Floods in Cal, etc.

[Loyal Coug1]

I just don't get it. As some of you you know, I am from Pullman. And yes the Palouse River would flood about every 10 years (it ran thorough the pasture at my childhood home, it was crazy).

Here in YakiVegas, we would love to see this downpour. I just don't understand how the parched SW is going to flood, when they are dry as shit. Back in the Palouse, it only flooded when the rain came and melted the snowpack. Pretty rare.

So why are Arizona and Nevada going to flood? Not to mention California. They are dry as shit deserts, Why doesn't the ground just suck that moisture in?

 

[mikalalas]

I just don't get it. As some of you you know, I am from Pullman. And yes the Palouse River would flood about every 10 years (it ran thorough the pasture at my childhood home, it was crazy).

Here in YakiVegas, we would love to see this downpour. I just don't understand how the parched SW is going to flood, when they are dry as shit. Back in the Palouse, it only flooded when the rain came and melted the snowpack. Pretty rare.

So why are Arizona and Nevada going to flood? Not to mention California. They are dry as shit deserts, Why doesn't the ground just suck that moisture in?

Because the ground is so dry that it's almost as hard as rock

When ground is that dry, hard, LOTS of water can flow over the ground, and it can take lots of hours, days, weeks, etc, for the ground to soften, and for the ground to soak up the water.

In the meantime, until then, the water flows over the ground, and gets deeper, and floods more land.

 

[longtimecoug]

I just don't get it. As some of you you know, I am from Pullman. And yes the Palouse River would flood about every 10 years (it ran thorough the pasture at my childhood home, it was crazy).

Here in YakiVegas, we would love to see this downpour. I just don't understand how the parched SW is going to flood, when they are dry as shit. Back in the Palouse, it only flooded when the rain came and melted the snowpack. Pretty rare.

So why are Arizona and Nevada going to flood? Not to mention California. They are dry as shit deserts, Why doesn't the ground just suck that moisture in?

its too hard and dried out, the water just runs off

 

[PeteTheChop]

Because the ground is so dry that it's almost as hard as rock

When ground is that dry, hard, LOTS of water can flow over the ground, and it can take lots of hours, days, weeks, etc, for the ground to soften, and for the ground to soak up the water.

In the meantime, until then, the water flows over the ground, and gets deeper, and floods more land.

Good explanation as usual Mik

 

[95coug]

Too much water too fast. It runs off before it can soak in. What you need to break a drought is light rain for a long time,…or even better, a couple years of heavy snow plus cooler spring/summer.

 

[Coug90]

Good explanation as usual Mik

I’m gonna be honest I’m a bit disappointed we aren’t getting some percentages here. Ground saturation, probability of rain, water levels…lots of opportunities for the Mik details I come here for.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I just don't get it. As some of you you know, I am from Pullman. And yes the Palouse River would flood about every 10 years (it ran thorough the pasture at my childhood home, it was crazy).

Here in YakiVegas, we would love to see this downpour. I just don't understand how the parched SW is going to flood, when they are dry as shit. Back in the Palouse, it only flooded when the rain came and melted the snowpack. Pretty rare.

So why are Arizona and Nevada going to flood? Not to mention California. They are dry as shit deserts, Why doesn't the ground just suck that moisture in?

Vegas floods because they make no accommodation for more than 1/2 inch of rain. They made the decision many years ago that they would allow some streets to flood because it didn't make financial sense to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for storm sewers that would be dry 360 days per year. They do have some areas for regional detention but the streets flood often as they drain towards the regional detention areas.

 

[PeteTheChop]

Vegas floods because they make no accommodation for more than 1/2 inch of rain. They made the decision many years ago that they would allow some streets to flood because it didn't make financial sense to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for storm sewers that would be dry 360 days per year. They do have some areas for regional detention but the streets flood often as they drain towards the regional detention areas.

Good info, thanks Flat