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Show Hooding!1 Whither The Weather By GARY R. BLODGETT Clipper News Editor Is the prolonged spring runoff going to help or hinder flood preventive operations this spring? DAVIS COUNTY and most community officials believe the delayed runoff will be beneficial to the spring flood control - but only if the peak runoff, when it does begin, is considerably slower than the devestating Hood water that poured out of the canyons and caused millions of dollars damage along the Wasatch Front a year ago. Cool weather a couple of weeks ago was just what the doctor ordered. Creek flows dropped to a trickle. BUT THEN it happened. Late spring storms - rain changing to snow -- clobbered Davis County mountain ranges, leaving up to two feet of additional snow at the higher level. And the U.S. Weather Forecast for May is "colder and vetter than normal." THIS prediction, if held up, would not only bring more threat to the spring runoff but it would also create a potentially poten-tially more hazardous mud slide condition. Already, south Davis County communities of Bountiful, Centerville, Farmington and Fruit Heights have experienced experi-enced small mud slides and there is evidence of larger slide potential in every canyon along the Wasatch Front. A SLIDE near Mueller Park has apparently stopped slipping, slip-ping, but is being watched very carefully by flood-control crews. A couple of very small slides were reported near Stone Creek, but did not enter the stream. A much larger slide occurred near Vineyard Street in southeast Bountiful, but this too has apparently stopped sliding and does not create an immediate danger, according to City Manager Tom Hardy. IN CENTERVILLE, Parrish Creek Canyon was the scene of a "good sized" slide a few weeks ago but is apparently not causing any more serious threat. Rudd Creek, which was the culprit of a huge slide last spring that entered the city and destroyed or seriously damaged a half dozen homes, had another smaller slide earlier this month but no property damage was reported. TWO SLIDES, termed "very minor" by city officials, occurred east of Fruit Heights. Again there was no reports of property damage. Meanwhile, the level of the Great Salt Lake continues to rise and should have surpassed 4,208 feet (above sea level) at the month-end reading yesterday (Tuesday). When last measured on Monday, April 16, the data station near the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Flooding? Depends On Whether The Weather CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 lake's southern shore was 4,207.75 - the highest since May l , 1 879, when the lake level reached 4,208. 10 feet above sea level. U.S. GEOLOGICAL Survey officials believe the lake will exceed 4,210.90 feet -- the second highest recorded level since record keeping began in 1847 -- within the next few weeks and likely will reach an all-time high in late May or early June. The all-time high lake level is 4,21 1.6 feet above sea level, recorded on June 30, 1876. GREAT SALT Lake rose more than five feet during the peak runoff last May and June and since last September has raised uninterrupted from, 4,204.6 to the April 16 reading of 4,207.75. Geological Survey officials say this is phenominal because be-cause the constant rise has been during the winter months. In fact, the lake's most recent rise of .85 feet between March 15 and April 16 equalled the record high one-month increase which, ironically, was during the month of December Decem-ber 1983. AS A RESULT, Saltair's famous resort is nearly under water - already extensively damaged by the high water and rampaging waves. Parts of the Union Pacific Railroad causeway were washed out last week and high waves washed ashore --covering --covering part of I nterstate Highway 80 near the southbound Tooele Exit. The last bath house to survive the south shore resort area crumpled under heavy waves last week and the south shore marina and several boats left there were extensively exten-sively damaged. CATTLEMEN on Antelope Island have suffered staggering stagger-ing losses as they have attempted to graze some 1 ,500 cattle on the island while using barges and aircraft to haul feed to the starving animals. Cattlemen say they have lost more than 150 head of cattle and more than 200 calves have died in the past three months. The cost of winterizing the cattle on the island could exceed $500,000, they said. r 1 ' |