The talking heads will be infatuated with the hurricanes but we have a really serious situation happening here in the Chicago area. We had several inchs of rain last week. Last night most of the area south of I-80 had over 4" of rain and we are supposed to get between 5" and 10" tonight. This will set an all time record rainfall for this area in the month of September. This has to have some railroads having to do 100% visual checks for washouts, signal damage and in all probability slow orders and cancelations. This will delay or halt freight traffic in and out of Chicago as well as Amtrak. Flooding is already occuring in some areas with the rain tonight to exceed that we have already had. The Chicago area is basicaly flat with very little slope so the impact could last several days. In the past flooding I have seen pictures of semis in water up to their roofs trying to feel their way off I-80 at exits. The ramifications of oil prices with all the refineries in Texas is serious and not to be taken lightly but the entire transportation system through the midwest could be at a standstill for a couple of days.
CSX has issued “flash flood warnings” to it’s Northern Indiana trains.
NS’s former NKP line has a 10mph limit on areas and then a “walk thru” near Wheeler, In.
Lots of water, not like Texas, but lots of water.
ed
The local WeatherBug weather station is saying that we are getting less than 1/10th of an inch of rain per hour in my back yard. Forecast is for heavier rain, but right now, we are on the fringe of the rain fall, with most of the heavy stuff just 4-5 miles north of me, but that is supposed to change later this afternoon as the rain gets heavier. Right now, my area has had 2.13 inches of rain so far.
I do know, that the IHB that ducks under the BNSF over in LaGrange has a habit of flooding during heavy rain. Usually, MOW guys are out at that location during heavy rains, checking it out, and looking things over. I have never seen it affect traffic yet, but I am sure, if we get 4" of rain tonight, and into tomorrow, that may change.
The local NWS office had this to say in the Area Forecast Discussion.
*EXPECT MAIN SWATH OF RAIN EMBEDDED [THUNDER](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?word=THUNDER) ALONG THE SOUTH EDGE TO*
*SLOWLY PROPAGATE NORTHWARD THIS MORNING WITH PRECIPITATION*
*[SCATTERING](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?word=SCATTERING) OUT SOME OVER MUCH OF THE [CWA](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?word=CWA) FOR A TIME TODAY...BEFORE*
*THE AXIS BEGINS TO SHIFT SOUTHEAST AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON EVENING AS*
*WAVE PASSES BY.*
*STILL HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT A MINI-SUPERCELLS LATE THIS*
*AFTERNOON INTO EARLY THIS EVENING...HOWEVER DONT THINK THE [TORNADO](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?word=TORNADO)*
*THREAT IN OUR AREA TODAY WILL BE AS GREAT AS IT WAS OVER NE KS AND*
*NW MO ON FRIDAY. [LOW LEVEL JET](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?word=LOW%20LEVEL%20JET) WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE AGAIN LATE*
*THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WHICH SHOULD SEND 0-1KM [SRH](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?word=SRH) VALUES*
*SOARING...EVEN THOUGH SURFACE WINDS WILL*
TWC made mention of it today, as well as the possibility of tornados in the region. And that’s before Ike barges through.
All I know is if I get much more rain around me I am going to start building a freaking ARK.
We had about three inches of rain in our gauge overnight (well, all day yesterday until 7 a.m.). We both got home this afternoon to another 2.8" in a little over eight hours. We had some water in our basement (left some foul evidence for us) while we were at work–breaking out the mop and bleach now. Backyard looks nice and squishy, with some dead branches down.
Proviso was a disaster area–we were humping most of the time, but the signal department had to contend with a couple of submerged switches and one retarder whose mechanism was submerged in spite of being a couple of feet above the ground. The ditch behind me at work was about six feet deeper than normal, and we were just about prevented from getting there by flooded highways. This afternoon the floods had moved to other places; we did all right.
The Illionis Railway Museum was open today for Member’s Showcase Weekend but most electric cars were annulled. Scheduled night operations were cancelled.
The museum campus is not flooded.
It’s still raining out here in Calumet City, IL, (and NW Indiana) at 2141 CDT. The storm sewer “Deep Tunnel” system blew up in Calumet City last night. Something weird happened. The pressure blew out the concrete vent dome at Veteran’s Park and hurled a piece of concrete some yards away and onto a guard rail. The earth and sod is really deformed where the deep tunnel vent was. Calumet City Heritage Day was cancelled for tomorrow. Many residents are getting water in the basement. We have not gotten any yet here at my home. TonyM.
It’s official–yesterday (9/13/08) was the wettest day on record in Chicago, with something over 6.6 inches recorded. We’ve had a couple tenths of an inch since midnight, but another one or two inches are expected today, with strong winds, courtesy of what’s left of Ike. Some predictions had had this storm passing directly over us, but it now appears that it will mostly go to our south and east (Quentin and Joe might be the lucky recipients).
Still haven’t heard of any significant slowdowns on our line to the west. My favorite train to watch on the computer, ZWASKP, is already into Illinois; if he has any weather-related delays I should be able to see that.
We got .65" of rain overnight thanks to the frontal passage. Not an problem.
The more southerly track of Ike may bode badly for us - what I saw yesterday had the storm passing over Chicago, Detroit, and southern Ontario, just clipping us. A southerly track might get us a lot wetter.
Looks like our memorial ceremony today will be inside.
…The heavy stuff is to be north of us…1 to 2" possible here during the day. Bright sunshine right now. I know that can change quickly.
I live south of I-80 and every time the rain picks up my sump pump cycles with five seconds rest between cycles. There is nowhere for the rain to go. I have a block foundation and have six different locations the water is coming through mortar joints in a 1/2" stream. Most of my basement floor is wet but I was prepared for that and if and when it ever stops it should dry out in a couple of days. The rain is back filling my septic system and shut down my aerator through a ground. If I lose power I will lose my well pump and my sump pump which has happened in the past. Yesterday we had 6.88" of rain, one last night and four to five expected today. Then we are supposed to get fifty mile an hour winds when the wind shifts to the north. The talking heads are warning that lots of trees are going to come down with the ground so saturated. I think I have mold growing on me at this point.
We have had over 5" of rain in my area… and that’s a conservative estimate. Right now the backyard is a sponge…
I was out to run an errand, and so far, over by the IHB, the water is up to the rail heads at CP LaGrange, right by the crossing, and stretching about 200’ north or so. How are the railroads handling this? Even though there is no water accumulating on the BNSF across the street, what kind of problems can constant rainfall like this cause? So far there has only been one train this morning, which makes me wonder if they are holding traffic…
York Rd. north of Ogden is closed nearby due to floods, and the south end of my town has some inundated streets.
Here is some more NWS info…
HAVE SENT SOME UPDATED GRIDS TO INCREASE WINDS THIS
AFTERNOON...PARTICULARLY OVER SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE [CWA](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?word=CWA). THE
INTENSE LOW PRESSURE...THAT ONCE WAS IKE...CONTINUES TO ACCELERATE
NORTHEASTWARD TOWARD THE AREA. WHILE THE SURFACE LOW HAS WEAKENED
SOME OVERNIGHT...IT REMAINS QUITE DEEP AND GIVEN ITS FAST MOVEMENT
THERE HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS ISALLOBARIC RESPONSE TO THE WINDS.
GUSTS TO THE SOUTH OF THE TRACK HAVE ECLIPSED 50KT OVER NORTHERN
ARKANSAS...WITH [NUMEROUS](http://www.crh.noaa.gov/glossary.php?word=NUMEROUS) GUSTS TO 35KT TO THE NORTH OF THE TRACK.
WITH THE LOW MOVING SO QUICKLY THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR
STRONG WINDS WILL BE SMALL...THOUGH STILL THINK WE WILL SEE A FEW
HOURS OF GUSTS TO AT LEAST 30KT OVER OUR SE COUNTIES. WOULDN`T
SURPRISE ME TO SEE HIGHER GUSTS...BUT WENT CONSERVATIVELY FOR NOW
WITH 30KT AND WILL LET DAYSHIFT HANDLE ANY POTENTIAL HEADLINE ON A
SHORTFUSE BASIS.
My pump cycles every forty five to fifty seconds and has been doing that for about forty eight hours…good thing it is a newer (months old) pump and I am thankful I chose to put in a battery back up system after the floods of 1996 here (eighteen inches in one day of localized rain)…the battery for the back up system is only weeks old so I am OK I think…so far so good (knock on wood)…the weather channel and Chicago Tribune predict this will be ending this afternoon more or less and not a minute too soon for me thanks very much!
Yeah the weather sucks, The roof on my house and also the roof on my sisters house are leaking bad and yesterday on my way to work I hydroplaned on the highway and bounced off a guard rail at 50mph
Hopefully it stops tonight
Rain rain go AWAY!!! Every train going out of Galesburg had to get flash flood warnings issued to them last night.Thats not just trains going one way, but every direction. It was a soupy mess and all I have to say is YUCK!
Its still drizzling here in the Quad Cities. Feels more like spring than end of summer.
HURRAY, the rain has stopped here in Aurora for the first time in about 48 hours. I’m not sure how much rain fell in those two days, but my guess is about ten inches or so.
It’s all but let up here, too–but in the eight-hours-plus that I was away to work we got another inch and a half in our gauge.
At Proviso, water levels had gone down overnight, but I could watch them rise again for most of the day, and we had more retarders out today than yesterday. As for ZWASKP, they didn’t encounter any weather-attributed delays on our main line. There have been times in the past when a low area between Creston and Rochelle goes under, but that obviously didn’t happen this weekend.
St. Louis is built in a hilly area, at least the central and south sides. We had 4.6" of rain in about 3 hours, between 4AM and 7AM. Some areas had about 5.5" in the same time. Streets are flooded, especially along what’s left of UP’s old Lake branch. They service a lumber yard and there were tied piles of lumber floating across Manchester Road and colliding with traffic.
This was from Ike, and if you can believe the weather people, it will swing to the south of Chicago. For your sake, I hope it does.
Now that the rain has stopped, we have gotten a total of about 7.7 inches since Friday. The bands showing total rainfall had nine or more inches through much of Chicago.
Ish, I think you’re right about Ike traveling south of us–the front along which our storms had formed did the trick. It now looks like most of Lower Michigan is getting a soaking (I should check on my sister–the radar was showing yellow over her).