1" of rain

Discussion in 'Earth Science' started by sculptor, Mar 9, 2019.

  1. sculptor Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,466
    the drainage basins upriver from me = about 3000 square miles(iowa river)
    we have about 2 ft of compacted snow and ice on the ground with water equivalency of about 2.5 to 3 inches of water
    we are expecting about 1" of rain today
    ok
    so
    with the 1" of rain we will have about 7 million cubic feet of water heading downriver.
    add in the snowpack and we could see another 17 million cubic of water heading downriver
    in an ice covered river that has a normal flow of 2000 cubic feet per second

    rain today with temperatures slightly above freezing
    and then heavier rains predicted with temperature of about 54 degrees F(12 degrees C) on Wednesday
    and, the ground is saturated from a wet autumn

    This could get interesting
    Think I'll be hiking down to the river a few times this week to watch the show
    ............................
    There is a dam @5 miles downriver from us
    I'd give a dollar to peek inside the minds of the army corps of engineers guys in charge of that dam
     
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  3. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

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    Large volumes can be expressed in acre/ft. One acre of water one feet deep. It's usually how they measure the capacity of reservoirs.
     
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  5. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    8,466
    and, that would have been easier when just estimating the volume of water
    however
    I was keying the measurements to the normal flow of the river which is in cubic feet per second
    cause that's what it's gonna look like when it flows past my house
    ...............................
     
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  7. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

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    I hung out with too many Army Corps of Engineers-types.
     
  8. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    8,466
    Way hay and up she rises

    The dam guys started increasing the outflow
    and then
    flooding upriver from us
    flooding downriver from us
    and
    the current plan is to decrease the outflow of the dam in 2 days back to normal cfs

    Way hay and up she rises

    23 feet above the pre rain level

    the ice has broken free of the shore
    and floats about at the whim of the wind

    Way hay and up she rises

    Very interesting indeed
    and
    darned entertaining

    ..............................................
    nothing says springtime quite like ice flows on a rising river

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  9. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,089
    ... except maybe flooding in our showroom. Had to move all the books and crafts off the lowest shelf, carry water out in buckets and turn on the heater we can scarce afford.
    Heigh-ho and up she rises,
    earlie in the morning
     
  10. sculptor Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,466
    You said it better'n me.

    Is this flooding an annual thing for you?
     
  11. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,089
    More or less - we've had a couple of bad years before, but nothing like this. There has rarely been so much snow for so long. Also, the temperature fluctuations are amplified by the jet stream going nuts, and that's affecting everybody in the northern hemisphere. It'll only get worse.
    Heave-ho!
    (I'll be in the long-boat till I'm sober...)
     
  12. sculptor Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,466
    a good boat is much like a cradle, with the waves rocking you gently to sleep?
     
  13. sculptor Valued Senior Member

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    8,466
    OK the river is still rising. The lake(fat spot on a dammed river)/reservoir has reached 50% of flood storage capacity at 703 ft(which is up 20 feet since I started this thread. The meteorologist expect more rain on sunday--2 days hence---I wonder how much will fall?
    You can find river gauge data here:
    http://rivergages.mvr.usace.army.mi...essionid=8430a2698f054f6585fb3d7d172578197212
    (choose a district and then choose a basin)

    Meanwhile:
    The Smithsonian headlines
    Flooding in Midwest May Reach ‘Historic and Catastrophic’ Levels
    Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...trophic-levels-180971767/#T5uT7PWvDfKQSs1R.99

    ...................
    No worries here---
    All this flooding is just interesting and entertaining for me---
    ---I studied topographical maps and chose property well above flood stages before we moved here.
    I am amazed that few people seem to do that.
     
  14. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,089
    Natural selection at work.

    P.S. The link didn't work for me. Maybe the trumpets diverted their funds to the Rio Grande?
     
  15. sculptor Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,466
    If it was the river gauges link:
    When they update--they go off-line
    and
    The above link was copy and paste from open window on my box
    maybe this cleaner/leaner link will be better?
    http://rivergages.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/new/layout.cfm

    ?
     
  16. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    5,089
    No luck. I'll try again tomorrow - it sounds like a very good source of information.
     

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