Rain pushes creek out of banks
Published on -6/15/2009, 12:05 PM
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By MIKE CORN
Another round of heavy rain overnight sent Bow Creek north of Stockton out of its banks again.
And there's a forecast that it could do the same thing again tonight.
The National Weather Service in Hastings, Neb., issued flood warnings for all of Rooks County, as well as parts of Phillips, Smith and Osborne counties.
As well, flood warnings were posted for a small slice of both Cheyenne and Rawlins counties where heavy rainfall fell overnight.
Rainfall on saturated ground in the Bow Creek area sent the small river even higher than it was last week.
Overnight, Bow Creek was pushed out of its banks, reaching a peak of about 4,000 cubic feet per second -- roughly 30,000 gallons of water a second.
On Thursday, Bow Creek was flowing at slightly more than 3,000 cubic feet per second, a flow that was pushed along by rainfall totals of as much as 6.2 inches.
Rainfall reports were spotty overnight, with the NWS reporting rainfall of 2.54 inches at Damar in Rooks County.
Elsewhere in Rooks County, rainfall reports were in the 2-inch range.
Rainfall estimates based on radar were in the 2- to 4-inch range, said NWS meteorologist Jeremy Wesely.
At Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge, administrative assistant Diane Stockman reported 4 inches of rainfall at the office.
At her home southwest of the refuge, along Bow Creek, Stockman reported only 2.1 overnight. Last week, she reported 4.2 inches. All of that rain has pushed both Kirwin and Webster reservoirs even higher.
This morning, Kirwin was about 21รขÑ2 feet into flood pool, with about 250 cubic feet of water -- about 1,900 gallons a second -- being released to the river and irrigation canal downstream.
Webster is about 3 feet into flood stage, with the same amount being released there.
In both instances, water releases likely will go higher but could be delayed as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers checks to see what effect more water would have on downstream areas. And it's possible more rain could be on the way.
"There's a chance for severe weather and a chance for heavy rainfall," Wesely said of tonight's forecast.
