If the lake bursts
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The lake, month by month
Satellite measurements of the lake's surface. When snow, ice, cloud or shadow hide part of it, CASCADE gives a range instead of one number.
Where the water goes
The red line is the path the flood takes down the valley from the lake to the dam. Choose a date to see the lake on that day.
The lake from space
How to read this
- Time to act is how long the water takes to travel from the lake to the dam. It is the time you have to warn and move people, if the burst is noticed the moment it happens.
- Peak flow is the most water passing the dam in one second, in cubic metres (m³/s). It arrives after the first water, so the flood keeps rising for a while.
- Depth is how deep the water runs in the valley at the dam at the peak.
- The lake's area tells you how much water it holds: a bigger lake can release more.
What this can't tell you
- It replays one past flood from one lake to one dam. It is a screening tool, not an engineering design or a forecast.
- The arrival time matches the record because the model's channel roughness was tuned to it, so it is not an independent check.
- The peak flow is about 1.4–2 times the published reconstructions (5,340 and about 7,355 m³/s). Treat it as a high-end value.
- The time to act assumes the burst is detected at the lake the moment it happens.