Flooding & a shifting weather pattern next week

Central Riverside Park - courtesy Jim Reed - Halloween Flood 1998

Cowskin Creek - Halloween Flood 1998

Most of us underestimate the power of water and because of that, flooding is the number one cause of weather fatalities (yes, even more than tornadoes) There is such tremendous force behind fast moving water that it doesn't take much to sweep some people off their feet. And even though our vehicles are quite heavy, just 18-24" of water can float many vehicles. Most flooding fatalities occur while people are driving (and usually at night because it's even more difficult to gauge how deep the water really is)

Do you know the difference between flood and flash flood?

Flood Watch/Warning is something that generally occurs over a long period of time (sometimes days or even weeks)

Flash Flood Watch/Warning means flooding usually happens within 6 hours of the main storm event. 

They are both very dangerous, but with flash flooding, you don't have much time to react. So if one is issued for your area, be sure to pay very close attention to what's going on.

We don't have any major weather systems coming in for the next 5-6 days (perhaps even longer)

After the cold snap into the weekend, a bigger change is scheduled for early next week. Another storm will slam the west coast Monday/Tuesday and that will move into the Plains midweek. Right now, it doesn't look to produce any widespread rains. There are some possibilities for moisture at the end of the week, but we will need more time to look over all of the data.

Happy St Patrick's Day!!