On 25 April 2015, the Gorkha earthquake triggered a large rock-ice avalanche and an air blast disaster in the Langtang Valley, Nepal. This paper reconstructs the avalanche's evolution using field investigations and numerical modeling, examining the influence of snowfall anomalies and warm temperatures. Findings suggest deep snow cover fosters a dispersed avalanche, increasing the air blast's destructive power, while elevated temperatures intensify meltwater production and lubricate the flow. Both mechanisms contributed significantly to the Langtang disaster, highlighting the impact of snow cover and air temperature on high-altitude rock-ice avalanche risk assessment.

Yu Zhuang, Binod Dawadi, Jakob Steiner, Rajesh Kumar Dash, Yves Bühler, Jessica Munch, Perry Bartelt