Cave flooding

[looseBits]

Being an out-of-stater, I don't have a feel for which caves get blown first and which systems actually improve. Where do I need to look for heavy rain and how long does it take heavy rains to start affecting the caves?

Btw, planning full cave in mid March, please keep your collective fingers crossed that I don't have to do every dive in Ginnie (that could get expensive).

[Marc G]

If you are concerned about cave condition take a look at this site http://www.srh.noaa.gov/alr/ahps/RVFFL.htm. Everytime I make the long journey down I start looking at this site a few months ahead so we know what to expect when we get there.

You could also look at purchasing the annual pass if you do more than 15 dives or make a few trips down to cave country.

[looseBits]

I've got a Florida State Park annual pass, works at PSSP, Madison Blue, etc. but $300 for Ginnie didn't seem worth it. I don't have to ask the wife if I can spend $20 to get in for a day but I do if I want to spend $300 to get in for the year.

[aw]

OK. Given the link above for conditions:

At what river levels does Telford back up? What about Little River? What about Madison Blue? If the Suwanee River is at 24.17 ft right now in Luraville, at what level do each of these caves above become affected?


If the river rises to 30 ft, does that mean it's a go or no go?

[curtschu]

Research is expensive

If you can find the old post when Madison Blue closed then look at the historical charts on the SRWMD site that will tell you the level.

Peacock will go at about 32 ft I think.

[Dave Lizdas]

Yup, realtime data collection on the web, including plots of water levels:

http://www.srwmd.state.fl.us/default.htm

It's worth pointing out. You probably have to watch it for awhile to get a feel for it. Does anyone else know what other levels will close the springs?

[curtschu]

I was going to add Madison Blue, too.

It went at about 58 ft at Pinetta

[Cave Ranger]

I don't have to ask the wife if I can spend $20 to get in for a day but I do if I want to spend $300 to get in for the year.