Kelroy

As you noted, none of the Browning serial number schemes for Citori O/U's come anywhere close. Are you sure it is a Citori? The "S7" suffix is a valid date/gauge code for a 1967 12ga Superposed.

For the curious... ~K Why does the USGS use the spelling "gage" instead of "gauge"?

A word of caution to anyone taking pictures of pit vipers; if your camera uses an infrared light source for auto-focus, the infrared light will overwhelm their sensory pits and they will not be happy at all. Give them some extra room in case they freak out. ~K

https://www.snopes.com/mississippi-river-going-dry/ The John Schumacher interviewed is the Data Chief in charge of the Ground Water and Water Quality sections at the Missouri Water Science Center (USGS), the folks who are responsible for the monthly discharge measurements and sediment/water quality sampling at Grafton, St Louis, Chester, Thebes, and New Madrid. If anyone cares to see for themselves, they can pull up the web pages for Thebes and Memphis and see how the discharge over the last couple months compares to the historical daily mean. There is not much data from the New Madrid gage, as it was only recently renewed for study and an accurate stage/Q rating is still in development. As Al pointed out in an earlier post, channel morphology plays a key role in determining the stage/discharge relationship in any river. Flood events can radically affect the channel on both the rising limb (scour) and the falling limb (deposition) of the hydrograph. In the case of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, the bottom is almost entirely sand which, above velocities of a couple feet per second, is constantly shifting. This 'moving bed' results in the building, migration, and collapse of sand dunes along the river bed. It is the action of these dunes (most notably when they collapse) that causes the occasional 'boils' or 'swells' one sees on otherwise smooth water. It is this dramatic and constant changing of the bottom which necessitates the monthly measurements on our larger rivers, in order to keep their gage height/discharge rating formulas as accurate as possible. ~K

Having had much occupational exposure to inflatables, I would suggest that if you do decide to go that route, get one that has a pressure-activated inflator vs the infamous 'dissolving pill' design. While I appreciate the advantages an inflatable has to offer, I must also point out that one is basically taking an automotive-style airbag and wrapping it around their neck. Deployment can be sudden, loud, and abrupt, almost violent in nature; not the sort of thing I would recommend for someone near 90 years old, unless their heart is in very good health. Not much good if the PFD itself causes a heart attack.

What part of Big P are you interested in?

To the best of my knowledge, only 9 gages went down due to submersion failure, this time around anyway. Most of those are already up and running. A few (Hazelgreen, Rich Fountain et al) had temporary portable gages installed until the stage dropped enough to access/replace drowned equipment.

I have not heard anything, but from the looks of it, I'd speculate they got hit pretty hard. The bridge was totally submerged, just starting to hang drift on the guardrails after the peak. The powerlines were close enough to the water we couldn't get under them safely. Had to back a mile down White Oak road to launch, measurement x-sec about 1/2 mile above bridge. Measured discharge 86,000cfs which exceeds level for 500 yr event. Measured 89,000cfs below East Gate. Both measurements estimated to be near half-foot below the peak. I pray everyone got out ok.

The gages at Ross Bridge and East Gate have ceased to function due to submersion failure. Both bridges are completely submerged at this time. Crews will begin replacing equipment as soon as the water recedes far enough to allow access to the gage structures. A crew measured 89,000cfs this afternoon below East Gate.

Reports from the field indicating the Hwy PP bridge has collapsed, fyi.

Break Out Another Thousand...

Here is a brief 'fact-sheet' pertaining to streamgage operation/maintenance cost evaluation: https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2010/3025/pdf/fs2010-3025.pdf USGS Water Science operations are unique in that they are only 20% funded by Federal money- the other 80% of operating funds must come from cooperators such as DNR, MDC, EPA, USACE, NPS, etc. Of course, when many of the cooperators themselves rely on Federal funding, any time there is a political p*g match and funding gets cut, the budgetary s*t sandwich goes around, and everyone gets to take a bite.

I prefer pale pastels in blue, green, gray, or tan hues. I figure they might not be as visible, but for sure they don't heat up like a darker color.

You are right MO, Magellan is Academy's house brand. They offer some great shirts for the price. I especially like the fact that the rear vent is actually open all the way across the back, so a fella has a chance at getting some air flow through there. I have tried BPS, a few Columbias, I refuse to pay extortionist prices for Under Armor. I have no regrets with Magellan.