By Joel Kowalski
How the conditions were perfect for the 2019 Ottawa River Flood.
– Winter conditions persisted longer than normal, ground was still frozen, and buried under a huge snowpack from a long winter.
– Normally snow-melting temperatures increase gradually starting in March, giving more time for snow and ice to run off gradually.
– Around two weeks ago, temperatures finally rose, but they did so quickly, and also came with a perfectly placed Ottawa River basin sweeping rainstorm. A perfect bulls-eye to overwhelm the whole system.
– with the ground still frozen, and rain and warmth sweeping across the basin all at once, the excess water could not be absorbed by the ground. It all ran off into the river at once.
– these conditions are observable, and the result is predictable.
– while I could see we were about to get a flash runoff, it still was bigger than I anticipated as I’ve only been watching spring runoff conditions and their effect on Ottawa River levels closely for the last 15 years.
Keep these specific conditions in mind in future years to be better prepared for a flash runoff.
