Rising Fast...

A sampling of USGS stream gages show how the Upper Delaware River watershed got pounded by storms last night and early morning; way smaller amounts fell down here along the Bucks and Hunterdon tributary watersheds of the Lower Delaware River.

Cases in point on the New Jersey side: the Flatbrook at Flatbrookville rose 1.5 feet while 65 miles downstream the Musconetcong River at Bloomsbury only showed a rise of a few inches. That's a good things for the guys working on Musconetcong dam removals and streambank stabilization down near Riegelsville, NJ.

On the PA side: The Broadhead Creek at Minisink Hills rose a few feet overnight, while the Tohickon Creek at Pipersville came up just a few inches. The Lehigh River shot up over 5 feet, a significant rise for such a big river, but some of that surge was no doubt contributed by the whitewater releases from the FE Walter Dam.

Of course all this is reflected in the muddied waters of the Delaware River at Riegelsville today, that gage showed an approximately 4' jump. People planning to put tubes in the lower Delaware will be greeted by the branches, logs and styrofoam swept downstream by the river.