February 27, 2004 8th Report
Summary Lower Platte River Ice Report
Loup
River At Palmer it is reported main
channel which is 100 to 150 wide is flowing with 15% slab ice. Three to four feet across ice is cracked
parallel to the shore and the shore ice is slumped evidence of drop in
flow. Ice has a gray color and the snow
pack has melted.
Elkhorn
River
At
the Hwy 30 bridge there are small open channels upstream and downstream of the
bridge and evidence of ice movement.
The ice is approximately 2 to 5 thick. At the Hwy 36 bridge there is open channel upstream and
downstream of the bridge for as far as can be seen that is 30 wide to 100%
open channel. Small piles of ice appears
to be 2 to 5 thick remaining on sandbars and along the river banks. At the Hwy 64 bridge the ice has broken
upstream of the bridge for about ½ mile and above that is 100% open channel for
as far as can be seen. Ice that has
moved downstream has piled up about 800 downstream of the bridge; then there
is ice for as far as can be seen downstream.
At the Hwy 92 bridge there are some small open channels in the middle of
the river and near the banks and it appears that the ice has moved. The ice chunks are 2 to 5 thick. At the confluence of the Elkhorn and Platte
Rivers there is 100% open channel in the Elkhorn River as far upstream to the
limits of vision. Ice in the Platte
River has moved around and there are some open channels.
Platte
River
At
the Hwy 79 bridge most of the river still has intact ice cover, most is turning
gray in color. Open channel on the
north bank is becoming larger since the last weeks report. There are many areas of pooling water on top
of the ice; few other small channels opening are occurring. At Hwy 77 it is reported this is a changed
condition from last week; 30-40% of the river has opened. Many open water areas downstream of the Hwy
77 bridge, less upstream but it is slowly breaking up. There is no serious piling of ice from what
can be seen from the bridge. Intact ice
is gray in color. On the West end of
the Big Island area in the North channel, it has really opened up, but as you
move east, a half mile or so, it becomes intact ice again, but piling ice is
not visible. At 3.1 miles North of Hwy
64 it is reported there are several small open channels across the river. There is also standing and flowing water on
top of the intact ice. Some ice has begun
to pile up and appears to be 3 to 8 thick.
At Hwy 92 bridge there is an open channel by the West bank upstream and
downstream of the West bridge that is about 10 to 40 wide. There is evidence of prior ice
movement. There is also an open channel
upstream and downstream of the East bridge that is in the middle of the
channel. It is reported by another
observer at this location there is no piling of broken ice at this spot. At the confluence of the Elkhorn and Platte
rivers a special note was made by the Papio Missouri River NRD; two
representatives of the Clear Creek Drainage District reported an area of
concern on the Platte River that starts about 2 miles upstream of this
location. They are very concerned about
the remnants of what they refer to as a 2.5 mile long ice jam that occurred
during the warm spell and ice break-up in mid-January. According to the representatives the ice
piled into this area and never cleared out.
With the extremely cold temperatures that followed and the snowfall that
fell in late January; the ice jam is still there and the concern is that this
could cause problems when break-up occurs.
At 3.5 miles upstream of the Hwy 6 bridge there is good open channel
both upstream and downstream that is 120 to 400 wide. The ice has moved around and is piled on the
sandbars. At the Interstate 80 bridge there
is approximately 80 to 100 wide channel that comes downstream from the mouth
of Salt Creek along the right bank and proceeds down to South Bend. There are secondary channels beginning to
open across the river. Remaining ice in
channels and on sandbars is very dirty and rotten and at the most 6 thick. There is some moving slab ice coming down at
this point. At Hwy 50 at Louisville channels
are beginning to open along both banks but are not yet complete. This condition extends upstream and
downstream to limits of vision.
Significant water is flowing under the ice and contributing to the melt
and opening channels. Remaining intact
ice appears to be 4 to 6 thick and is very dirty and rotten in
appearance. At the Cedar Creek Dike the
main channel is now 60 to 80 wide coming from upstream along the right bank,
crossing the river at about mid dike and proceeding downstream along the left
bank. There are numerous open leads
forming along the length of the dike across the river. They show ice about 6 thick, very dirty and
rotten and is all the remaining ice in the river. There were no obstructions and very little floating ice in the
main channel. At Hwy 75 bridge there is
completely clear channel from limits of vision above the bridges to the
mouth. Very few sandbars remain above
the water level and some ice remains on the sandbars. There was some slab ice floating downstream in the channel, but
for all intensive purposes the river is ice free at this point.