Surprise Flash Floods

[Scott P]

This weekend, some friends (Julie, AJ, Heather, and Mindy) and I headed for the Upper Black Box.

We chose this weekend since we checked the flow online and since the weather forecast was good.

The online CFS were 39 when we left home, which is good to do the Black Boxes. We camped by the river and it it did not rain where we were. During the night, the San Rafael River shot up to ~900 CFS, according to the online data:



Somewhere up canyon must have had a h*** of a storm. It also takes a while for flood waters to reach the Black Boxes if the started near the headwaters. In the morning we say that the river was high. I waded in a bit and said that the current was too strong and we decided to wait to see if the river would drop. We waited around a bit and concluded that it wouldn't be safe to do the Black Boxes and we did Eardley Canyon instead (Eardley was flowing, which made an interesting trip-we waited for clear skies to do it).

Anyway, it sprinkled a very little Saturday (the weather forecast was good and didn't predict rain), but other than that it didn't rain on us. I am glad that the river rose at night rather than after we started the canyon. As mentioned, we checked the CFS and weather forecast and both seemed fine (there are no weather stations near the headwaters of the river).

We were never in any danger, and we made the right decisions, but this is a reminder than sometimes flash floods can surprise you, even when you do all the right things. It doesn't have to be raining where you are to create a flash flood.

Unfortunately, in the Swell region, there are few weather stations that send in a daily report. The only one I know of that sends one in every day to be published is Ferron, but the NWS takes 24-48 hours to publish the data online. There was no online weather data that indicated that a big storm had hit the region on July 10. Ferron data has just been published and indicated an inch of rain fell on the 10th. The central Swell got hit really hard, but I didn't see any indication that it rained much (if at all) in the vicinity of the Boxes.

Anyway, the canyons in the central Swell that we say were full of water. As mentioned, Lower Eadley was actually flowing when we did it. Nice waterfalls and beautiful. Reid Nelsen and Crawford Draws were completely full, which made another interesting day.

[qedcook]

Crazy! We did Cottonwood Wash this weekend, and I also checked the weather closely. We weren't expecting any rain (really anywhere in canyon country), but we got a surprise rain cloud in the morning (that's not uncommon for Capitol Reef). It cleared up after that. There were definitely some surprise rain storms Friday evening. Just shows how unpredictable summer Utah weather is.

[Scott P]

Here's a photograph of Eardley if anyone is interested. I thought Eardley was prettier/more interesting when flowing. It was clear to partly cloudy when we did the canyon (we didn't start until after 2 pm); this is residual moisture from the previous day.

[jman]

Here's a photograph of Eardley if anyone is interested. I thought Eardley was prettier/more interesting when flowing. It was clear to partly cloudy when we did the canyon (we didn't start until after 2 pm); this is residual moisture from the previous day.

That is sweet! I'm one of the rare ones who will say this - but I like Eardley...especially when it has a flow.


This is a good reminder about floods though. Thanks for sharing the reminder.


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[qedcook]

I liked Eardley the first time when we had to do the big hike around. I liked Eardley the second time even more when we cut in right at the start! It's a great canyon.

[jman]

I liked Eardley the first time when we had to do the big hike around. I liked Eardley the second time even more when we cut in right at the start! It's a great canyon.

Indeed. I should of clarified earlier but yes, the "shortcut" route is the only way now. Why waste your time with anything else?


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