North_County

And I think if you look at the river gage charts for this event, most of them seem to have very fast rises, very narrow crests, and very fast ebbs. This would seem to support the idea that the snowmelt entered the rivers very rapidly (no brake), consistent with the shallow snowpack hypothesis. Deeper snowpack might have resulted in more gradual rises and broader crests. Even if deeper snowpack meant more total water volume overall, the peak flow levels might be reduced in exchange for much broader crests.

I am far from the most knowledgeable on this subject, but I had some discussions with a Canadian hydrologist about this very topic after the Nooksack flooded two years ago. If I recall correctly, his position was that, as counter-intuitive as it might seem, deeper snowpack actually helped to reduce flooding. His position could basically be "dumbed down" to the idea that deeper snowpack, while obviously having more liquid content, simply took longer to disappear. Snow at lower elevations that remained on the ground absorbed the higher elevation snowmelt, and essentially acted as a "brake" on the water running downhill; decreasing the velocity at which it entered the watershed, and therefore spreading the overall volume out over a longer period of time. No snow means no brake. Therefore, by virtue of remaining on the ground longer, the deeper snow was more effective at regulating discharge into the streams and rivers. I probably totally butchered that explanation, but it makes some sense.

Slightly off topic, but seeing this did unlock a core memory. Many years ago, I'm guessing the fall/winter of either 1998-1999 or 1999-2000, there was a farm going to auction in the flood plain near Carnation. I was a high school kid hired by the auction house (they were from Whatcom County) to go down and power wash all of the farm equipment to make it presentable for sale. Flooding was forecast to begin later that night, but the farmhouse/barn sat on the high part of the property above the flood plain, so we were never in any danger. I got about 2/3 of the way done when the auctioneer came running and said to load up my gear, we had to leave. Apparently the river rose much faster than they expected, and all the roads leading to the farm were already flooding. We were still able to drive out with water lapping at the truck's tires, but it would have been by boat if we had waited too much longer. I hadn't thought about that in years.

I think the bigger issue, at least for river flooding, anyway, is the amount of snowmelt. But yeah, I have to keep reminding people that in 2021 we had a lowland station in the area record 10 inches in 36 hours, if I recall, and even more in the mountains. So any comparisons should stop right there.

Flooding is always a big concern in my area this time of year. I feel pretty confident the Nooksack will stay in its banks this time around. But I've been fielding a lot of questions from anxious friends and family who have been reading things on Facebook. They're learning not to stress until I'm stressed; and if I'm stressed, start moving things up.

I'll be perfectly content if Whatcom County remains marginally within the Olympic rainshadow as indicated on the maps......

I drove to/from Spokane over the weekend and the freezing fog in the area was no joke. It was dark out, but it looked like rime ice was forming on the road signs along the freeway. Not like this, though. Cool picture.

My kids think I'm lying when I tell them I freaked out the first time it cost me 20 bucks to fill my tank.

Imagine being this wrong about what a "10-Year-Flood" means......

How can I sign up?

Really nice dump overnight. Roughly 7 inches of super soft snow. Hearing reports from some of our employees of almost nothing just ten miles south.

It's not very often I get snow that falls straight down.

Thin but noticeable layer at the border.

Sorry for revisiting an old.topic, but I was just catching up after a couple days away, and saw the discussion abut drinking water. We take that very seriously here.... (Zoom in on the blue signs)

Third and final update. This snowfall rate has really become kind of impressive all of a sudden....all things considered. Much prettier to watch than last month's snow. (You probably have to zoom in a bit to see the actual snowflakes in the second picture)

It's actually even sticking already, which shocked me a bit.

Confirmed light snowfall at the moment. Kinda strange to see it falling straight down.

Looking gross, but still counts. Inflatables don't appreciate outflow and ice storms, in case you were wondering.

Ah yes, I'm very familiar with taking one for the team by suffering through bitter dry wind so that Puget Sound can get dumped on. A "Sumas Special."

Looks like I spoke too soon. Sounds like ice dams and possibly the king tides caused a very rapid and scary rise near the mouth of the Nooksack. Marietta was evacuated in the middle of the night. Video of the ice flowing through Ferndale upstream of Marietta in the link. https://www.facebook.com/372138779882157/posts/pfbid0TPYRqehBPWHKKW8S3W2QvrAnpyfVYBcuJ3VcGAHQN7KzLdkJeUCjDhM812yvQRkDl/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=RUbZ1f

Been off the forum since this morning (or yesterday morning now, I suppose). Really shocked to see how quickly the snow vanished for many of you on Saturday. Mine basically looks the same as it did before the warmup, except coated in ice, and slush developing in the low spots, even with temps reaching into the mid-40s. Looks like we dodged the flood bullet in the warmup, which has been occupying a lot of my headspace the past 48 hours. Merry Christmas, everyone.

I've been asking for 16 years....

Wait, Bellingham warmed by 15° in 12 minutes? Any BLI people able to confirm?

Temp hanging right around 34° still, which really isn't kickstarting much melt yet. Solid ice on top of snow with pooling rainwater on top. Expecting the warmup to really ramp up in the next couple hours, so hopefully that will clear things up for afternoon activities.

We closed the shop for the day. We have a teenager that closes and cleans in the afternoon, and just thought it would be irresponsible to encourage her to be out on the road alone in the ice as it starts getting darker.