Watch Raging Texas River Flood at 20,000 Cubic Feet Per Second
We've gotten a pretty nice amount of rain over the last week and a half. As much as I personally hate it because it tends to cancel baseball games and practices for my boys, I'm secretly happy about it.
Amarillo needed the rain in the WORST way. It's been beyond dry here, and while it may be kicking up my allergies a bit, I'll take it. It's already taken us out of the burn ban that Potter and Randall County were in. It's also done something we haven't seen in quite awhile.
With all the rainfall we've gotten, the Canadian River is completely full, and even in overflow status. Now, let me put this into perspective for you. The Canadian River is sitting at levels we haven't seen in nearly 10 years as the last time it hit flood stage was back in 2013.
That alone is significant. However, we don't stop there. We got so much rain that the river actually crested over eight feet. Check this out.
Crazy isn't it? And that wasn't even the point when it was at eight feet. This was just after it. So what is the significance here? Well, that's the highest the Canadian River has been since 1996! Look, I hadn't even graduated high school at that point yet, and I graduated high school a loooong time ago.
So what does all this mean for Amarillo? Like I said, it has lifted the burn ban for both Potter and Randall County, so that's a really good start. However, it doesn't take us out of drought status. We're still in that and it's going to take a lot more than a week of rainfall to get us out of that.
For the time being though, let's enjoy the fact that the Canadian River is full and giving us a little bit of hope that things are turning the corner.