(Posted by J.B. Elliott, but written by Bill Murray)
Today in Weather History: The remote Nevado Del Ruiz volcano in the Andes Mountains of Columbia began rumbling in January 1985.
By September, a small eruption melted a part of the mountain’s ice cap and formed a small lake near the top of the mountain. Based on historical information, scientists warned that an eruption could melt the rest of the mountain’s ice cap and produce deadly mud flows called lahars down the mountain. Scientists created maps of where the flows would go, and the village of Armero, forty miles away, lay directly in the path.
But still, residents were reluctant to evacuate their town, despite the fact that earthquakes and escaping gases portended that an eruption was imminent. As a nighttime storm raged over the region, the volcano erupted about 9 p.m., sending a 150 foot wall of mud rushing toward the town. In minutes, the town was engulfed. Many people were buried in their beds.
The final death toll was 21,000 in Armero with another thousand in nearby villages. This made Nevado Del Ruiz the second most deadly volcanic eruption in the twentieth century.
– Bill Murray
