What determines the level of water in the Tom River?

The level of water in the river Tom causes excitement among many residents living near its shores. All the blame for the flood, which caught unawares people in April 2015. Then the river left its banks and flooded part of the adjacent territory. And although there were no casualties on the part of the population, there are still fears.

That is why the water level in the Tom River is now under the careful supervision of specialists and ordinary residents. And on the Internet even appeared special sites, where you can see the state of the river online.

Some general information

The river Tom takes its origin in the Abakan pass, or more precisely, in the Khakass Autonomous Oblast (the Krasnoyarsk Territory). Curiously, here, among the rocks, it behaves like a real mountain river: the churning streams of cold water now and again crash into sharp stones, lifting a huge foam in the air.

She calms down a little at a time when she passes the Kuznetsk basin. Even lower occurs such a metamorphosis, after which you can not say that it is the same Tom (river). The map shows that this occurs on the border with the Tomsk region. It is here that it becomes a full-fledged plain by the river.

The average water level in the Tom River

The total flow of the river is 827 km. Therefore, it is rather difficult to give general information about exactly what level of water in the river Tom. It is usually considered to be average. In general, the water level fluctuations are about 8 meters.

The water level reaches the minimum mark at the end of February. However, with the advent of April, when the sun begins to melt ice and snow, it rises sharply. Often, this phenomenon occurs without significant complications for residents of coastal zones, but there are exceptions.

In general, the water level fluctuates within 2-3.5 m in summer. The peak of the floods falls at the end of April and beginning of May. During this period, the average values increase by 5-6 m. If this value reaches 7-8 m, there is a chance of flooding the coastal zone.

Floods and floods

So, according to scientists, the water level in the Tom River significantly exceeds the norm every five years. However, in recent years, such cases occur much more often than usual. The last flood was recorded in April 2015.

In Novokuznetsk, the water level rose to a level of 6.9 m, which is 65 cm above the safe threshold. A similar trend was observed in other cities lying on the coast of the Tom River. For example, in Belogorsk, where the safety mark is 3.2 m, the water level has risen to 4.3 m.