The rain storm back on the 5th and 6th of this month dropped 1.37″ of rain on us. That rain has brought the lake up a total of 13.7″  for a runoff multiplier of 10x meaning that 1″ of rain brought the lake up 10″. This is impressive; normally the runoff multiplier is around 4x meaning an inch of rain brings the lake up 4″ but there is more runoff this time of year because the ground is frozen and little if any runoff soaks into the ground. The shape of the lake has something to do with it too: sometimes runoff causes the lake to get deeper, sometimes it causes it to get bigger, and sometimes it results in both happening at the same time. We’ve been in the “get deeper” range. Next up is the “get bigger” range where an inch of rain might only bring the lake up 2 or 3 inches but the size of the lake will increase substantially.

The lake level is now -39.2″ below the top of the dam or only 5.2″ above the hole in the dam. The lake is set to rise again fro the 1″ to 2″ of rain forecast for this weekend though I don’t think we’ll see a runoff multiplier of 10x, more likely 5x. That will bring the lake up to and likely above the hole in the dam which at last check was around -34″ below the top of the dam.

The thumbnail at left is a bit of a misnomer since the water level is a long ways from being “high” in my opinion. However Paul Kelley might have a conniption fit next time he stops by to check the Water Level Charts. The higher the better I say.