A normal daily river level here is about 46', so we are nearly eight (8') feet above normal.
Observation: According to the NWS, who have a monitoring gauge in place up the Kobuk River here, the river level has risen nine feet (9') since Thursday, and that's probably right on. We don't have much of a boat dock at this point. The river supposedly will crest at 54', by the end of the day (today). Probably right, cloud cover is lifting all around. Anyway, we hope so, but we'll wait and see how accurate that forecast really is. A normal daily river level here is about 46', so we are nearly eight (8') feet above normal. Right now we are experiencing spring breakup flood levels. About impacts: Although people have been able to put fish away in their freezers, the unseasonably wet weather has made subsistence fishing more difficult as far as drying fish is concerned. There has also been a big impact on berry gathering activity in general. Not a lot of folks venturing out to pick berries in the inclement weather. I am not sure what the impact has been in terms of blueberry production. Probably be a bumper crop of cranberries and blackberries later on. Once the water levels come down, folks will get out more to gather what they can, including digging for edible roots. There is a 300-year-old village archaeological site above Kiana that borders on the Kobuk River. The community has expressed concerns that spring break up water levels are eroding the banks at the location. Now we are concerned that uncommon levels of high precipitation will add to the site degradation. In Kiana, we have had a lot of run-off erosion of village roads, particularly those leading downhill. Obviously, this requires more maintenance efforts than normal. After it dries up a bit, I am curious to take a look at the bluff side erosion below the village that you and I observed last year. I have been taking pictures, but seem to have misplaced the cords to download the photos, Dale Stotts and Linda Stotts
LEO says: There is an article from today's Anchorage Daily News about the rain and flooding in the Northwest Arctic.
