An Atmospheric River Runs Through It
The moon is waning gibbous
the pollen count is low
and yet another atmospheric river
is on the way,
all that warm moist air
all that water vapour
looking for a place to condense;
based on anecdotal evidence
this is either normal for the time of year
or a signal that we should start building an ark
but one thing is starkly clear
the data with which the calculated risks are calculated
is no longer valid
is in need of an update
the paradigm has not shifted
but the perimeter has been breached
like a dike in need of repair.
Taking part in Open Link at earthweal….it’s raining again in British Columbia.
Stopdraggingthepanda 
Oh yes it has. I am writing about these storms on Monday at earthweal, Jim. Hope you will chime in on how it is on the Lower Mainland. Even our small corner has had flooded roads, a sinkhole, and the mountain highway closed for hours. But so much worse from Abbotsford on down. You closing lines really say it all.
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Thanks Sherry, looking forward to your earthweal challenge…JIM
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There is much in need of repair right now, I think!
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With you and Sherry both living up Vancouver way, it’s great to hear from you both. Your point is excellent and prescient — here in the US, the floodplain maps are woefully outdated as heavier rains fall (sometimes wildly out of all measure) and risk has become a much toothier question for low lying living. You can build back, but how many times? The US Gulf Coast is exceptionally vulnerable to this and it is possible that stretches of coastline will eventually be abandoned.
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Meant to reply to this before, Brendan.There has been more written since about the flooding in the interior and the inadequate design and maintenance of the dikes. Phrases like “a once in 200 year amount of rainfall” have been bandied about, which of course is meaningless, In the end, what ever previous data there was , no longer applies.
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Thanks – even phrases like “thousand year flood” become meaningless when they start occurring routinely.
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Thats a very fine poem there Jim. Says it all.
Don’t all Canadians have canoes? (runs way VERY VERY fast into the distance)
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I live on a hill 🙂
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🙂
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I think the data was always slanted towards making more money. Money, however, is no match for a flood or a fire. (K)
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