Iowa Under Water

It's been some time since I last *had* to post on this blog. The recent deluge of rain this weekend got me thinking about this subject again. So, I checked some of the websites I watched last year as the waters rose and the rains continued to fall.

The blue is actual measured elevation of the water at the Coralville Reservoir, while the red is projected elevation. If the water tops the spilway crest, we are in trouble.

This weekend, the rain total was somewhere between 1.5 and 2.5 inches and you can see the effect this had on the forecast water levels in the Coralville Reservoir in the image above. It's important to note that the current outflow from the Reservoir is still somewhat restricted. The Reservoir level is still higher now than it was last year at this time, while the Iowa River level is actually lower than last year.

So, will we see more flooding this year like we did in 2008? It's probably still too early to tell and it will mostly depend on how much it rains over the coming months. One thing I can tell you is that a lot of people got a little nervous watching all the water fall from the sky over the weekend.