Any "semi-educated" guesses when the Zion Narrows will open? As I recall, in 2005, a wet year, it was around the 4th of July?
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ut/nwis/uv/?site_no=09405500&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,00010,00095,72020 Link obtained from the Zion NPS webpage for river flow conditions. First, I have next to no experience watching this graph, so I have no ability to really answer your question...however, since I have skin in the answer...have 4 days on the calendar before the end of the month in Zion...I have been watching. With higher temps the last few days, yet a fall in the river flow if I read this correctly, I am hopeful my Mystery permit will be put to use in two weeks!!! Brian Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
I have been watching the CFS daily for the past two weeks and from way the graphs say (and especially how warm it’s been down there...(100 degrees in St George tomorrow)...I believe the peak melt happened maybe 3 days ago on the 8th of June and now we are on a decline trend it seems. The current CFS is under 298 CFS as of this writing, and we need to reach 150 before it “opens”. The last few days it’s nearly dropped 100 CFS but then raises back up another 50 CFS. So it seems the average is about lowering approx 50 CFS day with those hot temps in Springdale (above 90 degrees). My guess for when the narrows open is between 10 and 20 days. But keep in mind, that just because it hits 150 CFS doesn’t mean it’s instantly open again. It has to be below 150 CFS for 24 hours before permits are issued. So once it hits that threshold, give it another 1-3 days before it’s consistently below it. And any new short passing rainstorms in that timeframe will delay that opening another 1-2 days. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Best reference would be to go back to data from 2011, our last big wet year here. June 13ths 2011 they finally dropped below 300cfs peak, like we did yesterday for the first time. June 28th was the first time in 2011 it peaked below 150cfs, meaning first permits issued would have been June 29th 2011. Margins are narrow (get it); so, will have to wait and see.
The NPS tweeted this this afternoon. (I think they copied my prediction ) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk