Unprecedented Winter Rainfall Initiates Large Snow Avalanche and Mass Movement Cycle in New Zealand's Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana

Abstract

Abstract An exceptional July 2022 winter storm brought 550 mm of precipitation to the Southern Alps of New Zealand. A series of alpine mass movements occurred during the storm, including a widespread snow avalanche cycle, debris flows, and erosion from rain runoff. We detail the sequence of events in the Kitchener avalanche path. Here, two large snow avalanches were followed by a debris flow. Substantial erosion of deposition and the underlying alluvial fan were induced by runoff from over 300 mm of rain falling after the first avalanche. The Kitchener path saw the largest avalanche since 1986, testing the utility of a diversion berm constructed for a 1:100‐year event. Results from a unmanned aerial vehicle lidar survey and numerical modeling characterize the rain‐on‐snow hazard sequence. In particular, the rain‐on‐snow event occurred on a deep mid‐winter snowpack, offering insights into future hazards posed by increasingly frequent extreme alpine precipitation.

Keywords

• snow
• avalanche
• hazard
• extreme rainfall
• mass movement
• erosion