Glacial outburst flood in Skaftá nearing conclusion, says Icelandic Meteorological Office

Recent updates indicate that the glacial outburst flood in Skaftá is nearing its conclusion, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. The current flow rates in Skaftá have returned to levels similar to those recorded before the flood commenced on August 20. Over the past two days, the river’s flow rate has decreased, measuring approximately 100 cubic meters per second at Sveinstind. Throughout the current flood event, the flow at this location remained between 180 and 220 cubic meters per second, which is considerably low for outbursts originating from the Eystri-Skaftárkatli glacier.

It has only been twelve months since the last outburst, while typically, two to three years lapse between floods from Eystri-Skaftárkatli in Vatnajökull. The outbursts that have occurred within a year of the previous one have exhibited similar patterns, characterized by low peak flows but persisting over longer durations. It has been an unusually long period since the last flood from the Vestari-Skaftárkatli, which last occurred in autumn 2021. On average, floods from that glacier have been spaced approximately two years apart.