GALION — Heavy rain Wednesday night and Thursday may have played havoc with area commuters, shoppers, fitness buffs and dog walkers, but it managed to replenish Galion’s water supply, which was noticeably low at the end of 2016.
Galion received approximately 3 inches of rain during the deluge, including 2.44 at the water plant. A rain gauge at the residence of Michael Mateer Jr., measured 2.37 inches of rain between midnight Wednesday and 4 p.m. Thursday on Neumann Street.
Michael was also one of many area residents who submitted photos of high water in the area. He was taking part in a nature hike at Lowe-Volk Park when he took his photo. See a photo gallery of some of the high water in Galion, some from the Inquirer staff. and others submitted via readers.
The heavy rain, combined with already saturated ground, and some round still frozen, created a lot of runoff in a shot amount of time, prompting the National Weather Service to issue plenty of flood warnings and advisories, most of which ended Friday morning.
Galion’s reservoirs, which were noticeably low at the end of 2016, quickly filled.
Drivers were observed stopping on the bridge on County Line Road, near the spillway, to watch the rushing water in the late afternoon. There were onlookers on foot, also watching the water works.
Galion uses about 1.1 millions gallons of water daily. Amick reservoir holds 280 million gallons, or about 280 days worth of water. Combined, Amick, Amann and Powers reservoirs, when full, hold about527 million gallons.
There was flooding in the football practice and flag football fields behind the football stadium and YMCA. The girls softball, Little Sox and Little League fields were not under water.
No severe flooding was reported in Galion, although some roads were covered at times during the day.
Temperatures fell overnight to about freezing and will remain in the 20s or near the freezing mark through Sunday.
An ice storm gearing up to hit parts of the midwest during the weekend is expected to say south of Galion. In fact, as of Friday, the chance or precipitation for the Galion area was no more than 10 percent.
Also, another warm up is expected next week, with temperatures rising into the 40s and 50s forecast.
