As Memorial Day Nears, River Levels Could Exceed Flood Stage



This was taken 5/19/11 along the Columbia River



Due to the recent nice weather, snow is melting on our mountains.  This has resulted in the National Weather Service releasing their latest hyrdologic outlook for SW Washington with information about high river levels.  With people making plans for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, you may want to consider where you might be camping if it could be inundated with water.

We will keep you posted should there be any specific threats to SW Washington for flooding.

The following information is taken directly from the Weather Service Hydrologic Outlook:

HIGH RIVER LEVELS WILL CONTINUE ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER THIS WEEK WITH THE RIVER POSSIBLY EXCEEDING FLOOD STAGE AT THE VANCOUVER GAGE TUESDAY...

THE COLUMBIA RIVER DOWNSTREAM OF BONNEVILLE DAM WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABOVE BANKFULL AND AT TIMES NEAR FLOOD STAGE THIS WEEK.

THE COLUMBIA RIVER AT VANCOUVER IS EXPECTED TO RISE A COUPLE OF INCHES ABOVE FLOOD STAGE BEGINNING AROUND TUESDAY...AND REMAIN JUST ABOVE FLOOD STAGE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. THE FLOOD STAGE AT VANCOUVER IS 16.0 FEET. THE RIVER LEVELS NEAR VANCOUVER WILL FLUCTUATE AROUND 6 INCHES FROM HIGH TO LOW TIDE DUE TO THE TIDAL CYCLE.

THE COLUMBIA RIVER AT LONGVIEW WILL RISE CLOSE TO BANKFULL LEVELS DURING THE HIGH TIDE TODAY...AND ABOVE BANKFULL LEVELS DURING HIGH TIDES THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK...BUT SHOULD IS CURRENTLY FORECAST TO REMAIN BELOW FLOOD STAGE. FLOOD STAGE AT LONGVIEW IS

13.5 FT. THE RIVER LEVELS NEAR LONGVIEW AND FARTHER DOWNSTREAM WILL FLUCTUATE AS MUCH AS 2 FEET FROM HIGH TO LOW TIDE DUE TO THE TIDAL CYCLE.

DUE TO A LARGE VOLUME OF WATER IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER SYSTEM FROM SNOW MELT EAST OF THE CASCADES...THE RIVER LEVELS WILL REMAIN HIGH THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT RAINFALL EXPECTED LATER THIS WEEK MAY RESULT IN HIGHER RIVER FLOWS DOWNSTREAM.

THESE ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN NORMAL SPRING TIME FLOWS FOR THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER...AND HAVE ONLY BEEN EXPERIENCED A FEW TIMES IN THE PAST 20 YEARS. THESE TYPE OF FLOWS WILL LIKELY INUNDATE SOME ACCESS ROADS NEAR THE RIVER AND NORMALLY DRY LOW LYING AREAS...

INCLUDING AREAS USED FOR CAMPING SUCH AS ON GOVERNMENT ISLAND. NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO TAKE ANY MITIGATING ACTIONS SHOULD THESE TYPES OF FLOWS CAUSE ANY PROBLEMS TO LOW LYING PROPERTIES.