This morning, Mark and Wayne worked on a gangplank system so they can reach boathouse controls and the boats! C'mon ... let's get this high water crap over with already. Unfortunately, we know it could last a few weeks!!!
Sue went grocery shopping as we're having Penny, Ron, Kyle and Gavin visit for the weekend. Yay. It's Kyle's birthday so special "stuff" is in order!
I cleaned Chippy's and readied the boys' guestroom. The floors had to be washed after a week of rainy weather and dirty dog paws.
Wayne sprayed the pungent garlic mosquito repellant around the estate's buildings this afternoon. The odor will last a couple of days ... but hey, if it keeps the mozzies away we're all fans of it! The instructions say we need two dry days after spraying ... no rain dances please. Haha.
A couple of days ago I wrote about high water at Lake of the Woods caused by, in part, the Rainy River system. That got me thinking ...
Canada has some unique river systems and one of the most unique is the Red River of the North. (Growing up, Sue and I lived on the Red and knew its charms and curses well. Additionally, we all boated on the Red from the Royal Manitoba Yacht Club for many years!) The Red River of the North is actually part of the Nelson River system that empties into Hudson Bay (via Lake Winnipeg)!
This mighty river is a mischievous meandering waterway. It is both American and Canadian - a dual-citizen. Haha. The Red River flows through the City of Winnipeg and northward to Lake Winnipeg. The current wet climate cycle started in 1993 and since then the Red entered flood stage at least once per year somewhere along its length. Fargo, North Dakota and Moorehead, Minnesota have been hit particularly hard in the USA. Winnipeg has been mostly spared thanks to "Duff's Ditch", (Premier Duff Roblin of Manitoba) a floodway used to divert floodwaters around the City of Winnipeg. Have you heard the song about the Red River valley? Pretty, right? It is a lovely fertile valley that grows wonderful crops. But, it's devious. It's very fertility depends on a flood, often.
The Red River flows northward at a lazy drop or gradient of 5 inches every mile north from it's start at the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail Rivers to the United States border towns where the gradient lessens to 1 1/2 inches. Now, combined with a spring thaw that proceeds (warms) steadily northward, the Red River valley's southern runoff is progressively pushing the later melting iceberg choked waters in the more northerly locations and VOILA! A flood!!!
A home during the 1950 flood, Winnipeg's worst.
I'm no scientist, but it seems because it's a northward flowing river, it's a unique troublemaker. The southern valley area gets restless for spring and wakes it's northern valley cousin with a bucket of cold water but meets resistance in the form of giant icebergs. This creates a giant kerfuffle. LOL. The ice jams up, and creates a backup of water.
The Red is a young river at 9,300 years! It's carved a sinuous valley across one of the flattest expenses of land in the world, the ancient seabed of glacial Lake Agassi. When this river floods, it doesn't have a deeply etched floodplain so spills over onto a vast region.
Okay. So that was interesting ... I didn't wake thinking about this subject!
So that's the word for today! ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment