PNW Flood Watch - Dec 8-12, 2025

I didn't get that from the article, but hey...some look for a reason to be outraged I guess.
Whatever

The Corps typically takes control during possible flood events, so not unusual.



The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (Corps) does take over or direct operations of major dams on the Skagit River, like Ross Dam and Upper Baker Dam, during significant flood events, working with dam owners (Seattle City Light, Puget Sound Energy) to regulate water releases and mitigate downstream flooding, a process that significantly reduces flood peaks. They assume control under established agreements when flood thresholds are met, acting as the regulator to balance flood control with power generation, which can shave several feet off river crests.
 
As opposed to the one (flood event) they created a few years back on the Willamette. Boating Hwy 34 (east of Corvallis) was new event to be seen in my lifetime.
:)
 
Eh, to me the title implies that the army takeover of the dam was necessary to reduce the flood impact, and that without the army takeover it wouldn't have happened. The fact that its normal for this to happen isn't mentioned at all in the article.
 
offensivename said:
Eh, to me the title implies that the army takeover of the dam was necessary to reduce the flood impact, and that without the army takeover it wouldn't have happened. The fact that its normal for this to happen isn't mentioned at all in the article.
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I didn't read the article, but I was directly involved in crafting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licenses (the fish part) for the Skagit and Baker hydroelectric projects. By law, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is included in FERC's terms and conditions for hydropower licenses. As Mossback alluded to in his post above, the Corps directs how and when flows are released from projects when specified conditions occur. Reservoir elevations are managed according to a flood rule curve. When that happens, the utilities release more water than the amount used to generate electricity. This is not coercion. Dam safety along with limiting downstream flooding is good for everyone involved. Everybody (utilities, NOAA, and the Corps) needs to and wants to work together. Each party contributes information regarding current downstream flow conditions, current reservoir condition, and forecasted water yet to come, and when it is expected to arrive. Spillways on older dams in particular can be maxxed out, leading to over-topping of a dam during flooding, and that is a very dangerous situation.
 
Salmo_g said:
I didn't read the article, but I was directly involved in crafting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licenses (the fish part) for the Skagit and Baker hydroelectric projects. By law, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is included in FERC's terms and conditions for hydropower licenses. As Mossback alluded to in his post above, the Corps directs how and when flows are released from projects when specified conditions occur. Reservoir elevations are managed according to a flood rule curve. When that happens, the utilities release more water than the amount used to generate electricity. This is not coercion. Dam safety along with limiting downstream flooding is good for everyone involved. Everybody (utilities, NOAA, and the Corps) needs to and wants to work together. Each party contributes information regarding current downstream flow conditions, current reservoir condition, and forecasted water yet to come, and when it is expected to arrive. Spillways on older dams in particular can be maxxed out, leading to over-topping of a dam during flooding, and that is a very dangerous situation.
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Thanks, this is exactly what I was assuming the procedure would be.
 
Looks like Thursday will be a wet one for SW Washington and Oregon.
SF

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Where's da wind?
 
I had checked NOAA before asking. Definitely out of date. Minimal wind a lots more rain.

Best wishes to our friends up north.
 
Sometimes asking a question, above, does not bode well.

At 12:30 the winds picked a lot. Trees down saw several large blue light transformer explosions down the lake. Now no lights there. Even though our lights flickered, we still have power., thankfully.. lots and lots of hard rain. Numerous outages within a 1/2 mile of us according to PSE. We got lucky!

Best of luck to those up north. They have been slammed. Almost a year accumulation of rain in two weeks.Time for these weather events to stop....

Thank you to the electricity restoration crews. Hope they get to spend Christmas with their families.

6th blizzard warning by NWS in Wa. Only 6th time in history...
history:


Sheesh !
 
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Seems like the wind is dying down now. Hard to sleep with all the flying branches hitting and trees crashing. One big transformer explosion gave off some brilliant northern lights.
 
Saw this regarding the system that will hit south of us on Thursday.
10-12” of rain. I hope that doesn’t come true for the folks in Oregon.
SF

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I slept thru the winds in the valley. There were quite a few wires and trees down, along with power outages. We still have power. A good burst of rain dropped around 4:30am.
 
T'was a bit windy here last night also. Had to remove downed tree branches from the driveway so Mrs. Salmo could go to tennis practice this morning. A Doug fir across the road a couple houses down, but a neighbor with a chainsaw got there before me. Darn! I hate to miss a chance to fire up the Stihl.

Does anyone recall a prior flood event that caused this many road washouts? Hwy 2, I-90, and Hwy 12 are the major cross state routes. And I don't know how many state and county roads. Seems like this storm has set a record. That and levee breaches on both the Green and White Rivers. That ain't happened in a while.
 
Salmo_g said:
T'was a bit windy here last night also. Had to remove downed tree branches from the driveway so Mrs. Salmo could go to tennis practice this morning. A Doug fir across the road a couple houses down, but a neighbor with a chainsaw got there before me. Darn! I hate to miss a chance to fire up the Stihl.

Does anyone recall a prior flood event that caused this many road washouts? Hwy 2, I-90, and Hwy 12 are the major cross state routes. And I don't know how many state and county roads. Seems like this storm has set a record. That and levee breaches on both the Green and White Rivers. That ain't happened in a while.
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Certainly a notable storm year. The long term Hwy 2 closure stands out. A huge lowland snow event will etch this winter into the top 10.
 
Salmo_g said:
T'was a bit windy here last night also. Had to remove downed tree branches from the driveway so Mrs. Salmo could go to tennis practice this morning. A Doug fir across the road a couple houses down, but a neighbor with a chainsaw got there before me. Darn! I hate to miss a chance to fire up the Stihl.

Does anyone recall a prior flood event that caused this many road washouts? Hwy 2, I-90, and Hwy 12 are the major cross state routes. And I don't know how many state and county roads. Seems like this storm has set a record. That and levee breaches on both the Green and White Rivers. That ain't happened in a while.
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During my trips to BC in 2022 the damage from the 2021 event to the road systems was at or even above what we are seeing from this current event. Bottomline the storms have becoming more damaging with the damage occurring at the point where the AR storm hose is aimed.

I did find it interesting that while the Skagit and Snohomish had record events the NF Stillaguamish was more like a 3-year event.

Curt
 
FYI for Oregon folks.
SF

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Was raining heavily in sheets with a mild wind when I went to bed. This morning sunny skies partly cloudy and maybe a 5 mph breeze.

Still, I've had to take kiddo to school every day(not that I mind) so far because the bus route has been compromised by fallen trees, fallen limbs, and flooded streets.

But ,compared to what's happening in other communities around us, I consider us lucky.
 
If I'm understanding this, Snoqualmie pass had hurricane category 1-3 winds in last night's blizzard.

Wind through the straights is also high. Wife just told me one of her team lives on Whidby and is without power due to winds over 70 mph.
 
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