▶ ⨯ ◀ Impressive how much water came down the American River this winter!

The top picture was taken around it's peak flow at the beginning of February 2017 when ca. 85000 cf (2400 m3) of water rushed downstream per second (this amounts to the content of the Lake Zurich in less than a week!). The river was about 150m wide as compared to the average ca. 30-40 m.

The bottom picture was taken at relatively low water flow later in spring (still more than average). In the summer, the sign where the person stands next to, overlooks the river with a drop of about 15 feet (5m) down to the water level.
Sacramento Bar Park / American River Parkway - Hike, Bike, Swim, Float and its Fauna & Flora
 
 

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Alpin_Rise hat gesagt: Wow!
Gesendet am 11. Mai 2017 um 10:21
2400 m3/sec is about twice the Rhine Falls maximum and equals a normal high water situation in Basel!
Was this an all times record?

Thanks for the documentation,
G, Rise

360 Pro hat gesagt: RE:Wow!
Gesendet am 11. Mai 2017 um 14:46
> Was this an all times record?

Most likely not. These days the flow is heavily controlled by two damns upstream (Folsom Damn and Nimbus Damn). The "natural" flow of the American River on the biggest storm this year would have probably been around 3200 m3, at least that was the flow of water into Folsom Lake.
Some friends also told me that the American River was higher in 1982/83 another very wet year.

The record flow might have been during the Great Flood of 1862, before any flow control. The flood during that year was quite impressive and afterwards the city of Sacramento undertook a massive project to raise its streets and buildings as much as 9.5 feet (2.9 m)!

Greetings to Swiss-Land,
360


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