Risk of flooding still high
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The Northwest River Forecast Center, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), predicts that the elevation on the Kootenai River at Bonners Ferry could reach very close to 61 feet by early next weekend.
Flood stage is 57 feet.
According to county emergency incident commander Bob Graham, March precipitation in the Panhandle mountains was a whopping 225-percent of normal average. He said the Schweitzer basin received 18 inches of precipitation last month, nearly a foot more than the previous March snowfall record.
According to Graham, several area creeks are also running high this spring, particularly Smith Creek, which is running at 129-percent of its spring average.
At the beginning of this weekend, inflow into the Koocanusa Reservoir in Libby was 9,000 cubic feet per second (kcfs) and outflow at Libby Dam was 18 kcfs. Outflow has been slowed to 16 kfcs and is expected to remain at that level through Sunday.
"The rapid snowbuilding that we saw in March has slowed significantly since the beginning of April," wrote Army Corps of Engineers hydraulic engineer Kevin Shaffer. "The April-August inflow forecast is 6,872,000 acre feet (KAF), which is 117-percent of the 1975-2009 average. This corresponds to 3,058 KAF of required flood space, or elevation 2377.3 feet. We will be operating Libby Dam to draft the reservoir to the higher of 1) 2377.3 feet and 2) the computed 95th percentile refill curve. The current estimate for the refill curve elevation is approximately 2,382 feet.
The current level of the Koocanusa Reservioir is 2,382.6 feet.
Temperatures as we head into the week are expected to warm, with Sunday dawning mostly sunny before clouding up late in the day with high temperatures reaching the upper 70s. Sunday night brings a slight chance of rain showers and low temperatures in the mid 40s, and temperatures could reach the 80s on Monday.
Monday night through Wednesday promises to be mostly cloudy with a 50-percent chance of showers and thunder showers, with temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s.
Rain is likely Thursday and Thursday night, with overnight lows dropping back into the 30s, and then a period of cooler temperatures are expected with continued chance of precipitation Friday and into next weekend.
The spike in temperatures expected through this week has Graham concernced that problem flooding could occur, and he's encouraging everyone in areas prone to flooding to keep an eye out for flooding problems and take steps to mitigate potential flood damage.
Sandbags and sand are available for free to county residents at the county landfill and at the front fence at County Road and Bridge. Those experiencing flooding problems should report them at the earliest possible time by calling the Boundary County Sheriff's Office, (208) 267-3151, extension 0.