Bridal Veil Falls and Spearfish Creek look mighty impressive, but the past few days' rains have wrought a little havoc here in the Northern Black Hills:
- Spearfish Creek peaked at a flow of 690 cubic feet per second yesterday around noon. Average flow: 70 cubic feet per second.
- The rain has closed the Deadwood Public Library, reducing things to do in Deadwood other than gambling by 33%. A temporary spray-on seal applied last October in anticipation of this summer's roof redo was no match for Friday's hail:
Public Works Director jR [sic] Raysor said that the membrane evidently worked up until Saturday.
“It was dry ever since we applied it in October,” Raysor said. “There were no problems until the hail storm Friday night. Then all hell broke loose and it’s coming in from everywhere. I think it’s possible that the hail penetrated the seal” [Jaci Conrad Pearson, "Deadwood Library Closed Indefinitely," Black Hills Pioneer, 2013.05.22].
- The Sanford Homestake Lab has suspended operations after an inspection discovered some underground pumps aren't keeping up with the 8.75 inches of rain seeping down into the rock around the mine. Lab director Michael Headley says the big experiments at the 4,850-foot level face no flood danger, but he's keeping people upstairs until tomorrow morning "to give our water control systems a chance to catch up."