Victoria Falls
The Spectacular Victoria Falls is once again living up to its reputation. It is the largest and most spectacular waterfall in the world. It deserves its place as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the Earth. The volume of water flowing over Victoria Falls measured on 23 April 2020, is 4086 Cubic Meters per Second. This is FOUR times greater than the flow one year ago and that is 4086 TONS of water per SECOND flowing into the Batoka Gorge. Can you imagine the roar that this volume of water creates cascading into the narrow gorge? And the huge plume of spray rising high into the air?
Batoka Gorge
The Victoria Falls has a width of 1708 Meters (5604 Ft). It creates the largest sheet of falling water in the world. The Batoka Gorge is between 80 Meters and 108 Meters (354 Ft) deep at the base of at the waterfall. The average width of the gorge is around 50 Meters (150 Ft) at the waterfall.
The flow of the Zambezi River varies considerably. The lowest annual flow being measured in October to December and the peak flow is in April May each year. This year in 2020, the Zambezi River Authority predicts that the peak should be reached towards the end of May 2020.
Lake Kariba
The Zambezi River right now in April 2020, is running at its highest level in the last decade as it plunges over Victoria Falls. The highest peak flood was recorded in 1958. The water flow was measured at over 10,000 Cubic Meters of water per second. This coincided with the early construction of the Kariba Dam downriver from Victoria Falls which ended up creating the Lake Kariba. The lake extends upriver by 223 Kilometers (139 Miles) and is up to 40 Kilometers (25 Mils) wide.