More Flooding Imminent

[Glacier]

I'm not sure exactly how you came to that conclusion.
The waters from last weekend have barely receded in most places, if at all.
ALL lakes are at capacity - which they were not last weekend.
With the lakes at capacity, there is now nowhere for the flow from the creeks to go...except for over their banks.
The ground is oversaturated from the coolest, wettest spring we've seen for a very long time. Any additional rain will not be soaking in, it will be running off or pooling on top.
They are calling for as much rain and perhaps even more, than last weekend.
Temperatures have risen significantly in the past week - meaning a lot more water entering the system from snow pack melt than there was last weekend.

It's not hype for crying out loud.
The conditions right now are such that any significant rainfall at all is going to tax the entire watershed beyond it's limit.

Ever heard of the boy who cried wolf? I've seen enough movies to know that when you see the mayor on TV warning everyone of the apocalypse, it just won't happen. This storm is not like last week's storm. There's not as much moisture in the air this time, and temperatures are MUCH cooler. That means that it will come down as snow in the higher elevations, and melt slowly after that.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the lake is not at capacity either. The forecasters are suffering from forecast guilt as they let their guilt over missing the last event cloud their judgement.

[Fancy]

The lake is high enough and we know it's going to get higher and that's an issue. Please keep politics out of this thread.

[Fancy]

Okanagan Lake is just seven centimetres away from being full.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/1 ... lmost-full
It's better to anticipate further flooding and be prepared than ignore nature.

triggering the potential for the development of severe thunderstorms

https://www.google.org/publicalerts/ale ... source=web

We will be monitoring the weather and have already taken precautions. Should the lake rise anymore we will take further measures to protect property. So far so good but others haven't been so lucky. The creeks still running fast and crews are monitoring areas for log jams and clearing when necessary.

[Jflem1983]

Just got a jam cleared off commonwealth road water is moving again . Lots of people out . Taking a rest for lunch . Will be back out helping soon

[GordonH]

https://flightplanning.navcanada.ca/cgi ... peDoc=html

Click on PCPN rate then under BC click composite the click on Submit.

It looks like main part of the storm is moving north just to west of Kelowna

[tsayta]

Have a look at the latest real time data coming out of mission Creek in east Kelowna. You can see a recent peak and falling off in water levels. The peak was last night in response to melting during the warm part of the day yesterday. Looks like approx 6 hours lag for waters to reach valley bottom. We are still a long ways off last week's peak


postimage org safe

[Fancy]

It's not the overflowing of creeks that's a concern at the moment unless the heavens open up again but the land is extremely saturated and the water isn't going anywhere in some places - yet.

[Terris]

And STILL, not ONE City Counselor or our "bobble-head" Mayor have ANYTHING to say about the MANY Kelowna property owners and taxpayers who are being flooded out.........with more water to come tomorrow.

What an absolute disgrace these elected "deadbeats" are in Kelowna.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2016/04/24/e ... -right-now

The City of Kelowna, particularly the engineering department, are no doubt squirming over this flooding here.

This is not the worst flooding we've seen. I remember watching the Mission Creek dike system being built by the Province back in the 60's and 70's to mitigate flooding problems.

Back then however, there was a lot more farmland and tributary creeks to absorb the extra runoff.

Fast forward to today and all the farmlands and most of the creeks have been paved over and built upon with water being misdirected who knows where.

Kelowna has been, somewhat hastily, built upon a large floodplain. Were engineering studies done to account for and mitigate water issues which included the water table before being given building permits?

Did developers follow engineering guidelines and planning during all this development?

The city should have floodplain mapping available to the public but I can see a whole lot of liability and insurance issues arising from having this information released.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ ... -1.3793374

[Farmmaa]

Ever heard of the boy who cried wolf? I've seen enough movies to know that when you see the mayor on TV warning everyone of the apocalypse, it just won't happen. This storm is not like last week's storm. There's not as much moisture in the air this time, and temperatures are MUCH cooler. That means that it will come down as snow in the higher elevations, and melt slowly after that.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the lake is not at capacity either. The forecasters are suffering from forecast guilt as they let their guilt over missing the last event cloud their judgement.

You should get off the computer for a while and take a drive.

Come out to Lake Country...drive around Commonwealth and Bottom Wood Lake Rd....and tell the residents who are already under water before the rain really even starts that this flooding is nothing but media and political hype.
You might notice on your way out that Duck Lake is already overflowing.

Strange, the three downpours we got caught in at work today sure felt like moisture to me.

Downplaying this as a non-issue is a disgusting insult to the hundreds of people who are out there right now fighting to save their homes.

[Glacier]

You should get off the computer for a while and take a drive.

Come out to Lake Country...drive around Commonwealth and Bottom Wood Lake Rd....and tell the residents who are already under water before the rain really even starts that this flooding is nothing but media and political hype.
You might notice on your way out that Duck Lake is already overflowing.

Strange, the three downpours we got caught in at work today sure felt like moisture to me.

Downplaying this as a non-issue is a disgusting insult to the hundreds of people who are out there right now fighting to save their homes.

Um, please see the graph above. The few showers today were minor compared to last week. I would bet you a case of beer that we will NOT see anything resembling the unprecedented storm the mayor was talking about. It just won't happen. Like I said before, the temperatures are too cold, and the showers are too isolated to do any further damage.

[Fancy]

The rain has to go somewhere....

[Glacier]

The rain has to go somewhere....

But we aren't getting that much rain. Maybe another 10 mm, which the rivers can handle no problem.

[Fancy]

It's not just the rivers that are the problem - low lying areas are flooded.

[GordonH]

But we aren't getting that much rain. Maybe another 10 mm, which the rivers can handle no problem.

10mm on already saturated ground, Thompson Shuswap got a large amount of snow (not record numbers) add the large amount of rain since snow has stopped. Equals very saturated ground.

added: what about the amount rain coming down at head waters of the many of the creeks & rivers in all areas up & down this valley (Okanagan) as well the Shuswap/Thompson areas. i.e Shuswap River once Sugar Lake gets to high they open the dam & everything down stream could be in big trouble.

[Farmmaa]

Um, please see the graph above. The few showers today were minor compared to last week. I would bet you a case of beer that we will NOT see anything resembling the unprecedented storm the mayor was talking about. It just won't happen. Like I said before, the temperatures are too cold, and the showers are too isolated to do any further damage.

UM....who cares about your graph....try actually going outside instead.

The main portion of the storms are not set to hit until later this evening ...as predicted several days ago.
The several downpours today were simply small cells that came through.

The mayor, and most people here are NOT talking simply about large amounts of rain...but you refuse to listen, because...you have a graph.

A Perfect Storm....does not refer simply to a rain storm, but rather the perfect condition for something major to occur.
ALL factors coming together at once.
An extremely wet spring. Saturated ground. Several large storm cells within a week. Streams and creeks overflowing their banks - some already 7-8 feet higher than average. Smaller lakes already flooding surrounding areas.
And...the snow pack is only just starting to melt now.

Before continuing with this whole..there's no big flood risk stuff...like I suggested - get out and tell that to all of the people losing their homes and possessions right now.
10-15 mm of rain is a LOT of rain when there is NO WHERE FOR IT TO GO.