 I hope you all are having a great start to your summer activities. I apologize in advance for the lengthiness of this post but there are several items I want to bring to your attention, additional details follow this summary:
Flooding Risk Update First let me start by stating that I am not a trained hydrologist, so this should NOT be construed as a prediction, official statement, or that flooding is definitively impending. I am simply presenting facts that are publicly available. As many of you know, and has been reported in the news, we have a record snowpack in our mountains this year. This spring we have had below average temperatures that have not melted as much of the snow pack as should be melted by this time in the year. In general, in the lower to mid elevations the snow has either completely melted or is quickly melting. As an example, the Timpanogos Divide SnoTel, (Snow Teletramy Station) located near the summit of the Alpine loop at 8140ft, had a peak SWE (Snow Water Equivalent: the amount of water unmelted snow represented in inches) of 47.3 inches. Today, it is measuring at 14.3 inches SWE, so it has melted down almost 70% of it's water. But for perspective, this is still 59% of seasonal average peak (24.3 in) of water left, and we're behind by a full month in typical meltdown. At the recent meltdown rate of 1 inch per day, Timpanogos Divide will be completely melted off in about 14 days. You can see additional details about this SnoTel here: http://goo.gl/kbUVf The higher elevations are somewhat a different story. There is record snowpack at nearly every high-elevation SnoTel across the Wasatch Front, and spring temperatures, while warm enough to melt snow in the low to mid elevations, have not effected the snowpack at higher elevations much. As an example, the Snowbird SnoTel at 9640ft has a peak SWE of 77.2 inches, but Today's SWE is at 73.6 (almost 12 feet of snowpack!), 95% of peak, and 175% for the seasonal average peak of 42.1. That is a significant amount of water sitting on our mountain peaks, waiting to be melted. You can see additional details about this SnoTel here: http://goo.gl/63BNm These two SnoTels are not in the drainage area for Dry Creek, but they are the nearest, and can give and indication of what the snowpack is likely like in the Dry Creek drainage area. So does this mean we are going to get crazy flooding in Lehi? Not necessarily. Flooding is the result of high-rate run-off, not just more run-off. If it warms up enough that snow is melting and creating run-off at a rate higher than Dry Creek can handle, then we will have flooding. So it really depends on how quickly and how high temperatures rise before all the snowpack has melted. This is the part where I will leave it to the professionals to make predictions. Flooding along Dry Creek is still a strong possibility, so please go fill out the 2011 Flooding Staff form and let us know of your availability, it you haven't already done so. http://www.lehicert.org/events/may-2011-staffing You can also see a hydrograph for Dry Creek here: http://goo.gl/osPLr (This graph is not a conclusive indicator of flooding since this measurement station is up near the mountain in Alpine, and there are several other inflows that enter Dry Creek after this station.) CERT Team Flooding Briefing We are holding a flooding briefing for all team members this Wednesday, June 8th, 6:00pm at Station 82, right before the ICS training at 7pm. We will provide an update on the flooding risk, the latest information from the city's flooding status meeting, and most importantly, review the action plan for our CERT team if a response is needed. Incident Command System Training This week we have our Incident Command System (ICS) Training this Wednesday, June 8th at 7:00pm at Station 82. I hope everyone that is available will come take advantage of this training. ICS is a critical part of CERT and WILL BE USED by our team during disaster response. It is also critical for our team so we will be able to effectively interface and coordinate with other agencies and entities during not only a disaster response, but other events as well. You will be a better and more effective CERT member the more you understand about ICS and the more you can practice it. So if you haven't already, please go to the Trainings section to sign-up for this ICS training. New Lehi Area Ham Radio Preparedness Net We have recently started a new ham radio net in the Lehi area that focusses on emergency communications and general preparedness. Here are the details on the net:
The primary objectives are to:
Lehi City Blood Drive Lehi City is holding a blood drive at the Legacy Center this Thursday, June 9th from 11am to 3pm. All those that are able and willing to give blood are encouraged to do so. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental permission), meet height and weight requirements (at least 110 pounds based on height) and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. Donors must not have given whole blood in the past 56 days or a double red cell donation in the last 112 days. You may not give blood if you have received a Red Cross notification asking you not to do so. Donors must provide ID prior to donating. To schedule your appointment or for more information contact Judi Johnson at jjohnson@lehi-ut.gov or(801) 768-7100, ext. 2265. CERT Leadership Meeting We are having our next CERT Leadership meeting on Thursday, June 16th at 6:30pm at Station 82. All CERT team members are welcome to attend. We will be working on building our CERT team and planning upcoming events and trainings including the Lehi Foam Day on July 23rd, our annual CERT Recognition Social, additional CERT refresher trainings, and our next CERT Basic Training course coming in September. Next CERT Basic Training Class Our next Next CERT Basic Training Class will start on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 6:30pm. This will be in our new 4 week format that includes some online training before the classroom hands-on training. We have had to cancel classes before because of low enrollment. Please help us fill this next class by letting your friends and neighbors know about this great training and encourage them to sign-up on the Lehi CERT website. If you would like flyers and posters to help advertise this training in your area, there are marketing files available in the CERT Files section here: http://www.lehicert.org/files If you have any questions about these items or our CERT team, please feel free to contact a member of our CERT leadership. Thanks for all you do to support emergency preparedness in our community. Mac |
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