Sometimes when it rain in the High Atlas, you get a flash flood.
While our research team was in Morocco for field work we experienced one of these events while we were (fortunately) in our Auberge (hotel) safe and dry! Being the Geology nerd I am, I had to take some videos of this awesome geomorphology event happening.
NOTE: If you want to use these gifs/videos for teaching, you are welcome to do
so, but please credit me (Dr. Rowan Martindale, UT Austin) when you do.
This was the rainstorm (which also included hail) that started it all!
Our hike that day had taken us up the gully to the top of this hill. We went back to the Auberge when the dark clouds rolled in and started to threaten rain.... I am glad we did!
Here it comes!
While it may not look like much, this stream was easily moving
basketball-sized boulders. Sitting in the Auberge, we could feel them
hitting the bedrock!
The river built it's own little alluvial fan on the road and started cutting channels!
Fortunately, I never park my car in this spot.
Some very brave people decided they would cross in between rainstorms...
Eventually the bulldozer got in and cleaned up the largest debris...
But then it started raining again and the river roared back up to full flow!
The next day was lovely and we were back up the mountain for field work!