North Rim Fires

[dgroat]

Hi. I'm set to hike Nanoweap on Monday. I heard Cape Royal Road was closed, but apparently not House Valley Rock road? Just how smoky is it up there? (How much asthma meds am I going to have to pack?)

[PaleoRob]

I haven't been on the Kaibab for a few weeks, but when I was at the S. Rim the week before this one, it wasn't terribly smoky out that way. Cape Royal Rd. is indeed closed, last I heard, but the Buffalo Ranch Rd. that leads to Saddle Mountain is open. I'd bring extra stuff just in case - you never know when it could flare up and dump more smoke than you're expecting.

[bowdent1]

I was at the North Rim Lodge on Thursday night, there was some smoke off to the east, but it didn't look like a lot. As the sun went down we could actually see a slight glow of the flames from Bright Angel Point. The ranger at the lodge said it was lightning caused and they would just let it burn itself out. I would put in a call to the North Rim lodge and ask about smoke. BTW on the way down to Phoenix today (Sat) we encountered heavy rain near WIlliams and Flagstaff, so I would check and see if any rain fell at the North Rim and eliminated the problem.

[PaleoRob]

We got a dumping up here too, and looks like it extended all the way out to the Kaibab. Might have doused the flames, who knows!

[Dschur]

We had about 1.25 inches here in Payson and it poured in Flagstaff while my husband was running the Flagstaff 1/2 Marathon at the Nordic center. And all the way down from Flag to Payson. A good source to see rain amounts is at http://www.rainlog.org.

[dgroat]

Thanks for the 411. Got the rain and a little cooling trend. The fires are a non issue. Looks like a go. I love it when a plan comes together! BTW, I'm having a little 46th birthday celebration at the confluence of Nankoweap and the Colorado Wednesday. You're all invited. BYOB.

[chumley]

NWS reports .35" and .67" at the North Rim for Saturday and Sunday. Nice to see an inch of rain at the end of September. Happy birthday and enjoy the trip!

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Also, Payson (airport) got hammered with 3.96". I got to see a nice flash flood on North Sycamore Creek running into the East Verde near the Control Road. I'll post a picture later.

[Dschur]

NWS reports .35" and .67" at the North Rim for Saturday and Sunday. Nice to see an inch of rain at the end of September. Happy birthday and enjoy the trip!

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Also, Payson (airport) got hammered with 3.96". I got to see a nice flash flood on North Sycamore Creek running into the East Verde near the Control Road. I'll post a picture later.

I live near the airport in Payson and my rain gauge only had 1.35 inches in it from all the storms Saturday.

[chumley]

I believe I've strayed from the thread, but I assume it was a local event, here's my source:

http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=psr
you need to select State Summary >> Arizona >> Archived/September 23rd.

I also see that the streamflow for the East Verde spiked up 5 feet overnight, with flow going from .25cfs to 5400cfs ... so there was definitely a significant event upstream. (Except for Aug 6 and 7, it looks like that's the highest it's been since Dec '04/Jan '05)
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/az/nwis/uv/?s ... 0065,00060

Too bad so much rain so quickly really does little to alleviate the drought. And I just read today that La Niña is strengthening. Let's hope that winter doesn't turn out to be a dud or next summer could be an active fire season.

[Hoffmaster]

I bailed from my campsite near Knoll Lake on Saturday evening after the storm flooded my site and I found myself being pummeled with hail. It figures that I just about had enough coals in the fire to start cooking my brats.
A couple of hours later, I noticed that the southbound lanes on 87 in Payson were under inches of water. The water was over the curb and most people going south were driving in the center turn lane.