On Memorial Day weekend in 1983, it was a combination of warm temperatures and quickly melting snows that caused the southeast face of Slide Mountain (just south of Reno) to give way in a massive landslide that killed one person and seriously injured four people.

Have you ever driven along Hwy. 395 in Washoe Valley and noticed the debris field on the west side of the highway at the north end of the valley? Have you ever wondered what those deteriorating logs and boulders are doing in a cow pasture that has neither trees nor large rocks anywhere else?

That's the remainder of the debris field from the 1983 landslide. It was the result of "an estimated 1.4 million cubic yards of granite" which tumbled down into a lake up on the mountain, which then pushed "7 million gallons of water" out of the lake which picked up massive boulders and uprooted trees as it rushed down the hill toward a "cluster of Washoe Valley homes." People ran for their lives, but some didn't make it.

• Experts Say Nevada's Slide Mountain Could Fall Again