Catch the spectacular spill before it stops

As I write this, the Columbia River is flowing through Grand Coulee Dam at a rate of 195,400 cubic feet per second. And, spectacularly, about 25,000 cubic feet you can see spilling some 300 feet down the face of the dam.

At Niagara Falls you would see about 20,000 cubic feet of water falling about 70 feet.

The spill should keep going all week, adding incentive to anyone thinking about visiting the dam for the annual July 4th celebration.

A tour group leaves the big bus to peer over the edge of the dam as the Columbia roars over the top.
A tour group leaves the big bus to peer over the edge of the dam as the Columbia roars over the top.

If you’d like to check the current amount of water flowing in the river, over the dam or the level of Lake Roosevelt compared to sea level, you can do that here. (But the data fields might not line up well on a small screen of a cell phone.

Lake Roosevelt, behind the dam, is already basically full, well ahead of last year as the chart below shows.

 

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