Flooding not anticipated in the Columbia Basin
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, December 6th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The abundant rain is causing flooding concerns on the west side of Oregon and Washington. Meanwhile, it looks like the Columbia Basin will see increases but not enough to cause rivers, creeks, and streams to leave their banks. National Weather Service Meteorologist Camden Plunkett said that even on Tuesday morning the McKay Reservoir was only 12 percent full.
“That’s only 60 percent of normal,” Plunkett said. “Normal is around 13,800 acre feet for this time of year.”
The inflow into the reservoir was only 30 cubic feet per second and normal is 90-100 cfs.
Plunkett added that the Umatilla River near Pendleton was around 170 cubic feet per second when the month began. The typical range is 450-460 cfs.
The National Weather Service has totaled up the four-day rain total as of yesterday. Walla Walla was inundated with .79 inches. Pendleton received a little over half an inch. Hermiston was just under four-tenths of an inch. Both The Dalles and John Day received more than an inch of rain.
