Flood warning remains in effect in the Peterborough region

Spring temperatures have finally arrived in the Peterborough region and so has the rain. It’s been raining since early Tuesday morning and more rain is on the way.

“We could see between 25 and 40 millimetres of rain fall by early afternoon Thursday when it should stop,” said Lindsay Biscaia, weather analyst for CHEX TV in Peterborough.

And with what’s falling from the sky and melting on the ground, water levels are expected to rise on the Otonabee River and throughout the Kawartha Lakes.

“We’ve issued an update to our flood warning and that covers all of the watercourses, streams, rivers, water bodies in the Otonabee watershed,” said Neil MacFarlane, Otonabee Conservation engineering technologist.

So far there have been no reports of serious flooding or damage in low-lying areas.

But with fast-moving currents and greasy banks, MacFarlane has a warning.

“It’s a safety issue. The water levels are going to swell in the rivers and streams. The water is very cold. It’s a very dangerous condition.”

Farther north in the Haliburton and Algonquin areas, there is more snowpack on the ground, the water equivalency of 70 millimetres. That moisture, coupled with rainfall, is expected to flow down through the Kawartha watershed within the next three or four days.