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SALT LAKE COUNTY — Utahns living along rivers and creeks are bracing for another long night as the waters begin to peak again.
Crews say they're doing all they can to stay on top of debris and danger zones. With forecasts of high temperatures for the next several days, many people are hoping their sandbag walls will hold.
Hundreds of volunteers gathered in Cottonwood Heights Friday evening to fill sandbags, getting ready for what they know is coming down the mountains. Travis Cherrington says he has been bagging for nearly three months, but the water keeps on winning.
Related:
Flood Watch River Flow Tracker
To track the water levels of creeks and rivers near you, go to our Live 5 River Flow Tracker."We had our sandbags about four feet out where the water is now," he said, "but it just keeps eating away the banks, and they just keep falling in. So, we just have to keep rebuilding."
Big Cottonwood Canyon is almost out of snow at 8,900 feet, but what remains is melting at 2.6 inches per day. That's running Big Cottonwood Creek at 753 cfs — below the 800 cfs flood stage — but the four-day forecast is predicting 836 cfs.
As for Little Cottonwood Creek, the National Weather Service reported it running at 885 cubic feet per second Friday evening. That's well above flood stage, and the fastest it's been all year.
Weather service officials say 39 inches of snow water still sits at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, and it's melting at a rate of 3.3 inches a day. Their forecast calls for 938 cfs, which could bring more problems. A flood warning has been issued for the creek until Sunday afternoon.
Elsewhere, a flood warning remains in effect until Tuesday for the upper Weber River in southwestern Summit County. Overnight, the river exceeded flood stage near Oakley.
The KSL River Flow Tracker shows the river near Oakley was measured flowing at 9.54 cubic feet per second; flood stage is 9.2. According to the National Weather Service, that river typically flows around 687 cubic feet per second during the third week of June.
Other rivers and streams of concern include the Logan River, the Upper Provo River, and the Upper Duchesne River. For more on potential flooding of Utah's waterways check the KSL Flood Watch River Flow Tracker.
Written with contributions from Alex Cabrero and Jennifer Stagg.
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