Flash Floods

[Artemus]

How is anyone supposed to buy and set off illegal fireworks at the Moapa truck stop in that weather?!

EDIT: Some crazy footage from I-15 in the Virgin River Gorge here, colorful language too...

Holy smokes. Look at the rock fall about 1:00. Massive. Anyone seen pictures of the road damage yet? Coverage in the main news has been "lite".

 

[Artemus]

The Devil flashed today too.

Looks like the
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv/?site_no=09333500

 

[Nick]

I-15 north of Vegas:

 

[JulieKT]

!!!!!!

 

[Artemus]

I-15 north of Vegas:

Wow! Google Earth updated quickly this time

Any idea where? Like mile marker?

 

[Nick]

Wow! Google Earth updated quickly this time

Any idea where? Like mile marker?

I just know it's near Moapa. That pic is from the Las Vegas Review Journal but I couldn't find the specific article.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/

 

[Dan_85]

Emerald Pools, Zion:

 

[Nick]

Emerald Pools, Zion:

Who wants to go canyoneering!?

 

[Nick]

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[Nick]

Just stumbled upon this one on Facebook. Pretty crazy.

It seems like this thread has sort of become our 'Flash Floods' album. Post up pics and videos of flash floods as you see them!

 

[Nick]

Holy ()@$*)(@&$%)(@&*($)@!!!!!!!

They were nearly at the top of the slot in Little Wild Horse where they could get out and probably be safe and they actually ran BACK DOWN INTO IT when it started going nuts. WOW. Lucky it didn't get a lot worse. Good thing they had that little spot and didn't have to go through the real narrow stuff during that. Just wow.

 

[Aldaron]

They kinda suggest on their website that they went back down canyon to find the "less skilled hikers." Maybe they were just worried about the people they found.

 

[JulieKT]

Holy ()@$*)(@&$%)(@&*($)@!!!!!!!

They were nearly at the top of the slot in Little Wild Horse where they could get out and probably be safe and they actually ran BACK DOWN INTO IT when it started going nuts. WOW. Lucky it didn't get a lot worse. Good thing they had that little spot and didn't have to go through the real narrow stuff during that. Just wow.

Wow. The recklessness of their decision to do that, and to take children with them into a potentially fatal situation, is utterly breathtaking. I get there were people downcanyon they were worried about, but this goes to show yet again that many people simply do not have a solid grasp of the power of flooding in the canyons. These people were enormously lucky nothing happened to them.

I once met some people several days before they were killed in a flash flood. Hearing the blow-by-blow account from the survivors of what happened afterward caused me to have actual nightmares about it, and I wasn't even there. My deep respect for flood season was already in place, but that situation made me even more ridiculously cautious.

And, the video is amazing for how it portrays what a slot canyon in flood looks like. I never want to be in one when that is going on. Shudder.

 

[Kullaberg63]

Yesterday in Sevenmile Canyon, north of Moab. Camera was in burst mode, with these pics taken out of a 3 second sequence.

Bjorn was out looking at the weather with his grandparents. He noticed the tongue going under the highway by 313, so they quickly parked and he ran the half mile down to the falls beating the flood by a few seconds. Just enough time to whip out the camera.

DSC02427
DSC02439
DSC02465
DSC02470

 

[Nick]

Yesterday in Sevenmile Canyon, north of Moab. Camera was in burst mode, with these pics taken out of a 3 second sequence.

Bjorn was out looking at the weather with his grandparents. He noticed the tongue going under the highway by 313, so they quickly parked and he ran the half mile down to the falls beating the flood by a few seconds. Just enough time to whip out the camera.

WHOA!!!! Sweet sequence!

 

[Kullaberg63]

here's a cell phone pano:

18553415489_021aeb8aa1_o

 

[Artemus]

Wild! Great capture Bjorn!

 

[Nick]

Three trips in a row with flooding for me this year. Adding the videos and links to trip reports here to add to the ongoing collection of floods. As fun as it was to witness all of this, I'm ready for a dry, sunny trip now.

June 2015 in Iceberg Canyon. The only flash flood of ice I've ever seen or even heard of.
Trip report of the flooding portion of the trip: http://backcountrypost.com/threads/iceberg-canyon-flash-flood.4757/

May 2015 near Moqui Canyon
Trip report: http://backcountrypost.com/threads/crystal-springs-and-beyond.4699/

Ok, not really a flash flood, but still pretty nice waterfalls and minor flooding in an otherwise dry canyon.
Trip report: http://backcountrypost.com/threads/moqui-madness.4736/

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

I'm not sure if a surge from a dam break is considered a "flash flood" or not but I thought this little nugget from a book I'm reading was interesting, if not sobering.

According to a report issued by the Bureau of Reclamation on what the consequences would be if the Glen Canyon Dam broke...




40 frickin stories!?!?

This is just a small excerpt of a lengthy description that goes on for several pages. For any of you guys who have been lucky enough to have witnessed a flash flood, this probably gives the idea of finding higher ground a new meaning.

 

[Nick]

Very interesting, John! I imagine that is from The Emerald Mile and re: a Glen Canyon Dam breach? I just got started on it this past weekend and I'm already loving it. We had a long discussion on the way home from our last trip about how long it would take for all of the water to drain out of Lake Powell if there were a breach. It sounds like I need to get to that part of the book!