The river crossing took place during flood season. This would have been during the spring at the end of the rainy season. Coupled with the melting snows of Mount Hermon, the Jordan River became a formidable obstacle. The river faced by Israel was not a placid stream but a raging torrent with a depth in some parts of ten to twelve feet.1
15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest),