December 2020

And so we arrive at the end of another year. I have archived the December 2020 Water Level Chart (at left) and much like 2020 was a roller coaster year, December was a roller coaster month in terms of rainfall and resulting water level fluctuations! On the last day of November we received 1.75 inches of rain followed by 0.76 inches more the next day. This pushed the lake level from 0.68 feet below the HWM to 0.07 feet above the HWM almost overnight, resulting in water flowing over the top of the dam for the first time since last spring. Then on December 5th we received 2.00 inches of rain which drove the lake level even higher, to 0.18 feet above the HWM, despite our efforts to mitigate the lake level rise. From there the lake fell more or less steadily to the month low of 1.34 feet below the HWM. More rain on the 23rd and 25th of the month again pushed the lake level up to a little less than 1 foot below the HWM. It would have gone a lot higher if we hadn’t opened the gate to drain off more water in anticipation of the additional rainfall. The heavy rains, warm temperatures, and high winds on Christmas day resulted in most of the lake’s ice melting off. The lake completely froze over for the first time on December 19th. At the time of this writing, most of the lake remains ice free. Continue reading →

November 2020

I have archived the November 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). We were a little worried that the fall drought conditions were going to continue into November so we’ve been operating the dam so as to maintain a decent store of water going into Winter, releasing only the required minimum flows. For the first 3 weeks the dearth of rain did continue and the lake level had fallen to 1 foot below the HWM. Then on the 23rd of the month we received over 2 inches of rain and it began to look like we’d end up with well above the normal amount of precipitation for the month. On the last day of the month we received an additional 1.75 inches of rain (glad it weren’t snow!) bringing us to 6.19 inches for the month bringing us to 40.2 inches for the year to date, still 0.42 inches below normal. It’s now Tuesday morning December 1st and it’s still raining and that 0.42 inch deficit is already history, pushing us above average rainfall for the year to date. You’ll find the 2020 Precipitation chart on the Clary Dam Flow Statistics page (along with some other cool graphs). It would appear that the 2020 drought is about over. Continue reading →

October 2020

I have archived the October 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). October water levels were right about where we want them this time of year- down about a foot, more or less. Substantial rainfall around the middle of the month both signaled the end of severe drought conditions and pushed the lake level to a high of -0.77 feet below the HWM and it’s been falling gradually ever since. We started the month -1.14 feet below the HWM and ended the month higher at -0.89 feet. If you’ll recall, rainfall in September was almost nonexistent until the very end of the month. October started off with minor rain events until the 13th of the month when we received 2.44 inches in one storm. We ended up with 5.48 inches of rain for the month, 1.03 inches more than October average of 4.58 inches. Nonetheless, ground water supplies are still below normal as those of you with dug wells are well aware. As of the end of the month, our part of Maine remains in severe drought. We’re 2.01 inches below the yearly average for this date. Continue reading →

September 2020

I have archived the September 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). September water levels were characterized by a leisurely drop over the course of the month from a high of -0.89 feet at the start of the month to a low of -1.14 feet at the end. On average the water level in August was 0.3 feet (3.6 inches) lower than it was last August. The real news in September were the severe drought conditions that have persisted (and worsened) for the entire month. We started the month slightly ahead of the yearly average and received only 0.10 inches of rain on September 1st and no more rain until storms on the 28th and 30th. That’s 25 days without a drop of rain. We ended the month with a total rainfall of only 0.74 inches, fully 3.10 inches shy of the monthly average of 3.84 inches. For the year we’re 3.04 inches below average for this date. We’re heading into October with a severe deficit of rain. Hopefully that will change soon.

August 2020

I have archived the August 2020 Water Level Chart (at left). August was characterized by extremely dry and and extremely hot weather which lead to considerable lake water loss due to evaporation. The anticipated influx of runoff from tropical storm Isaias at the beginning of the month never materialized, so our efforts to create a little headroom for storm water runoff only resulted in lowering the lake level two and a half inches, not that anyone noticed! From that level (-0.65 feet below the HWM) the lake level fell steadily at the rate of about 1/4 inch per day until a series of popup thunderstorms starting on August 24th brought some much needed rain to the area that helped keep the lake level from falling further. The lake ended up at -0.90 feet below the HWM. Historically, the water level in Clary would never have been this high in August. Continue reading →