Yosemite National Park, California

On August 17th, a hunter's illegal fire went out of control and began burning through the area outside of Yosemite Valley.  As of the most recent update from InciWeb (October 18, 2013), the total area burned was at 1040 sq kilometers (402 sq miles) and the fire was 95% contained.  The total damage accumulated so far is over 127 million USD. This is over two months after the fire began. There were a few closures around Yosemite National Park but most of the Park was able to remain open.

Between drought, heat, and forest service budget cuts, this fire happened at a pretty bad time.  NASA's Earth Observatory followed the event through the Suomi research satellite and provided the images that I have produced into gif format below.

The following gif shows August 16, 2013 through September 3, 2013.  The green border near the center is the Yosemite National Park boundary:

The first week of the fire showed the greatest expansion.

Video of the fire from Yosemite NP's Youtube page:

You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:     37°50' N 120°06' W  

More info from sources referenced: Wikipedia, InciWeb, Huffington Post, Earth Observatory

Check back in two weeks to explore a Russian Volcano!

El Portal, California

In April of 2006, a rock slide began on Highway 140, one of a few routes route into Yosemite National Park.  From the articles I found on the slide, it sounds like it began in late April and lasted through May.  No one was injured or hurt but businesses along the highway suffered economic losses when tourists had to find other ways into the park.

While researching further, I found a blog post by Gary Hayes who runs the blog Geotripper.  He also experienced a rockslide in April 2011 while traveling on this same highway.

I'd love to be the one putting a hazard map together for this highway!

December 31, 2004

May 24, 2009

Notice the bridges across the river that re-route the highway around the landslide.

Topo

YouTube

You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:     37°39'23.41"N     119°54'07.64"W

More info: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2006-06-19-yosemite_x.htm

Check back next week to see the shrinking sea!