I live in Southeast King County, Washington, about 40 miles from Mount Rainier. I am a couple hundred feet above the Green River and Puyallup River valleys, on a plateau. My home is relatively safe from lahars, but not from ashfalls, or even a blast wave ala Mount St. Helens. I am far more concerned about severe earthquakes than from Mount Rainier erupting, but I am certainly wary of the mountain. I have lived here for 30 years, having grown up near Philadelphia and ten years in Las Vegas, but this place is spectacular despite the inherent geologic threats.
It's great that you accept the risks we in the PNW face. However, the corrupt government of Washington State, and their property development benefactors have built hundreds of homes directly on top of thousands of years of lahar flows. Even after documentaries 4 decades ago warned about the criminal stupidity of doing so. As we found out in 1980, there's no predicting the direction of a pyroclastic flow. No predicting a "safe" area.
My favorite volcano! When I returned to WA to visit in 2020, I literally cried when I saw her again (I'm in Ohio, so not many volcanoes here). One thing you didn't mention: lahars happening when there's not an active eruption. Problem with Rainier is it's got more snow on it than all the other WA Cascade volcanoes combined. The volcano sometimes heats the snow from underneath, melting it and the water combining with the brittle rock on, I believe, the west side of the mountain. That's why cities like Orting have regular lahar drills. The detection system is acoustic, too, not seismic -- using sound is more accurate.
Absolutely. Every time I fly out of Seattle, Rainier is such an amazing sight. And from the ground, it almost looks like its been photoshopped into the skyline. Easily one of the worlds most photogenic volcanoes, it just has such a presence.
When I was buying my house in Washington (recently sold), I specifically looked at lahar maps to make sure I was not in a danger zone. However, living on a ridge also meant no protection from prospective ash fall. I've since moved away, but my youngest son still lives close enough to see "the mountain" any time it's out.
It’s not a flood, but insurance companies refused to pay out on Lahar damage after Mt St Helen’s because they didn’t classify that as volcano damage, they classified it as flood damage. So, anybody in a potential Lahar zone needs to have both. Many people were financially devastated because they didn’t have flood insurance
This volcano is in my backyard, and I love how photogenic it is! I am one of those people living and working on top of the previous lahar deposits, though I believe I should be safe unless its a worst case scenario like the Osceola event. I'd like to visit the summit of Rainier in the couple years and pray that it never erupts again during our lifetime.
I can just look outside my window and see Rainier. We do take it serious. Every Monday at noon we hear the emergency system for the valley. We also have evacuation routes designated. Hope we never have to use them, but there are a lot of people who live on the ancient mud flows.
Mount Rainier has got to be one of the most beautiful mountains on the planet. It just has such a presence, an absolutely colossal peak visible all the way from sea level. The rounded top and glacial valleys just add to the spectacle. Washington in general has been blessed with some amazingly photogenic volcanoes, all of them are very prominent peaks, each with unique character. I definitely hope it doesn't ever erupt but if it did wow would that be a spectacle.
I live in Kent which is roughly 40 miles to the NW of Mount Rainier. I am quite familiar with the Osceola Mud Flow. To say that this is an event that we never want to see in our lifetimes is an understatement. 🙂 As someone who has spent several decades involved with emergency communications, another Osceola event would be truly devastating. In addition to killing lots of people and causing a huge ecological disaster, it makes providing relief extremely difficult. Look at a map and you'll see that it would bisect the region in two, separating Seattle from Tacoma. That means that trucks and supplies could only reach Seattle from the east while Tacoma could only get supplies from the south. And who knows what that lahar would do to Puget Sound shipping. I'm not prepared to say that a large Mount Rainier lahar would be as bad as a magnitude 9 quake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone boundary, but it would be no picnic either. Living in the Pacific Northwest is fun geologically, that is until you start thinking about the threats that we face here every day.
If another Osceola event were to occur, I just realized that my evacuation zone would be entirely surrounded by the lahar. Considering the population density of the area, and the limited road access points to it.... that would get bad fast. I would hope they would be able to airlift everyone out before supplies diminished.
Yeah, over here in Gig Harbor we’d be facing the same challenges getting in and out. But even an Osceola event would be less devastating than a Cascadia quake.
Are you a license Ham operator too? I am and I live at the base of a volcano here in Hawaii and specialize in EmComm communications ARES/RACES/DEM/ Hawaii State Civil Defense or whatever hat they ask me to put on depending the event. Mahalo🤙🏻
@@DannyWildmen during the Cold War, my brother's strategy for dealing with the news that there were inbound Soviet nukes was to go to the corner liquor store, buy a six pack, and then sit on the front lawn of the local defense contractor and wait for the fireworks. It seems that you have a similar strategy for volcanoes. 🙂
I have never zoomed so fast to a video. That's my volcano! Or, one of them anyways. It's the one I can see from my area on a clear day. It's both impressive and concerning how few people around here put any concern into learning about it or preparing for a worst case scenario. Also, it's pronounced "pew-al-up"! Bit of a weird one if you're not from around here.
You may be interested to know if you don't already that the name Puyallup for the river and city comes from the name of an Indian tribe in the area. The meaning of the word 'puyallup' is 'generous people'.
I always laugh hearing non-locals attempt to pronounce Puyallup. I grew up there, and all visiting speakers made several attempts, which made everyone laugh. This mountain is just gorgeous and I love seeing it every day it's not hiding behind the clouds.
Rainer is huge. Seeing it from 405 or I-5 is a sight to behold. Just as breathtaking as seeing Mt Mckinley, Mt Robinson or the Banff area. I mean WOW. Seeing it erupt would be devastating and sad, but it would be jaw dropping impressive....... Honorable mention, Mt. Baker is pretty impressive
I can see Rainier out my window here in my study, and climbed it back in the day. One of the interesting trivia bits about the mountain- the summit caldera is obviously full of snow/ ice, but the basin of the caldera is warm enough to melt snow, and even create steam, which has carved vent tunnels to the edges of the caldera. You can climb down into the vents, but you get slowly soaked by the steam so you have to be prepared. But if you have the gear and the nerve, you can spelunk down the vent holes, under the caldera snow, to find a lake. One of the highest in the world.
A stunningly-beautiful mountain! I visited Canada and the States in '74 with my parents (my mother was Canadian). We stopped off at Seattle-Tacoma airport and I saw this *huge* mountain off in the distance - Rainier! I've loved it ever since - one of my top 3 or so volcanoes!
A number of years ago, my husband was working at a scuba diving expo at the Tacoma Dome. At the end of the day, he was leaving and saw a woman standing awe struck; she said “What is that?”. It was Mt Rainier. She had been here a number of times but had never seen the mountain since every other time it had been shrouded. I’ve lived here (in Tukwila- land where the hazelnuts grow) since I was fourteen, nearly sixty years. I still love seeing the mountain in all its glory
😂 This is so true! I didn't see it until 4 days after we moved there. I tried to tell my mom and she didn't believe me 🤩 My husband had an apartment near downtown Tacoma, but his work was 6 days a week and long days. His mom came to visit (they had both moved from Wisconsin), and happened to look out the window and see it. She was marveling at the beautiful view, and he was like, "Mom, that's just the Tacoma Dome!"😆😆😆
I've heard of Mount Rainier ever since I was a kid. This volcano last erupted in 1894 before Mount Rainier National Park was establish by President William McKinley in 1899. This volcano lay dormant for 100 years and probably I won't be around to see it erupted.
Mt. Rainier also has an amazing prominence putting it in the top 25 of the world at number 21. However it ranks third in the United States. Cool to have something like that on a daily basis in my daily life.
And to add to that, unlike many other tall mountains you can see it in its full glory from sea level all the way to the peak. It definitely has some visual "oomph" to it in a way that other gargantuan mountains just can't pull off. To me it almost looks photoshopped into the background its so massive. Easily one of the most beautiful mountains on the planet.
@@_MikeJon_ Na, there are many ultra prominent mountains sitting atop high plateaus that just so happen to have a very low point between them and the next mountain over. So many of them may have impressive prominence numbers but not have quite the impressive look of Rainier. Kilimanjaro is the 4th most prominent peak on Earth yet it sits on a plateau over 3000 ft in height. Mt Everest's base is over 10000 ft. There are certainly also some other ultra prominent mountains that can be visible from sea level like Pico de Orizaba, but even then those are often far enough away from the coast to diminish their dimensions and are mixed in with the rest of the mountain chain. Rainier really stands out due to just how separated it appears from the rest of the Cascades, how colossal and steep sided it is, how close to the sea it is and how visible it is from sea level, and of course the height. Nothing can truly compare to that mountain for me, even if others have more impressive numbers.
I saw my old fishing spot on this video near Orting. If you dig down in the valleys, you come across intact trees buried from the previous lahar all over the place.
you and me both. We can still see ash from St. Helens along roadsides in rural E. WA. Spokane had alot of ash when it popped. I cannot imagine the devestation Rainier would wreak.
A few things to say: #1, thanks for being worried about Mt. Rainier, I live about 100 miles away from it and have known since high school it's dangerous, but no one else here seems to even think about it, thank you for bringing this to light. #2 for some reason I can't fathom, we pronounce Puyallup NOT like "Poo-yall-up," but like "Pyoo-all-up," we have no choice, that's just how it's said!
flown into Seattle just a few months back and mt Rainier just dominates the entire back drop of the seattle & tacoma area, its truly a magnificent and ominous sight, for I can easily see if she where to erupt, air traffic would be suspended making a huge problem for evacuations and rescue operations. did get to go up on rainier too, its gotta be the best sight of the cascade's
When I switched trucking company about 3 years ago, my 1st trip with them made me drive my oversized load on a small road on which I had to pass close to a cliff on a mountain's side and I had this huge bulge of snow that made me wonder wtf was that. Then, a few miles further, there it was in all its beauty and magnificence I recognized its famous shape !! I had many minutes in my sight right in front of me. It was magical !!!!
Having been born and raised there, I can attest that Puyallup is pronounced as if the y and u are reversed in position: Pyoo-ahl-uhp, or using just english words: Pew-all-up.
I’ve lived in Pierce County my whole life. My grandparents would always say that Rainier was an extinct Volcano and it could never erupt again. I guess that was really just their wishful thinking? If you have never seen St. Helens from the Johnson Observation station or you have never walked through the Ape Cave lava tubes Near Cougar, WA? You’re really missing something cool.
I used to live in Orting. It's beautiful, but man you never stop thinking about that mountain. It looks far away on that map, but it dominates the sky.
Its interesting how you hear about earthquake swarms with Mount St.Helens, but not so much with Shasta or Rainier. Do these two volcanos have a different "Oh no!" type of warning signs than typical ones?
Probably the best looking of the Cascade Mountain Range volcanoes. The mountain is massive, and glaciers look like a small shake would have them drop straight down 😳
The geography of the Pacific Northwest could cause a lahar to be quite devastating to hundreds of thousands down stream and cause a financial toll I can't imagine. Any of the Cascade Volcano complex has the potential to be a disaster. Personally, because I see it everyday, Mount Baker is the scary one, second by St. Hellen. But I don't think Baker is even active to be honest, but if it were to erupt, the amount of ice and snow would create a massive lahar.
My Grandpa lived on Bainbridge Island. He used to keep a tarp in the back of his truck all the time. I asked about it once and he said it was in case Mt. Rainer erupted he didnt want to get ash on his car.
Yep, I think many people wonder why mt st helens has been so busy. The only way to look into the ground uses sound waves. Turning this into an image is computationally intensive. Maybe more than mining bitcoin. And not all of the ambiguity can be resolved.
I recall reading that their magma chambers are linked along with Mt. Adams and even the long extinct Goat Hill, so if one is active, the other ones are quiet.
I live in eyesight of her, on the hill the Puyallup River wraps around on its way to the sea. While I dont have to worry about Lahars, any ashfall is something I do need to be concerned with.
When I bought my first house in Tacoma years ago, I actually did keep lahars in mind (because I'm a nerd like that) and made sure I was on a hill. If a lahar was to take me out, it'd be the granddaddy of all lahars. I've since become even safer by moving to Arizona.
I use to live in an apartment complex that was confirmed to have been built atop one of Mt. Rainier's lahar deposits. It was 50 miles away from the volcano.
planted trees in blast zone in 1981 up at Mt St Helens. The photo of mangled steel bridge may be on the Swift Ck. drainage. The ash was very fine the first couple of years till it got washed away. Had to cover mouth with kerchief to keep from breathing it. The tree seedlings did great, as the new "soil" was extremely nutrient rich. Trees and brush species grew fast enough to allow elk hunting 12 years after the blast.
I constantly think about how the city of Bonney Lake where I live, is at the top of a hill that is the volcano evacuation route for the area…what’s scary is acknowledging sumner, orting and puyallup valley below, are going to have about 20 mins to get up 410 or the backroads, to escape the lahars. They aren’t worried about ash fall as much as they are worried about lahars and the valleys and farms below exist because of past eruptions that formed the valleys.
Lahars, the answer to both why they often find native stuff on the order of 100 feet underground despite it only being "old" and not "ancient", and also why we have big broad flat valleys around some of the rivers despite every other geological process in the region being inclined to carve things into decidedly non-flat shapes. Enjoy Orting, but if all the sirens go off get to the hills like you really desperately had to be there an hour ago and hope you are in the lucky %ile that actually makes it.
I had never even heard of Mt Rainier until I saw it for the first time in 2016. I thought it was St Helens at first. Our plane flew right by the volcano on our way to land at SeaTac, and we happened to be sitting on the correct side to view it. I somehow didn't know it was a volcano until even later. I guess I just lived under a rock as a teenager! Either way, I thought it was absolutely spectacular! I got to see it again in 2022 on a layover in SeaTac.
Just make sure that they're very, very far away. A far away mountain peak would do nicely, someone took a few pics of St Helens erupting from the summit of Mt Adams. Somewhere in the Olympics ought to do nicely.
Yakima Police Department has Mount Rainier on their cruisers. On a side note, during the heat wave of summer 2021; the glaciers/snowpack melted. This caused rivers to flood on the west side, especially the Cowlitz river in Lewis County.
I live in the Appalachian area of Pennsylvania and glad of it! I like the topography and know that volcanic activities have all been many many years in the past. 🤔🤔🤔😉😉😉
If an eruption were to occur with very few "tells" that it was waking up, the massive traffic jams that would result both from people trying to leave an endangered area and from people trying to reach there home or school to get their kids.
A beautiful mountain is Rainier. In the 1980s I lived in Fife, a town bordering Puyallup right by the Puyallup river in an apartment built on the flood plain. Even then I worried every day for an eruption as the freeways and side roads offered no means of escape… I would be a casualty for sure.
The other dangerous mountain in the Pacific Northwest that I hope to never see a major eruption from is Mt. Hood. I believe that Mt. Hood is capable of sending dangerous and destructive lahars into the eastern suburbs of Portland. So like Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood certainly has the potential to be an extremely dangerous volcano!
I worked at a sheet metal shop in South Prairie for five years in the late 90's (1 of 3 businesses in SP lol) I looked at the big o'l mountain everyday. I never gave it much thought then.
I live in the potential lahar path, been in the area for 40 years. It is NOT active. Mt St Helen’s is (an hour away). Could it reawaken? Anything is possible. The Puyallup Nation oral history says it hasn’t erupted since the late 1700s. There hasn’t been a single bit of ash or puff of smoke in 40 years. Mountain climbers practice scaling here, as prep for K2 and Mt Everest--if it was active, they wouldn’t let them do that.
I used to live in Eatonville i remember in elementary school they would have us practice drills of getting into army trucks to evacuate if rainier ever errupts because geologists in the area believe eatonville and surrounding towns to be at risk for said lahars
Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens are 34 miles apart from one another and are referred to as "brother and sister" volcanoes. They are 50 miles from Mt. Rainier volcano.
Mention should be made of Glacier Peak, the most isolated of the North Cascades Stratovolcanoes. It last erupted in 1700, so it is way overdue for an eruption
Had the question while watching this. If Pacific rifts subducting under the North American plate cause increased activity and or more violent activity?
Do I live on a opening coin purse? Kitsap County being squeezed by the Olympic Mountains and the Cascades? North American Plate winning the shoving match? The fault lines running through the county are troubling.
There are actually more, Glacier Peak, West Crater, and Indian Heaven. The first is a glaciated stratovolcano like the ones listed, the other two are volcanic fields. Still not many though, especially compared to Oregon.
I live in WA I can see Mt Rainer on a clear day, I never have seen a puff of smoke out of the top. I feel Yellowstone will go off first before Mt Rainer.
Oh hey, it's my mountain... Yeah. We're outside the lahar paths, but it's visible from my parents' house. I could never move INTO that path... Just would never be able to ignore the possibility...
If you live within this hazard zone, please be sure to have emergency supplies and listen to your local news or weather stations for warnings. Be prepared and be safe, everyone!
Following events in Grindavik and leaving in Auburn Washington, I see Mt. Rainier with lots of respect of what could and most likely will happen some day. Hopefully not in my lifetime .
I live in Southeast King County, Washington, about 40 miles from Mount Rainier. I am a couple hundred feet above the Green River and Puyallup River valleys, on a plateau. My home is relatively safe from lahars, but not from ashfalls, or even a blast wave ala Mount St. Helens. I am far more concerned about severe earthquakes than from Mount Rainier erupting, but I am certainly wary of the mountain. I have lived here for 30 years, having grown up near Philadelphia and ten years in Las Vegas, but this place is spectacular despite the inherent geologic threats.
If it ever goes off, don't do a Harry Truman.
Do a Harry Truman??? 🤔🤔🤔 What does that mean?? 🤷🤷🤷
@@skateboardingjesus4006hahaha!
"Mountain been goot to me! I ain't ever leavin' !!"
(And he was right.)
It's great that you accept the risks we in the PNW face.
However, the corrupt government of Washington State, and their property development benefactors have built hundreds of homes directly on top of thousands of years of lahar flows. Even after documentaries 4 decades ago warned about the criminal stupidity of doing so.
As we found out in 1980, there's no predicting the direction of a pyroclastic flow. No predicting a "safe" area.
We're due for something for sure imo. Last considerable event was when I was I elementary school.
My favorite volcano! When I returned to WA to visit in 2020, I literally cried when I saw her again (I'm in Ohio, so not many volcanoes here).
One thing you didn't mention: lahars happening when there's not an active eruption. Problem with Rainier is it's got more snow on it than all the other WA Cascade volcanoes combined. The volcano sometimes heats the snow from underneath, melting it and the water combining with the brittle rock on, I believe, the west side of the mountain. That's why cities like Orting have regular lahar drills. The detection system is acoustic, too, not seismic -- using sound is more accurate.
She's one of my favorites too! In fact, I call her the Queen of the Cascades!
For the folks not from around here, the picture of Mt Saint Helens is 5 miles away from the crater. No one survived at that distance. Not even trees.
I remember flying in to Seattle from Iceland on a perfectly clear day seeing Mount Rainier and being absolutely amazed at its size and beauty.
It is so big!! And beautiful. ❤
Absolutely. Every time I fly out of Seattle, Rainier is such an amazing sight. And from the ground, it almost looks like its been photoshopped into the skyline. Easily one of the worlds most photogenic volcanoes, it just has such a presence.
@@StuffandThings_ exactly that
When I was buying my house in Washington (recently sold), I specifically looked at lahar maps to make sure I was not in a danger zone. However, living on a ridge also meant no protection from prospective ash fall. I've since moved away, but my youngest son still lives close enough to see "the mountain" any time it's out.
It’s not a flood, but insurance companies refused to pay out on Lahar damage after Mt St Helen’s because they didn’t classify that as volcano damage, they classified it as flood damage. So, anybody in a potential Lahar zone needs to have both. Many people were financially devastated because they didn’t have flood insurance
That is incredibly helpful to know. Thank you for your comment!
I'm sorry, this policy only covers water floods. You need mud flood insurance.
This volcano is in my backyard, and I love how photogenic it is! I am one of those people living and working on top of the previous lahar deposits, though I believe I should be safe unless its a worst case scenario like the Osceola event. I'd like to visit the summit of Rainier in the couple years and pray that it never erupts again during our lifetime.
I can just look outside my window and see Rainier. We do take it serious. Every Monday at noon we hear the emergency system for the valley. We also have evacuation routes designated. Hope we never have to use them, but there are a lot of people who live on the ancient mud flows.
Mount Rainier has got to be one of the most beautiful mountains on the planet. It just has such a presence, an absolutely colossal peak visible all the way from sea level. The rounded top and glacial valleys just add to the spectacle. Washington in general has been blessed with some amazingly photogenic volcanoes, all of them are very prominent peaks, each with unique character. I definitely hope it doesn't ever erupt but if it did wow would that be a spectacle.
I live in Kent which is roughly 40 miles to the NW of Mount Rainier. I am quite familiar with the Osceola Mud Flow. To say that this is an event that we never want to see in our lifetimes is an understatement. 🙂
As someone who has spent several decades involved with emergency communications, another Osceola event would be truly devastating. In addition to killing lots of people and causing a huge ecological disaster, it makes providing relief extremely difficult. Look at a map and you'll see that it would bisect the region in two, separating Seattle from Tacoma. That means that trucks and supplies could only reach Seattle from the east while Tacoma could only get supplies from the south. And who knows what that lahar would do to Puget Sound shipping.
I'm not prepared to say that a large Mount Rainier lahar would be as bad as a magnitude 9 quake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone boundary, but it would be no picnic either. Living in the Pacific Northwest is fun geologically, that is until you start thinking about the threats that we face here every day.
If another Osceola event were to occur, I just realized that my evacuation zone would be entirely surrounded by the lahar. Considering the population density of the area, and the limited road access points to it.... that would get bad fast. I would hope they would be able to airlift everyone out before supplies diminished.
I'm glad you get to know this ahead of time, thougg! @@Twichl
Yeah, over here in Gig Harbor we’d be facing the same challenges getting in and out. But even an Osceola event would be less devastating than a Cascadia quake.
Are you a license Ham operator too? I am and I live at the base of a volcano here in Hawaii and specialize in EmComm communications ARES/RACES/DEM/ Hawaii State Civil Defense or whatever hat they ask me to put on depending the event.
Mahalo🤙🏻
@@DannyWildmen during the Cold War, my brother's strategy for dealing with the news that there were inbound Soviet nukes was to go to the corner liquor store, buy a six pack, and then sit on the front lawn of the local defense contractor and wait for the fireworks. It seems that you have a similar strategy for volcanoes. 🙂
I have never zoomed so fast to a video. That's my volcano! Or, one of them anyways. It's the one I can see from my area on a clear day. It's both impressive and concerning how few people around here put any concern into learning about it or preparing for a worst case scenario.
Also, it's pronounced "pew-al-up"! Bit of a weird one if you're not from around here.
You may be interested to know if you don't already that the name Puyallup for the river and city comes from the name of an Indian tribe in the area. The meaning of the word 'puyallup' is 'generous people'.
@michaeldeierhoi4096 I did! A lot of the places around here are named in native languages. I didn't know the meaning though, that's cool.
I always laugh hearing non-locals attempt to pronounce Puyallup. I grew up there, and all visiting speakers made several attempts, which made everyone laugh.
This mountain is just gorgeous and I love seeing it every day it's not hiding behind the clouds.
@@Eldanari lol I laugh when newscasters say Yakima as "Yah-KEE-ma" or YAY-kmah". It takes your attention right out of the news story they are reading☺
@@michaeldeierhoi4096 and Mt Rainier is actually Mount Tahoma, right? I wonder why they named the city Tacoma, instead of Tahoma?
Rainer is huge. Seeing it from 405 or I-5 is a sight to behold. Just as breathtaking as seeing Mt Mckinley, Mt Robinson or the Banff area. I mean WOW. Seeing it erupt would be devastating and sad, but it would be jaw dropping impressive....... Honorable mention, Mt. Baker is pretty impressive
I can see Rainier out my window here in my study, and climbed it back in the day. One of the interesting trivia bits about the mountain- the summit caldera is obviously full of snow/ ice, but the basin of the caldera is warm enough to melt snow, and even create steam, which has carved vent tunnels to the edges of the caldera. You can climb down into the vents, but you get slowly soaked by the steam so you have to be prepared. But if you have the gear and the nerve, you can spelunk down the vent holes, under the caldera snow, to find a lake. One of the highest in the world.
A stunningly-beautiful mountain!
I visited Canada and the States in '74 with my parents (my mother was Canadian).
We stopped off at Seattle-Tacoma airport and I saw this *huge* mountain off in the distance - Rainier!
I've loved it ever since - one of my top 3 or so volcanoes!
A number of years ago, my husband was working at a scuba diving expo at the Tacoma Dome. At the end of the day, he was leaving and saw a woman standing awe struck; she said “What is that?”. It was Mt Rainier. She had been here a number of times but had never seen the mountain since every other time it had been shrouded.
I’ve lived here (in Tukwila- land where the hazelnuts grow) since I was fourteen, nearly sixty years. I still love seeing the mountain in all its glory
😂 This is so true! I didn't see it until 4 days after we moved there. I tried to tell my mom and she didn't believe me 🤩
My husband had an apartment near downtown Tacoma, but his work was 6 days a week and long days. His mom came to visit (they had both moved from Wisconsin), and happened to look out the window and see it. She was marveling at the beautiful view, and he was like, "Mom, that's just the Tacoma Dome!"😆😆😆
I've heard of Mount Rainier ever since I was a kid. This volcano last erupted in 1894 before Mount Rainier National Park was establish by President William McKinley in 1899. This volcano lay dormant for 100 years and probably I won't be around to see it erupted.
It's the most scenic mountain I've ever seen.
Mt. Rainier also has an amazing prominence putting it in the top 25 of the world at number 21. However it ranks third in the United States. Cool to have something like that on a daily basis in my daily life.
And to add to that, unlike many other tall mountains you can see it in its full glory from sea level all the way to the peak. It definitely has some visual "oomph" to it in a way that other gargantuan mountains just can't pull off. To me it almost looks photoshopped into the background its so massive. Easily one of the most beautiful mountains on the planet.
@@StuffandThings_ Yeah exactly. That's what prominence is. But you're right, it looks like a stand alone majestic mountain in many ways.
@@_MikeJon_ Na, there are many ultra prominent mountains sitting atop high plateaus that just so happen to have a very low point between them and the next mountain over. So many of them may have impressive prominence numbers but not have quite the impressive look of Rainier. Kilimanjaro is the 4th most prominent peak on Earth yet it sits on a plateau over 3000 ft in height. Mt Everest's base is over 10000 ft.
There are certainly also some other ultra prominent mountains that can be visible from sea level like Pico de Orizaba, but even then those are often far enough away from the coast to diminish their dimensions and are mixed in with the rest of the mountain chain. Rainier really stands out due to just how separated it appears from the rest of the Cascades, how colossal and steep sided it is, how close to the sea it is and how visible it is from sea level, and of course the height. Nothing can truly compare to that mountain for me, even if others have more impressive numbers.
@@StuffandThings_ look it up. Look up what prominence means as well. You don't really understand what I'm talking about.
I saw my old fishing spot on this video near Orting. If you dig down in the valleys, you come across intact trees buried from the previous lahar all over the place.
you and me both. We can still see ash from St. Helens along roadsides in rural E. WA. Spokane had alot of ash when it popped. I cannot imagine the devestation Rainier would wreak.
A few things to say: #1, thanks for being worried about Mt. Rainier, I live about 100 miles away from it and have known since high school it's dangerous, but no one else here seems to even think about it, thank you for bringing this to light. #2 for some reason I can't fathom, we pronounce Puyallup NOT like "Poo-yall-up," but like "Pyoo-all-up," we have no choice, that's just how it's said!
I believe it’s how the natives the area is named for say their tribe name.
flown into Seattle just a few months back and mt Rainier just dominates the entire back drop of the seattle & tacoma area, its truly a magnificent and ominous sight, for I can easily see if she where to erupt, air traffic would be suspended making a huge problem for evacuations and rescue operations. did get to go up on rainier too, its gotta be the best sight of the cascade's
When I switched trucking company about 3 years ago, my 1st trip with them made me drive my oversized load on a small road on which I had to pass close to a cliff on a mountain's side and I had this huge bulge of snow that made me wonder wtf was that. Then, a few miles further, there it was in all its beauty and magnificence I recognized its famous shape !! I had many minutes in my sight right in front of me. It was magical !!!!
Having been born and raised there, I can attest that Puyallup is pronounced as if the y and u are reversed in position: Pyoo-ahl-uhp, or using just english words: Pew-all-up.
He uses an AI speech program that replicates his speech.
Thanks for all of your hard work man!
Its not an explosive volcano like st helens, mt mazema ,shasta or glacier peak but the lahars from all that ice could be catastrophic.
I’ve lived in Pierce County my whole life. My grandparents would always say that Rainier was an extinct Volcano and it could never erupt again. I guess that was really just their wishful thinking?
If you have never seen St. Helens from the Johnson Observation station or you have never walked through the Ape Cave lava tubes Near Cougar, WA? You’re really missing something cool.
You're so right ! Looking into the crater from Johnson ridge...nothing like it!!
Thanks for the video on a local volcano. Rainer is beautiful for those of us who like mountains! Thanks!!
I used to live in Orting. It's beautiful, but man you never stop thinking about that mountain. It looks far away on that map, but it dominates the sky.
Im in Kelowna, BC and I too hope this system doesn't go off in my lifetime. Even Mt. Baker....
Its interesting how you hear about earthquake swarms with Mount St.Helens, but not so much with Shasta or Rainier. Do these two volcanos have a different "Oh no!" type of warning signs than typical ones?
Well I think Mount St. Helens is the younger edgy one
Probably the best looking of the Cascade Mountain Range volcanoes. The mountain is massive, and glaciers look like a small shake would have them drop straight down 😳
Creater lake
@@Vesuviusisking Crater Lake ? Yeah, it pretty, but it’s nothing like Mount Rainer with its’ height and glaciers.
Mount Hood? (yes i'm from portland)
The geography of the Pacific Northwest could cause a lahar to be quite devastating to hundreds of thousands down stream and cause a financial toll I can't imagine. Any of the Cascade Volcano complex has the potential to be a disaster. Personally, because I see it everyday, Mount Baker is the scary one, second by St. Hellen. But I don't think Baker is even active to be honest, but if it were to erupt, the amount of ice and snow would create a massive lahar.
I live on the east side of Mt Rainier, in Kittitas county. @GeologyHub what about rocks and boulders? How far could Rainier toss those in an eruption?
My Grandpa lived on Bainbridge Island. He used to keep a tarp in the back of his truck all the time. I asked about it once and he said it was in case Mt. Rainer erupted he didnt want to get ash on his car.
Thank you for your videos.
I've always wondered why St. Helens has been so active in recent history but Rainer has been dormant.
Yep, I think many people wonder why mt st helens has been so busy.
The only way to look into the ground uses sound waves. Turning this into an image is computationally intensive. Maybe more than mining bitcoin.
And not all of the ambiguity can be resolved.
I recall reading that their magma chambers are linked along with Mt. Adams and even the long extinct Goat Hill, so if one is active, the other ones are quiet.
Because St. Helens is the edgy teen one as it is younger
@@matthewwelsh294 well… not very scientific, but it does seem to have enough truth to make me chuckle. Thanks
It's going down in history
Thanks as always!
I live in eyesight of her, on the hill the Puyallup River wraps around on its way to the sea. While I dont have to worry about Lahars, any ashfall is something I do need to be concerned with.
When I bought my first house in Tacoma years ago, I actually did keep lahars in mind (because I'm a nerd like that) and made sure I was on a hill. If a lahar was to take me out, it'd be the granddaddy of all lahars.
I've since become even safer by moving to Arizona.
I use to live in an apartment complex that was confirmed to have been built atop one of Mt. Rainier's lahar deposits. It was 50 miles away from the volcano.
planted trees in blast zone in 1981 up at Mt St Helens. The photo of mangled steel bridge may be on the Swift Ck. drainage. The ash was very fine the first couple of years till it got washed away. Had to cover mouth with kerchief to keep from breathing it. The tree seedlings did great, as the new "soil" was extremely nutrient rich. Trees and brush species grew fast enough to allow elk hunting 12 years after the blast.
The mangled steel bridge wreckage was actually the Highway 504 bridge over the Toutle River at Al Raught Park.
I constantly think about how the city of Bonney Lake where I live, is at the top of a hill that is the volcano evacuation route for the area…what’s scary is acknowledging sumner, orting and puyallup valley below, are going to have about 20 mins to get up 410 or the backroads, to escape the lahars. They aren’t worried about ash fall as much as they are worried about lahars and the valleys and farms below exist because of past eruptions that formed the valleys.
Lahars, the answer to both why they often find native stuff on the order of 100 feet underground despite it only being "old" and not "ancient", and also why we have big broad flat valleys around some of the rivers despite every other geological process in the region being inclined to carve things into decidedly non-flat shapes. Enjoy Orting, but if all the sirens go off get to the hills like you really desperately had to be there an hour ago and hope you are in the lucky %ile that actually makes it.
I had never even heard of Mt Rainier until I saw it for the first time in 2016. I thought it was St Helens at first. Our plane flew right by the volcano on our way to land at SeaTac, and we happened to be sitting on the correct side to view it. I somehow didn't know it was a volcano until even later. I guess I just lived under a rock as a teenager!
Either way, I thought it was absolutely spectacular! I got to see it again in 2022 on a layover in SeaTac.
"Don't set up shop near a volcano...check"
Videos of lahars in Greenland and Iceland are fascinating (and terrifying).
No lahars in Greenland (no volcanos.) Those would be jökulhlaups, which are glacial outbursts. Still a bummer if you're downstream from one.
@@peterfitzgerald1159 Awesome! I stand corrected. Thx.
RainiER....BEEeerrrrr
RainiER....BEEeerrrrr
Rain dogs!
Can you do a video on Glacier Peak or on Mt St Helens
He already has, at least Glacier peak.
He should do a video on Spirit Lake and/or the lakes that Mt Ste Helens formed
NGL, I have already picked out some viewing areas for when this thing erupts
Just make sure that they're very, very far away. A far away mountain peak would do nicely, someone took a few pics of St Helens erupting from the summit of Mt Adams. Somewhere in the Olympics ought to do nicely.
Yakima Police Department has Mount Rainier on their cruisers.
On a side note, during the heat wave of summer 2021; the glaciers/snowpack melted. This caused rivers to flood on the west side, especially the Cowlitz river in Lewis County.
Lived and grew up on lahar land. Packwood. Our creek flooded every year as it came from a glacier on Mt. Rainier
I live in the Appalachian area of Pennsylvania and glad of it!
I like the topography and know that volcanic activities have all been many many years in the past. 🤔🤔🤔😉😉😉
Thanks.
If an eruption were to occur with very few "tells" that it was waking up, the massive traffic jams that would result both from people trying to leave an endangered area and from people trying to reach there home or school to get their kids.
The Suquamish Tribal Museum once had a oil painting of Mt. Rainier 1894 eruption?
if you want to learn more about mt rainier and its lahars nick zentner has some good videos on his channel. hes a geology professor at cwu
Agree, Nick's videos are great! Geology is the man's passion which reminds me of two of my favorite professors from college back in the 1980's.
A beautiful mountain is Rainier. In the 1980s I lived in Fife, a town bordering Puyallup right by the Puyallup river in an apartment built on the flood plain. Even then I worried every day for an eruption as the freeways and side roads offered no means of escape… I would be a casualty for sure.
The other dangerous mountain in the Pacific Northwest that I hope to never see a major eruption from is Mt. Hood. I believe that Mt. Hood is capable of sending dangerous and destructive lahars into the eastern suburbs of Portland. So like Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood certainly has the potential to be an extremely dangerous volcano!
Well stated Thanks
All hail the king! Tahoma!
Could Mount Rainier have a lateral eruption like Mount Saint Helens did in 1980?
Possible yes, Highly unlikely the main treat will be lahars.
I live near elbe......if that thing goes i am toast
I worked at a sheet metal shop in South Prairie for five years in the late 90's (1 of 3 businesses in SP lol) I looked at the big o'l mountain everyday. I never gave it much thought then.
I live in the potential lahar path, been in the area for 40 years. It is NOT active. Mt St Helen’s is (an hour away). Could it reawaken? Anything is possible. The Puyallup Nation oral history says it hasn’t erupted since the late 1700s. There hasn’t been a single bit of ash or puff of smoke in 40 years. Mountain climbers practice scaling here, as prep for K2 and Mt Everest--if it was active, they wouldn’t let them do that.
Lived here almost my entire 59 years seen Mt St Helen erupt I was in 15. Wow now I live 40 miles away 😮😮😮😮😮😮😢😢😢😢
I used to live in Eatonville i remember in elementary school they would have us practice drills of getting into army trucks to evacuate if rainier ever errupts because geologists in the area believe eatonville and surrounding towns to be at risk for said lahars
My backyard!
Rainier would be devastating
To the north of my home is Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens and northeast is Mt. Adams. To the south is Mt. Hood. I win the jackpot!
My backyard
Okay but the voice of the narrator tho ❤ I love rainier, I have a really perfect view of it from my bedroom window
Nice
Rainier is on my nightmare scenario list.
Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens are 34 miles apart from one another and are referred to as "brother and sister" volcanoes. They are 50 miles from Mt. Rainier volcano.
yep and we don't want a slip on the off shore plate either
I caught a mini eruption on Rainier in September, got it on video.
Mention should be made of Glacier Peak, the most isolated of the North Cascades Stratovolcanoes. It last erupted in 1700, so it is way overdue for an eruption
2:12 Pronunciation note: it's Pyoo-wallup.
Why? We don't know. But phonics not phound.
I was thinking how beautiful Ranier was today on my way to work on this clear morning. The mountain was out as we like to say here.
Please do Vesuvius next
Had the question while watching this. If Pacific rifts subducting under the North American plate cause increased activity and or more violent activity?
I can walk outside and see this beautiful volcano. It's beauty is matched only by its potential danger.
But is Bonney Lake safe? All my life everyone keeps saying it is though it really doesn't seem that way
I see Rainier everyday on my commute :) so pretty
Do I live on a opening coin purse? Kitsap County being squeezed by the Olympic Mountains and the Cascades? North American Plate winning the shoving match?
The fault lines running through the county are troubling.
What is the USGS’s highest threat volcano?
I think it's St. Helens.
Kīlauea, HI
There are three active Volcanos in Washington. Mt Baker, Mt Ranier and Mt St Helens
There are actually more, Glacier Peak, West Crater, and Indian Heaven. The first is a glaciated stratovolcano like the ones listed, the other two are volcanic fields. Still not many though, especially compared to Oregon.
I live in WA I can see Mt Rainer on a clear day, I never have seen a puff of smoke out of the top. I feel Yellowstone will go off first before Mt Rainer.
Oh hey, it's my mountain...
Yeah. We're outside the lahar paths, but it's visible from my parents' house.
I could never move INTO that path... Just would never be able to ignore the possibility...
What happened in 1894 is a question mark?
I believe if it DOES go off, it'll calapse inward like Adams.
Worse case scenario, a massive collapse of the volcano could cause temperatures to drop world wide
You think one of the big snow capped volcanoes along the West coast will go before 2050?
That would be just pure speculations and not much point in discussing until we se signs.
Im
Scared Earthquakes in NW Washington and Oregon
If you live within this hazard zone, please be sure to have emergency supplies and listen to your local news or weather stations for warnings. Be prepared and be safe, everyone!
Pretty sure they have it covered. smh.
Following events in Grindavik and leaving in Auburn Washington, I see Mt. Rainier with lots of respect of what could and most likely will happen some day. Hopefully not in my lifetime .
run Forrest run
I live in olympia so I'm in a safe view here 😅
If I'm wrong let me know