Sunday, February 23, 2014

South Branch and Cacapon reached "Action Level" this week

This is one of the most interesting times of year for phenologists.  Weather is even less predictable than in hurricane season, yet some predictable things like crocuses and daffodils and robins and tree buds are appearing on schedule.

This is the third time recently when the South Branch reached "Action Level", which is when low-lying areas become vulnerable.  Functionally, in a healthy river bed this is when all of the regular expansion areas are full and the river is at risk of expanding onto the flood plains. There is an interesting correlation/causation exploration here.  It's not so much a coincidence of similar precipitation events, but instead it's likely



Meanwhile the Cacapon exceeded it's Action Level and Minor Flooding level near the mouth at Great Cacapon.