Mystery of Toppled Trees

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: leolady

Its also called a 'windthrow' or 'blowdown' . Storm rains soak the ground, weakening the roots hold, then high winds accompanying the storm hit a stand of trees, blowing down a few and creating a domino effect to other trees next to it.

Whole swaths of trees can be 'blown down' this way.

Loggers love this, instant harvest in an otherwise protected forest.

wiki

No, loggers don't love this. The dnr or forestry service has to clean it up. Trees that get snapped from violent weather are generally ruined.
When you log you have to know how to drop a tree without checking it( a runner crack up the heartwood) , and these blow downs are almost always checked and destroyed.

I do small scale logging for my materials for homebuilding, and I've had people call after storms begging me to take their trees. I have to explain to them that it's not building timber anymore, it's firewood. Then I refer them to some of the local firewood guys who generally clean it up in exchange for the wood.
No certified logger would be caught dead in a preserve, as he would lose his lively hood instantly.

Their are loggers that care more about the woods than the average person is led to believe. Many of us have knowledge on how to properly thin and keep said forests healthy for many generations, as well as combat the conditions that lead to fires, and disease.

I'm not defending all logging, or loggers. As with any profession, their are assholes, and good people.

a reply to: Hewhowaits

It seems to me that even if a tree was split all the way up the middle you could still get a lot of usable lumber out of them. Especially bigger trees.

But yes...a commercial logger or sawmill would not want to mess with them. But it seems that a guy with a bandsaw mill would be happy to have them.

a reply to: HarryJoy

I have 3 different mills. My small bandsaw mill will shred blades and do other unpredictable things that get dangerous and expensive fast.
Someone might run that stuff, but not me.

a reply to: Hewhowaits

I do small scale logging for my materials for homebuilding, and I've had people call after storms begging me to take their trees.

You "build buildings" and neighbors want you to take their "trash".

Not all blowdowns are trash...

All wood nowadays is valuable for some purpose.

Here is a lengthy more in depth discussion of the wind patterns on that day. I read the article but I'm still left kinda puzzled and scratching my head on the explanation, not that I don't believe it to be caused by a mountain wind... I'm just having a hard time imagining it without seeing the actual terrain.

The Quinalt Blowdown

Also I am still trying to figure out google earth junk for an aerial view of the damage pattern...

leolady

a reply to: leolady

Sorry Leo! The flattened tress reminded me of the movie and I posted it to raise a few smiles.

I used this mapping tool to look up the area in question. Now mind you I do not know if it reports back images live time. I don't know if the satellite image of this lakes shoreline is current or live time. I do not know if the tools shows "live" or if we have to wait for updates. Since the topple event took place at the end of Jan 2018, I would think an update would of taken place by now, giving satellites time to pass by for the next image captures.

I moved around on the July Creek Campground's shoreline area and I did notice a bunch of what appears to be old logs lining one part of the lakes shoreline. I don't know if this is some type of dam structure or if it is evidence that current logging is going on in the area. Could this be the cleaned up trees that were toppled by the event ?

Almost directly behind this is a parking lot, maybe for the campground ? So I lean more heavily toward this being some time of dam structure on the shoreline or the newly toppled trees dumping ground as opposed to current logging ongoing on a campground area. Located behind this log structure is a public parking area.

The articles I read about the topple event implied the trees fell in an area together so I'd think we'd be able to tell which area that was with an aerial view, but I can't tell by looking around. I'm not trained for this either. Maybe someone else with a better eye can see it ?

I played around for a bit and zoomed in closer on the image trying to get a better look at the trees in the area...but honestly I can't see any evidence of a large patch of toppled trees or any clearings or bare spots in the trees. I imagine they would of done some clean up by now on the area so it would be unlikely to see the trees still toppled over.

The tool I used to look is posted below. Simply key in the decimal coordinates for the July Creek Campground area to put you in the vicinity of the event area and then look around for yourself.

Feature Name: July Creek Campground Category:
Washington physical, cultural and historic features
Feature Type: Cultural
Class: Locale
County: Grays Harbor County
Latitude: 47.491753
Longitude: -123.8601784

Earth Explorer

Here is a close up image I captured of the area...


leolady

a reply to: intrptr

some good reading material there, never really heard of this but with minimal forests and maximum cornfields I'm not surprised I hadn't

a reply to: MarlbBlack

That was funny.

Possible the trees have been leaning due to oil erosion, that coupled with wind gusts, if not just a microburst. The breaks come from trees falling on others.
a reply to: Hewhowaits

That, and that they are old growth trees that the National Park probably wants there.

From a page sharing about the following,

A look at other weather measurements also failed to yield any significant clues, although, intriguingly, a seismic recorder in the area did pick up some rumblings which are thought to have been created by all of the trees hitting the ground.

Source1
A small eq was recorded, but from the trees or what caused the trees to fall?

Local source with a first hand account,

Rutledge lives about a half mile from the scene, and she and her husband went to check the picnic area after hearing a tree go down, a rumbling sound and branches cracking.

“My husband thought it was a landslide or blow down,” she said. “The trees that you see in the campground are huge, one Sitka spruce and one Douglas fir. It looks like the Sitka spruce brought down the fir on its way down.”

Source2

a reply to: intrptr

Yes, all wood has value. No argument there, I was just explaining that for loggers- blowdown timber is simply work without profit. There are certain sizes and lengths required for the timber brokers. Many times blowdown is rather destroyed by their standards.
It costs about 3000$ for one day of a crew of four and a loader/grapple truck to be on site. That's a lot of money to throw away on timber Noone will purchase (commercially).
However there are people who do firewood and pulp/grindage businesses that can make it a viable product, and will gladly come out and work with you.
But loggers won't touch that stuff, we have too many rules/regulations/risk involved to take the chance on some of a blowdown being profitable.

I'm not defending the whole industry, just trying to explain why we don't do storm clean up.

a reply to: dreamingawake

Another benefit of old growth trees are the fungi networks in the soil around them. When these have been in place for hundreds of years, they do more to protect the ecology of the forest floor and all flora that depend on it. It's a microclimate in itself, and is crucial to the survival of our forests.

a reply to: Hewhowaits

Yes, all wood has value. No argument there, I was just explaining that for loggers- blowdown timber is simply work without profit.

Not all blow down trees 'snap' off. If the ground is saturated, tree stands are more vulnerable to high winds, they come down roots and all.

That is very lucrative, something the logging companies wait for, bid on and harvest, for profit.

Anyways, mystery causation in OP solved.

I wished I had your lifestyle, surroundings and work, too.

Jealous in the 'Burbs.