11-12-08 Flooding closes Mt Rainier

THURSDAY EVENING  River level at 5' . . .

Thanks for the updates, but the river can't have fallen so fast (since 5ft at that gauge implies a flow of 0 cfs). The current plot looks more like that of a gauge that was damaged or destroyed in the flood:

Thanks Amar! The graph does look like the sensor was ripped loose & maytagged?

The phone message was revised Friday afternoon to say the Park will be closed thru the weekend & likely next week as well.

The gauge /station was damaged. The flooding of SR706 was predictable and expected; Supt. Uberuaga, at a meeting I attended, said the $1.5 million culverts were just a temporary fix, not expected to last. The original plan to remove the blockage to replace the creek in its bed was stopped when a ranger objected to using heavy equipment in the wilderness area (a wilderness area subjected to natural catastrophic disturbances such as the 1947 mudflow, the 2006 floods, and several other minor floods; the ranger was horrified at vehicle tracks on the moss; it would be my best bet that they wouldn't be noticeable in a couple of years, but that the aquatic ecosystem could be save). It is my understanding that use of motorized equipment is legal in a Wilderness when an emergency exists (based on my experience in wilderness management in Montana and seeing rescues on Mt. R). But the equipment was withdrawn, the aquatic ecosystem in lower kautz creek was allowed be degraded bky reduced flows and elevated concentrations of heavy metals, the adjacent terrestrial ecosystem was subjected to further continuous erosion, and now the road is flooded and the park closed, at least for a while. My oh my, such wonderful results~!

Thanks for the updates, but the river can't have fallen so fast (since 5ft at that gauge implies a flow of 0 cfs). The current plot looks more like that of a gauge that was damaged or destroyed in the flood:

Amar, could you please provide me the link to the gauge information you show here?

Thanks,
Juan

The link you're looking for is probably this:

ahps2.wrh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=sew

It's a National Weather Service site which takes selected gauges and shows the previous three days as well as the model results for the next three days.

More at: blogs.thenewstribune.com/adventure/2008/..._rainier_road_status

[size=12pt]Update on Mount Rainier road status[/size]

Posted by Jeff Mayor @ 06:45:00 am Posted by Jeffrey P. Mayor at 6:45 a.m. Wednedsday.

Mount Rainier National Park officials are confident the park’s main road will reopen in time for the weekend.

Crews are working to repair the Nisqually Road where Kautz Creek flooded after 8 1/2 inches of rain fell Nov. 11-12........