National Weather Service River Forecast Center

Contacts: Lans Rothfusz FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(770) 486-1133 x 222 May 1, 2012
Kent Frantz
(770) 486-1133 x 228

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PROVIDES NEW
RIVER FORECAST SERVICES IN NORTH GEORGIA

The National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Peachtree City, Ga., and the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center (LMRFC) in Slidell, La., will provide new hydrologic services on Tuesday, May 15, 2012, for the West Chickamauga Creek near Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. This location will become a flood-only forecast point which means forecasts and warnings are issued when the creek level is expected to rise near or above flood stage. The new hydrologic services were a direct result of the major flooding which occurred in September 2009 near Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia and East Ridge, Tennessee.

The following bankfull and flood stage levels are as follows:

West Chickamauga Creek near Fort Oglethorpe
Bankfull/Action Stage 9 feet
Flood Stage/Minor Flood 11 feet
Moderate Flood Stage 16 feet
Major Flood Stage 21 feet

In addition, data for this point is provided by our partner, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD). Without this critical data, forecasts and warnings would not be provided at this point. The USGS website is http://ga.water.usgs.gov.

To get the latest information on this and other river forecast points, please visit our website at weather.gov and click on Georgia. Select “River/Lakes” under Current Weather. The Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service Page provides current and forecast river information, warnings, gage locations, impacts, and historical crest information for over 90 points in North and Central Georgia.

WFO Peachtree City provides all the weather services for 96 counties in north and central Georgia. The WFO collects hydrometeorological data, prepares and disseminates weather forecasts, river and flood forecasts and warnings; and issues severe weather watches and warnings to the public.

The LMRFC prepares river stage forecasts for the major rivers and creeks in the Tennessee and Mississippi River Valleys of the United States. The river forecast center’s area of responsibility includes most of Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, and parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and northeast Texas.

Additional information is available at http:// www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc or http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lmrfc.