This is what a GLOF looks like in motion: a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood, sometimes called a Jökulhlaup (Icelandic for "glacier run").
Basically: meltwater builds up in a basin trapped against or beneath a glacier. Eventually the ice dam gives way, and all that pent-up water rushes out; sometimes over the course of a day or more.
At Columbia Glacier, this happens almost like clockwork, roughly once a year, with the lake taking about a day and a half to fully drain. No roads, no homes in the path; so it mostly happens quietly, without anyone downstream even noticing.
Compare that to Juneau, where GLOFs along the Mendenhall River actually threaten homes and residents in the valley each year. Serious flood-mitigation work has gone into protecting the community there.
Watching that volume of water suddenly break free from under a glacier is still humbling.
Glaciers aren't the frozen, unmoving things people picture. They're alive, shifting, releasing; a reminder that even "solid" landscapes are anything but static.
Prayers for Nepal
#Nepal #FloodVideo
This is seriously scary. CCTV footage from Gyirong Port in Tibet, China, directly opposite Nepal’s Rasuwa district. This flash flood hit here first and later caused massive havoc in Nepal. Can’t even imagine someone surviving this. Prayers for everyone affected. 🙏