But, the continual falling snow that is accompanied by arctic air masses keeping the upper USA cooler is closing the road closed though the center of the park.
By Tristan Scott of the Missoulian
missoulian.com
Posted: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 11:00 pm
WEST GLACIER - A twisting helix of snow arcs high into the sky above Glacier National Park and briefly obscures the dark features of iconic mountain peaks before scattering its frozen contents into the great white abyss below….The Park Service Management and Personnel are doing a great job. But, there is inherent danger to the current conditions. Below is the page where 'current road conditions' are kept.
The section of the road (click here) between Avalanche and Jackson Glacier Overlook is closed due to plowing. For Saturday, hiker/biker access on the west side is to Packer's Roost, 6 miles past the vehicle closure. On Sunday there are no hiker/biker access restrictions. On the east side, there are no hiker/biker restrictions throughout the weekend. Visitors should use extreme caution when in avalanche areas and be knowledgeable of avalanche safety. Due to large amounts of snow in the park, there is a potential for the release of large scale avalanches...
But, there is more than concern for the opening of The Sun Road this year. The continuing rain and snow adds to the volume of water in the Missouri River. Below is the map of the river guages. At this link, one can click on a particular point and read the graphs resulting from this monitoring (click here for link)The flooding has become so profound that funding for research is being stopped at a time when it is needed most. The people may very well be finding a new reality in this region and there is dearly little being analyzed. The gauges are recording because they are mechanized, but, the assessments and opinions are lacking. All the monies spent to modernize the guage system is being wasted for the lack of expertise reading them. It is ridiculous. These are vital services to people, cities and states as well as the federal government and the funding has been cut.
This would not be my first choice in funding cuts.
Seriously.
Argus Leader
This would not be my first choice in funding cuts.
Seriously.
Budget cuts may hamper flooding research (click here)
By Peter Harriman (Sioux Falls, S.D.)Argus Leader
But this disaster is happening at a time when a weak economy and belt-tightening in Congress may limit the chance to do any studies.
John Cooper, the retired secretary of the state Game, Fish and Parks Department and an adviser to South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard on Missouri River issues, quickly can think of several things the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should study:...
The article below refers to previous flooding along this river system. Often those reference points are regarded as a place fo find comfort in that we know the outcomes to such disasters. That is not the way to look at ‘geophysics.’ The way I look at these events is not as a ‘solid predictable history’ but as what is the potential for more disaster and more dynamic changes as the warming becomes worse. In other words, these events are ‘precursors’ to understanding a greater dynamic in the future as the parameters fo ‘heat effect’ continue to increase.
Don’t disregard the fact that Human Induced Global Warming has been altering the climate of Earth since the late eighteen hundreds. It wasn’t until the 1960s that scientists sounded the alarm, but, that alarm was accompanied by a reality accumulating for over six decades of changed biotic content. The alarm was correct and in plenty of time, it just wasn’t’ welcome by Wall Street. Don’t ask me why, because, the carbon fuels are running out except for extreme extraction techique that provide immeasurable damage to the craton, the natural world and human beings.
The 1993 event was the first time there were numerous rain and snow events that contributed to it, other than just one or two. There was a pattern of rain events that amounted to the 1993 event. Hence, the continuing pattern today is very much the same only worse.
Among the reasons why: The 1952 flood resulted from an unusually heavy snowmelt upstream; the 1993 deluge was caused by days of lingering, intense rains. The floodwaters now spreading across western Iowa from Sioux City to Hamburg are a combination of both factors….
Missouri River flooding: Past adds to fears (click title to entry - thank you)
12:26 AM, Jun. 19, 2011
PERRY BEEMAN and REGINA ZILBERMINTS
Hamburg, Ia. - When it comes to flooding, Iowans have long memories. And with the Missouri River again bearing down on the state, disrupting lives and drenching newly planted fields, many can't help but recall the massive floods that battered western Iowa in 1952 and 1993.
This one, some say, could surpass them both before it ends later this summer.
This one, some say, could surpass them both before it ends later this summer.
The Republicans messed up this country beyond belief when their uncontrolled spending for eight years had no real purpose except to provide monuments and the like. Those monies were vital, but, not in the way it was spent.
The waters from a swollen Missouri River doesn't stop with it's end. The Missouri empties into the Mississippi River and is part of the Mississippi Watershed. Everytime there is flooding there is added pollution from runoff and areas where contaminants are stored on land that now become part of the river. The very last place I would cut funding is here.
