Overview & Control Panel Usage   (close this window)

The Stevens Flood Advisory System (SFAS) displays both current and forecast water levels at several locations, and compares them to "action" levels for flooding or blowout-tide, as available. Each SFAS location is displayed as a marker on the SFAS map. The marker will be either a square to indicate tidal stations, or a circle to indicate hydrological, non-tidal stations. The control box on the right displays a color legend for "action" levels.

The color of the markers indicates the current water level, as observed by real-time field instruments at these locations. If a location lacks such an instrument, or if for any reason no observations have been received over the past two hours, that location's marker is white with "M" indicating that only model forecasts are currently available. If flooding or a blowout-tide is predicted within 96 hours from now, the "forecast period" shown on the top of the main SFAS page, then the marker will blink.

If you click on a location marker, an "info window" will appear which notes the current observed water level and the most severe forecast level in the forecast period, along with the date/time when that event is expected. By default, an ensemble of forecast predictions created at the Davidson Laroratory is used in SFAS.

To display a time series plot, which includes 96 or more hours of forecast, with observed data when available, click on the 'Show Time Series Plot' in the info window, or use the Station drop down in the control panel to select a station. The Stevens ensemble for the selected location will be displayed first. Where available, you may select to display a different forecast time series from a number of forecast models.

If you would like to receive email notifications of predicted flooding, enter your primary email address in the control panel to the right, and click the 'Manage Email Notifications' button. On the page that appears, you may select the stations for which you'd like to receive notifications, and, optionally, provide an alternate email.