Day for pointing me Professor AghaKouchak's article -- I went to YouTube because I wanted to find some short videos of debris flows on burn scars to show you. I lucked out when I found this 10 minute video from Ophicuchus of a debris flow that was probably from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire that burned near his house in the fall of 2020, Ophicuchus' ten minute video may be found here. I watched the entire ten minute video but hoped to find a shorter clip to show you. And thanks to Santa Cruz County who posted a short excerpt of this debris flow which I am sharing with you. Santa Cruz County got permission from Ophicuchus to use his video for educational purposes. In this video you will see a lot of debris flowing down what was a small creek next to Ophicuchus' house next to Foreman Creek in Boulder Creek California. While probably not on the scale of what the mud and debris flows that hit Montecito in January 2018, this videos shows an example of an actual debris flow. Words escape me, the video tells what my words can not.
