Rain, snowmelt trigger flood warning
Flood watch covers Central New York to Western New England
It’s a great time for ducks, while area highway crews keep a close eye on high water that might overflow culverts and cause flooding in low-lying areas.
The combination of heavy rains and ground saturated from melting snow has created extremely wet conditions throughout the Capital Region.
The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a flood watch from Central New York to Western New England, including Saratoga County.
“We’ve had 1-1/3 inches of rain here since 2 a.m.,” Greenfield Highway Superintendent Walt Barss said late Tuesday morning.
South Branch Brook, near the town highway garage, was a rushing torrent as it passed beneath Porter Corners Road en route to its juncture with the Kayaderosseras Creek.
“This comes off the mountain up by Lake Desolation,” Barss said. “There’s still quite a bit of snow up there.”
One lane of Bockes Road in Greenfield was flooded over by water that had nowhere else to go.
Wednesday’s forecast calls for partly sunny skies. Then rain is expected to resume late Wednes-
day night and continue right through Saturday, with up to 2 inches possible.
“That’s what we’re concerned about, the combination of additional rainfall on top of snowmelt,” said Jennifer Vogt Miller, a weather service meteorologist.
Precipitation in March, led by Winter Storm Stella, was 4.07 inches, nearly an inch above normal (3.2 inches).
Since Jan. 1, the area has had 10.12 inches of precipitation, almost two inches above average (8.32 inches) and nearly twice the amount (6.6 inches) that fell last year during this same period.
“Overall, we are in a wetter pattern,” Vogt Miller said.
It’s been a crazy few weeks for outdoor sports enthusiasts. In early March, some people had put away their skis and began practicing putts at local golf courses. Then Stella dropped more than 15 inches of snow on the region.
Water is so high now, in some places, that people couldn’t go fishing on April 1, the first day of trout season.
“We’ve got crews checking low areas and culverts carrying tributaries and streams under our roads, but there are no washouts or flooding yet,” said Keith R. Manz, Saratoga County Public Works commissioner.
In Saratoga Springs, the only potential trouble spot is a stream near Gilbert Road, off Lake Avenue, Public Works Commissioner Anthony “Skip” Scirocco said.
“It’s not a problem yet,” he said. “With any more rain it could be. It’s on our radar as far as making improvements.”
Relief appears to be in sight Sunday as the outlook calls for mostly sunny skies with a high near 53 degrees.
But guess what’s in store Sunday night and Monday? A chance of showers. The situation is especially troublesome for dairy farmers, who can’t get on fields for daily manure spreading.
The state Department of Conservation has issued a warning about risky conditions for manure spreading.
Because the ground is so wet, there’s a concern manure could run off into nearby streams.
Every farm should “look for ways to avoid application in these situations,” said Karl Czymmek, of Cornell’s Pro Dairy program, in an e-Alert message.
Bill Peck, co-owner of Welcome Stock Farm in Northumberland, said it’s best to “stay off fields unless you have really sandy soils that drain well.”
“Farming is all about battling things you can’t control,” he said. “Weather is one of them.”
“Overall, we are in a wetter pattern.” — Jennifer Vogt Miller, service meteorologist