The Huron River Lately

 

One of my first compilation videos, beginning at the Broadway Bridge and along the river to the Canal Street water gage station. 

Snow on the banks of the river

Yet another Huron River lately... the snowstorm made for some beautiful winter landscapes. 

The rain has already washed away the snow, however, so these moments were fleeting: 

© Dawn Nelson 2022. All Rights Reserved.

The Huron River Lately

Recently I thought about my proximity to the river differently. I decided to journey just a bit further north to the docks on Lakeshore Drive and was not disappointed. The platform that juts out into the river makes for excellent immersion into blue space and it was precisely what I needed. 

I had also recently contemplated the notion that even if some of my observations are just a bit further up the river, the USGS monitoring station at Canal Street is still relevant.

So I shall continue my exploration.

Though it is just a small stretch, there remains so much to reveal and interpret.

Graciously, I accept, and I am honored to be the steadfast observer. 

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© Dawn Nelson, 2022

River walking

 

© Dawn Nelson, all rights reserved.

Fast

The river was moving pretty fast so I decided to stop by a take a quick video near Canal Street (1310 cfs streamflow at 17:00 today). This time I stood right next to the USGS water monitoring station. The little concrete dock is no longer used, but the fancier model is tucked away in the shed mid-video.

Huron River at Canal Street, USGS station #04174500.

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 © Dawn Nelson, 2022.

Seasons change

As we now roll into the summer season, I look back at the events of the last couple of months and am shocked at how much turmoil a spring season can hold. 

While I was caught up in the ice out dates of the local lakes and rivers, what I didn't realize was that the pipes had frozen at my mother's house while she was away and consequently flooded the house. An extensive amount of water damage, to say the least. Dealing with this has preoccupied a lot of unanticipated time.

But now that the reality has set in, and with very little help from the insurance company, I am compelled to relate this experience to the implications of climate change, insurance, and the unfortunate lack of adequate and affordable housing in the US. I will likely write about this more articulately on my other blog, Courage and Climate Change. But for now, I just needed to revisit my intentions for a lake poet's musings, which was to, well, muse and wax poetic about the lakes and rivers and weather in general.

Since I find myself awake at a much earlier hour than usual, I think now is a good time to return a bit more energy to this effort once again. 

What I can note is that the river has been quite low lately, based on the daily text updates I receive from the USGS for the Huron River in Ann Arbor near Canal Street. Save for a few good storms this past week, it has been rather dry this entire spring in southeast Michigan. 

But June is here, and the summer solstice will hopefully bring life balance along with it.

Huron River at Canal Street

Quick capture this afternoon because the water is high and moving quickly today (909 cfs at 11am EDT):

Rainbow over Lake Erie

 A rainbow over Lake Erie today, and

A fast and high river in Flat Rock:

and at Canal Street in Ann Arbor:

Fast River

Just a quick note to note that the river was moving even faster today, although I didn't go look at it so no pictures or video today. 711 cubic feet per second (cfs) at 11:15 a.m. EDT, which is almost twice as fast as what it's been lately. Appears to have topped out at 755 cfs today, close in competition to the spike from the major rain on March 25-26. 

USGS gauge site data - river flow (discharge) measured in cubic feet per second

the Canal Street lately

Definitely a windy day out there today and of course I forgot my anemometer

I mean really 

who does that?

 It's a fast moving river with high winds from the west today.

Ye olde Argo Dam

I just came back from an early afternoon walk by the Argo Dam. I realized it's been quite a while since my last gallivant in this direction. Things have changed!

and of course a snapshot from my favorite river bank near Canal Street:

water flow cubic feet per second

river gage height at Canal Street site

The river collection

This is the latest in my river collection 

and Canal Street connection.

The Huron River at the Canal Street site in Ann Arbor where most of the 'river near Canal Street' videos are taken is about 150 feet upriver from a USGS river gage site. 

So basically this is the water about to be logged.

As you can see the water flow this week spiked right around the ice out dates I logged for March 2-4 and then steadily decreased. It is also notably below average water levels for this time of year.

the original flow chart

river height March 1-8 at Canal street site