The Peace River is flowing well above its average flow following last weekend’s rainfall from Hurricane Irma.
However, it was not close to flow this time of year in 2004, according to preliminary streamflow data at Bartow compiled by the U.S. Geologic Survey.
The flow recorded Wednesday was 2,150 cubic feet per second. A cubic foot per second flow is roughly equal to 600,000 gallons a day.
The 2004 record for Wednesday is 3,840 cfs.
Other readings include 736 cfs on the Peace Creek in Wahneta, which still appears to be rising (the 2004 record for this date as 902 cfs).
More impressive figures are coming from gauges farther downstream as the flow from tributaries accumulates.
Wednesday’s flow on the Peace River at Zolfo Springs was 17,300 cfs, which topped the 15,200 cfs record from around the time Hurricane Donna came through the area in 1960 during an already wet year.
Across the county, the flow on Tiger Creek was record-setting. Wednesday’s flow was 555 cfs, far surpassing the 120 cfs record from 2004 for this site.
The creek, as some of you know, flows through sandhills in Tiger Creek Preserve before emptying into Lake Walkinwater.
The USGS data also shows a 3-foot rise in water level in the creek.
Finally, the North Prong of the Alafia River in Nichols was flowing Wednesday at 693 cfs. The old record was 257 cfs from 2015;.