Bottoms up!

...that's "bottom's frozen up"!

While a few of us less hardy souls were meandering off in other states over the Christmas holiday, Spearfish Creek again demonstrated her rather unique propensity for flooding as a result of freezing under rather than freezing over. It provided quite a spectacle for the holiday season and caused more than just a little concern.

It seems that Spearfish creek freezes less often than most rivers and creeks, according to city officials, due to its fast moving water. Nonetheless, its rocky bottom tends to slow down bottom water, and when the temperatures drops like they did just before Christmas, down to -10 to -15 degrees (and lower, some folks say), the creek begins to freeze on the bottom. As the ice builds, the creek can quickly rise up out of its banks. When ice and snow up stream begin to melt, the situation can get nasty real quick.

We weren't around to witness this event, but good amateur radio friend Bob Weaver snapped several pictures and has kindly allowed us to use them here. It seems the water flooded some homes, threatened many others, and inundated the biking/walking path that snakes along with the creek, as shown here.

Wendly Pitlick's Spearfish Creek story in the Black Hills Pioneer includes a photo or two as well.