5/15/2024
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
Streamflows back to seasonal normal
Rain today statewide
Water news for Wednesday, May 15, 2024 updated 1213 pm EDT
Current Streamflows, Drought Map from the USGS network in New York
Light rain falling in the city this morning with rain and patchy fog in the west interior, thunderstorms expected in the north may deliver some much needed moisture to the drought rated areas in St.Lawrence, Black River, Upper Hudson and Lake Champlain watersheds.
Northeast flows continue to run below normal through the Black River, Lake Ontario east and St. Lawrence River and Upper Hudson watersheds midweek. Central basin flows run mostly normal from Albany down through Long Island, Mohawk River watershed being the exception Wednesday. Streamflows through the west Catskills feeding Schoharie Creek have normalized overnight however, the receiving body Mohawk River is recorded at much below normal as it joins the Hudson, also below normal in the upper basin.
Streamflows in the west interior have normalized overnight, all watersheds of the interior are running higher than yesterday before the rain started. We see one station reporting much below normal in the Chemung watershed, five stations below normal in Genesee, one below normal in Lake Ontario minor tributaries west section, two below normal in Niagara River - Lake Erie watershed. Allegheny River watershed flows toward the Ohio River and Mississippi River run at seasonal normal level today. Southeast flowing watersheds Chemung, Susquehanna, Delaware and Ramapo run mostly normal with the one flow above 90th percentile in all of NYS pops up in the Delaware River watershed, tributary Callicoon Creek runs 92 percentile at Callicoon.
The drought map appears largely as reported yesterday, the one change overnight is Lake Champlain watershed is entirely clear of a drought rating today. Beginning in the northeast basin, southwest and part of central St. Lawrence County along the Oswegatchie River channel remains below normal midweek in the St. Lawrence River watershed. Black River watershed's Lewis and north Herkimer Counties remain below normal, along with a portion of the Lake Ontario minor tributaries east section found in Jefferson County. Upper Hudson River watershed from southwest Essex, central Hamilton and central Warren Counties remains below normal midweek. The Schoharie Creek channel and feeder creeks coming off the west slopes of the Catskills remains below normal midweek, contributing to the much below normal rating for the Mohawk River in the central basin. In the west, Lake Ontario minor tributaries west section holds on to the below normal rating, along with adjacent area in the Lower Genesee River watershed. A band stretching along the Lake Erie shoreline of Chautauqua County is the last remaining surface area of Niagara River - Lake Erie watershed on the drought map Wednesday.
WT USA Flows and Flood Tracker provisional data from the network of USGS streamflow monitors
Sixty-seven streamflow gauges record flooding in the USA Wednesday mid-morning, up from sixty-six earlier today. WT tracks the nation's most common natural disaster dynamics through the states of New York, Ohio, Georgia and Louisiana. As of this report, eleven sites record flooding on the network, one in Georgia, ten in Louisiana.
Louisiana flooding increased from six to eight locations yesterday, and increased again this morning from eight up to ten floodings on the USGS network of streamflow gauges. In Region 2, Little River broke out of the channel near Rochelle around 830 am, on a steady upward trend. Pearl River breached flood stage near Bogalusa a bit earlier, around 8 am this morning in Region 7. Pearl River is currently running on an upward flow trend. In watershed Region 4, Sabine River flooding has expanded upstream near Burkeville, breaching flood stage 36 ft yesterday afternoon. Flow here looks to have peaked in minor flood stage and may start to slow down this afternoon. Sabine continues to flow more than four feet out of the channel downstream near Bon Wier, well into moderate flood stage downstream near Ruliff on a steep rising trend. Bayou Anococo flooding has peaked and slowly receding near Rosepine. Calcasieu River is flooding near Glenmora, just under the two foot above flood stage mark on a receding trend. Downstream near Oberlin, Calcasieu has peaked in moderate flood stage, just short of three and a half feet out of the channel and slowly receding. Bundick Creek continues to run high near DeRidder. In Region 7, the Tchefuncte River is no longer running 99th percentile flow near Folsom. Watershed Region 1 Bayou Bodcau came down a few inches overnight near Shreveport, currently registering four feet one inch out of the channel. See black tags for flood flow details, blue tags for 99th percentile high flows here.
Georgia sparked up a new flood incident overnight in the deep south. Gulf of Mexico basin's Suwannee River watershed is registering a flow two feet above flood stage on the Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Rd near Bemiss as of early evening yesterday. NWS forecasts more isolated thunderstorms through north and central Georgia today and through the rest of this week, possibly including the weekend. See black tags on the map indicating the level of flooding here.
As many drinking water facilities are supplied from surface water reservoirs, the streamflow situation is pertinent to both drinking water supply and quality. High flows can stir up sediment and cause turbidity in the reservoirs, requiring additional treatments to render the water potable. Low flow volume is linked to warmer temperatures in the reservoir and can be an issue for water quality where HABs are present. WT tracks streamflow trends with an eye to the impacts on drinking water supply and quality in each of the state's watersheds. Check the watershed layer on the map to see the direction of flow and streamflows that may be impacting drinking water today.
USGS Provisional Data Statement
Data are provisional and subject to revision until they have been thoroughly reviewed and received final approval. Current condition data relayed by satellite or other telemetry are automatically screened to not display improbable values until they can be verified.
Provisional data may be inaccurate due to instrument malfunctions or physical changes at the measurement site. Subsequent review based on field inspections and measurements may result in significant revisions to the data.
Data users are cautioned to consider carefully the provisional nature of the information before using it for decisions that concern personal or public safety or the conduct of business that involves substantial monetary or operational consequences. Information concerning the accuracy and appropriate uses of these data or concerning other hydrologic data may be obtained from the USGS.
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