“There is this longer-term kind of hangover that makes all of Western Oregon areas that have burned vulnerable to a different kind of landslide.”

Rain in northern Oregon has brought some relief to crews trying to corral the large wildfires burning there. But the National Weather Service warns that the rain is bringing a new threat: landslides in the steep, burned-out terrain. By @henryfountain

Oregon faces a significant landslide hazard three or four years from now, when roots of burned trees lose their strength to anchor soil. Heavy rains could destabilize an entire slope —and climate change is leading to more extreme rainfall. @henryfountain