Big Time Rain

More rain this morning! It is not what anyone needs or wants to see right now. It is going to be a very serious issue for the folks watching the river flows increase through central and southern Iowa.

We had a record rainfall yesterday. 1.25 inches of rain fell between midnight Monday and Midnight Tuesday. The old rainfall record for March 24 was 1.01 inches in 1945.

The month of march has been very wet. We are now sitting at 4.53" of rainfall in Des Moines for March. The average is about 1.58". Spring is here... but the spring planting my have to be put on hold if we do not have a bit of drying time.

Check your sump pump. It is time to make sure the sump pump in your home is working well. You might want to have a back-up battery unit to provide power if the electricity to your home is knocked out during severe weather.

I have a back-up sump pump that is ready to drop in the hole...it was a lesson learned a couple years ago when my sump pump died during heavy rainfall. It is also wise to have an alarm system on your sump that goes off when the pump is not getting the water out of your home.

Here is the river data from the NWS. The AHPS web page. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=dmx

The Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service has the river levels from every river monitor in the state. These automatic gauges show how high the rivers are at each reporting spot and how that compares to flood stages.

Keep an eye on areas that are prone to flooding...remember to "turn around and don't drown." Do not drive through or allow kids to play in flooded areas.

Have a safe day and hope for the sunshine to take over this afternoon and tomorrow.

Ed