Record setting river flows today

The combination of warm air and steady rain on top of high snowpack triggered the flooding we saw around Western Idaho. More importantly, the rapid rise of our local river systems was most impressive. For example, the Main Payette River near banks rose to 16,400 cfs (cubic feet per second) by mid-day. This shattered to old record flow for this date of 14,300 cfs set back in 1943! The average flow for this time of the year is 4,500 cfs. That’s a lot of water. Other areas of interest was the Payette River flowing out of Black Canyon Reservoir into the Emmett Valley. This hit a whopping 21,300 cfs. The average flow is also 4,500 cfs for this time of the year. This event caused some erosion and flooding on low lying farm land. The Weiser River also rose suddenly to 19,200 cfs.

The good news is that cooler temperatures and fewer showers will allow the snowpack to slow the flow. While the rivers will still be high on Wednesday, the flood waters will gradually recede through the day. Is this the beginning of what could be a messy runoff season? It’s too early to tell. With the higher than normal snowpack in the mountains the potential is always there. However, the weather pattern looks like it will give us a break for the next few days. I expect to see partly cloudy skies on Wednesday with highs in the 50’s. There is another chance of showers on Thursday, but it looks weak by comparison to what we have seen since last Friday. Friday and Saturday looks decent. But, the computer models want to bring a chance of showers to the region on Sunday and Monday.

One thing for sure, we are going to remain in an active pattern for the next 5-7 days. We’ll be watching.

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