With flooding affecting much of southern Idaho this spring, the National Weather Service revised its predictions on just how high the Big Wood River will rise.
Last week, the Weather Service projected the Big Wood reaching a peak of 7.88 ft. on Friday. While it didn’t get that high – the river topped out at 7.57 feet that day – meteorologists expect the river to approach the record of 7.93 ft. Tuesday.
The forecast calls for waters to hit the 7.85 mark on the gauge. That’s above the high for the season set May 8 when the Big Wood crested at 7.82 ft. Weather Service officials say there’s a 95 percent chance the river could top 8 ft. as temperatures rise dramatically in the coming days. Temperatures in Hailey are forecasted to be in the 80s Tuesday through Thursday.
Carol Brown, a spokeswoman for the City of Hailey, tells the Idaho Mountain Express she thinks more flooding will occur as the river rises. Brown says she expects the already-flooded Della View neighborhood to flood again, possibly worse than the first time when the river peaked last month. However, she says residents are ready and have secured and sandbagged their properties.
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