Source: US Geological Survey
In the west, avalanches cause more fatalities on an annual basis than earthquakes and landslides combined. Avalanche frequency has increased due to increasing temperatures and mid-winter rain events. Ecosystems Land Change Science Program science is used by land and transportation infrastructure managers to inform avalanche forecasting, hazard mitigation, and land-use planning in avalanche terrain, which saves human lives, avoids property loss, and minimizes economic losses due to transportation corridor closures.
For example, in Glacier National Park, park managers rely on USGS Land Change Science expertise to provide on-site avalanche forecasting for the Going-to-the-Sun Road – a major thoroughfare and tourist destination in the park. Since the USGS Glacier National Park Avalanche Program began forecasting efforts in 2003, there have been no avalanche related injuries or fatalities, despite there being 1168 avalanche days with 607 avalanches that impacted the road over the 22-year period. Further, in 2021, due to increased park visitation by tourists and access to higher stretches of road, USGS began providing weekend avalanche forecasts to the Visitor Protection Division at Glacier National Park, which uses those forecasts as the definitive measure of whether to close specific areas for public safety, saving lives and property.
USGS Land Change Science also partners with Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado Avalanche Information Center to inform planning and disaster mitigation into the future. Critical transportation corridors run through the state of Colorado, including transcontinental Interstate 70 and many other highways that are at risk from snow avalanche hazards each winter. According to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, the value of freight shipments to and from businesses in Colorado was $232 billion in 2022 of which 77% was shipped by truck. Thus, road closures and damages by avalanches are extremely costly (millions can be lost for each day of closure), making accurate forecasting and mitigation activities essential for keeping the road open, avoiding both losses of life and property. Long term USGS avalanche frequency data has helped the Colorado Department of Transportation, Burlington National Santa Fe Railway, National Park Service, and Colorado Avalanche Information Center. USGS provided a 200-year avalanche chronology of destructive, large magnitude avalanches that helped them reassess their forecasts to improve public safety, saving lives and property.