Fools Film Flash Flood

Photo by
Grumpy Old Scientist

In the northeast, most of our rivers flow all year.  The reason is that they are fed by the snowpack - a winter's accumulation of snow that melts slowly and feeds the groundwater that feeds the rivers.

Out in the southwest (and maybe someday here if climate change eliminates the snowpack) many rivers run only after a storm.

The problem is that the storm could be 40 miles away, and the first you know of it is when the dry stream bed that you are walking in becomes filled with a raging torrent.

Photo by Thomas Matheson,
National Optical Astronomy Observatory

Here is a link to a video taken by some "flash flood chasers" (fools).  Note the large tree branches.  Note around 2:50 minutes when a huge boulder gets rolled downstream.  Note how easily they could have become dead fools.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yCnQuILmsM

Thanks to the Bad Astronomer for sharing.