Ready for a break from the heat and humidity!

Final update on the weekend: Still raining, and the dam upstream is now pumping water through at over 16kcfs, double what it was just 6 hours ago.   To make it quick, we’re completely underwater until sometime next week at least.  For you private boaters, I really don’t recommend trying to get out there. 

Previous update: May 28, 11:10am

Well sh*t. The storms stalled out right over the central river valley and the dams up there have now started dumping water (~12.5kcfs right now).  That water will start getting to us right around Friday evening and looks to last through the weekend at least.  Our limit for trips is 15kcfs (when almost all sandbars are underwater) which we’re likely to go over by the time all of the tributaries between here and the upstream dam are added to the mix so we’re officially calling off this weekend.

You can see what’s coming with the image below (forecasts typically update twice a day).  Sandbars appear below 13.5′ and this station is ~12-18 hours upstream of us.

Previous update: May 27 1:51pm

This upcoming weekend is looking excellent! Words I haven’t used to describe a spring day in years…  A high pressure system will be moving in Friday setting us up for a dry, sunny, high 60s/low 70s weekend and low winds from the south (i.e. mostly not headwind).  As a bonus, this might be the last weekend of no mosquitoes for a while. 

There is a small risk of rising water as the cold front associated with this high pressure system is expected to cause widespread rain tomorrow (Thursday) however it does appear to be sparing most of the river valley up north and soil conditions currently have room for about 3″ of water before runoff picks up substantially (and thus quickly rising river levels).  We’ve also got a lot of capacity to spare as sandbars are well above water at the moment.  Long story short, I’ll keep an eye on water levels over the next couple days but I don’t think it’s going to cause any trouble.

As for corona watch, buses are still limited to ~10 people and no gear so drivers only while all passengers and gear must be dropped off at the starting point for your trip (more details in your confirmation emails).  Hard to say what the density of people might be on water given the lack of many other open alternative activities in the area.  Memorial Day weekend had way more locals than usual but I have to imagine we’ll be back to usual early season low numbers of people, especially with the cooler fall like weather.

       -Ryan