Weird spring on the river

[SlackwaterJack]

So far it's been one lousy spring here on the Snake, the spring surge of water from the mountains has been very late, long (not over yet), and huge. Normal spring flows are late, way above normal and most of the snowpack flow hasn't even started. It's been a real adventure everytime I've ventured from the slip and into what is usually a fairly placid river at the normal flow of 75,000cf/second (maybe 2 knots of current) that is now at 110,000 cf/second and predicted to increase over the next 3-4 weeks ... if the weather ever warms up and it stops raining 🙁 .

My last time out consisted of drifting downriver at 6 knots(gps) for 15 minutes, accelerate enough to get the boat to turn, then running almost flat out dodging logs for an hour to get back to the marina ....not gonna do THAT again!(stupid to have gone out but I needed a boat "fix" or I may have started to get the "shakes") It was kinda scary thinking what could have happened if the engine quit and I was pushed under a bridge that my mast wouldn't have cleared with the water so high...I had the bow anchor ready to go and stuck to the shallows as much as possible. I'm starting to consider changing the name to Whitewater Jack. 😉

Predictably, this weekend is supposed to be the nicest we've had in months (upper 70's, sunny..ie; almost normal) so my daughter's grad weekend/bbq will be ok...couldn't have had any boat time anyways...then starting Monday....you guessed it!...another 10 days of rain and temps in the high 50's...figures...

On the bright-side 🙂 ...I've had plenty of time to keep the boat clean.

 

[Stella Maris]

We witnessed the weather you are speaking about first hand this past weekend on our drive to Seattle. We saw snow in Wyoming (yes it is May....), heavy rain in most of Idaho, Oregon and Southern Washington. When crossing the I-84 bridge over the Columbia into Washington, we were amazed to see all of the spill way gates opened on the dam just east of the bridge. Every river we crossed on our journey was over their banks.

It has been a great water year for the west this year. Some parts of Montana have received 600% of normal snowfall. The Sierra's in California had over 65 feet of snow and it is still snowing! Aspen Resort re-opened for Memorial Day weekend since their base was better than it was in January!

 

[bbrh842]

Weird Spring down here in Texas also. The wind has been blowing 30 knots 24-7 for months. It has not rained since the last week of January. Send some of that rain to us. We need it. Thanks.

 

[rt11002003]

We're abnormally dry. Temp in the mid to high 90s for the past couple of weeks and 100 degrees for the past three days. Today is 98 degrees. 🙁

During this period we spent a week around Fort Meyers and Marco Island, FL. 86 degrees and a sea breeze. Went into the 10,000 island area with a friend on a Rosborough 246, then ventured in the Gulf of Mexico for awhile. 😀

Gene

 

[SlackwaterJack]

Tell ya what...any trucks full of sunshine and blue sky you send us...we'll fill'em with water and send'em right back.
We're willing to split the gas. 😉

 

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Jack (don't say that in an airport :shock: ),

I feel your pain. I am a cruise boat captain in Grand Teton National Park - our lake level is down to 46% because of the concern about rapid runoff and flooding. The water is too low for us to launch the cruise boats, but you folks further down the Snake are feeling the effects of the water running through our dam. The word we get is the dam will be letting less water through very soon, potentially slowing your water flow (although there are plenty of tributaries below the dam) and filling our lake. The snowpack is huge, and the water content of that snow is about 200% of normal. I think there is going to be a LOT of water heading down the Snake... once the runoff begins in earnest. When we get a warm day, it has been followed by a bunch of cooler days. I sure think it's coming - but, a bunch of warm all at once could potentially be seriously problematic for you folks downstream. I know the Bureau of Land Reclamation is trying their best to manage this situation, but it is something no one had dealt with previously. An interesting season so far.

Good luck.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

 

[SlackwaterJack]

Jim B,
Around here the Army Corps.of Eng. seem to have a well practiced system they follow so major flooding isn't a big concern. There are 3 dams in the immediate vicinity for them to play with; Dworshak Dam about 30 miles to the east controls the Clearwater, Hells Canyon Dam holds the Snake to the south and Lower Granite Dam about 30 miles to the west holds water from the Upper Snake and Clearwater confluence. The dams between here and the Columbia are the key to river levels. Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental. and Ice Harbor are co-ordinated to control flow into the Columbia River.
They dropped Lake Orofino (behind Dworshak) by 130 ft about 4 weeks ago in anticipation of runoff and its already 20 feet from full pool, and rising at 3 feet per day (the lake is 70 miles long). They'll drop it again after Salmon season ends in about a week.