Moderating weather conditions have slowly opened the Lower Platte River and tributaries. Things are looking much better but there still remains much floating and slush ice. For example, the reporting points along the Missouri River below Sioux City all indicate from 15% to 90% floating ice with open channels about 10-50%. The Lower Loup near Columbus is about 70% ice covered. Opened areas are full of slush ice. On the Lower Platte mainstem near Schuyler 80% of the channel is open with much floating ice. In the North Bend area 95% of the channel is open with much moving slush ice. Some shore ice was still present. Downstream in the Fremont area similar conditions were reported. Both north and south channels were flowing well but with much floating ice. Two to five feet of shore ice were still in place. Some sheet ice remained on sandbars. Along the Elkhorn River in the Stanton County area there is a clear open channel with some floating ice from Madison County to the Cuming County line. No ice jams were present but some re-freezing (1-2") had occurred. Downstream in the West Point area near the Highway 32 bridge the river was still ice covered with shore ice, floating and slush ice. Near Waterloo at the Highway 64 bridge about 75% of the Elkhorn was open with some floating ice. A small amount of rotten ice cover remained in the middle of the river. The Lower Platte River near the Highway 6 bridge still retained some ice cover with large cakes of very dirty fractured sheet ice lodged on sandbars both upstream and downstream of the bridge. The I-80 bridge over the Lower Platte River was open and flowing strongly with some floating ice. Only shore ice was still in place. Below this point the river was open with much floating slush ice. LOWER PLATTE RIVER BASIN
Week 8 - Summary Ice Report March 1, 1996