March 2024

I have archived the March 2024 water level chart (above, and at left). The dearth of precipitation we saw in February did not continue into March. On the contrary, we ended up with 10.72 inches of precipitation making March 2024 the second wettest March on record, only slightly behind the 11.24 inches received in March 2010. “Normal” March precipitation in this area is around 3.77 inches but we received more than 2.8 times more than that. Even with the lack of rainfall we saw in February, we end the month with nearly 7 inches more annual precipitation than is normal for this date. March was also warmer and windier than usual which resulted in Clary’s ice cover melting off on March 8th, the earliest we’ve recorded since record keeping started in 2001. Continue reading →

February 2024

I have archived the February 2024 water level chart (above, and at left). There was virtually no precipitation to speak of in February until the last 2 days of the month when we received a total of 1.16″ of rain! We ended the month with only 1.35 inches total, or only 52% of the normal 2.61 inches. On average, February has the least amount of precipitation of all 12 months. Despite the lack of precipitation, the lake level actually fell quite slowly over the course of the month losing only 0.36 feet all month while outflows remained quite high, thanks to January’s excessive rainfall. In fact, for much of the month of February total outflows in acre-feet exceeded those in 2023 which is amazing considering how little precipitation we received. By the end of the 3rd week of February however, outflows had fallen behind 2023 numbers and the lake level finally reached -1.5 feet. With slowing outflows, we decided it was time to add some stoplogs to the weir. The rainfall at the end of the month brought the lake up 4 tenths of a foot, ending the month at -1.09 feet or about average for the end of February. I expect the lake will rise a little more in the  next couple of days. Continue reading →

January 2024

I have archived the January 2024 water level chart (above, and at left). With an average monthly precipitation of 3.19 inches, January is normally the least wettest month next to February which averages only 2.61 inches of precipitation, usually in the form of snow. This year however we received 3.82 inches or water or 120% of our normal precipitation on top of the whopping 16″ of surplus rainfall we received in 2023. We had to release a lot of water in January from surface runoff from rain and snow melt and also from ground water to keep the lake level down where it belongs this time of year.  We still had water overtopping the dam when the lake rose to within a tenth of a foot of the high water mark on January 14th, an unusual circumstance in January. Continue reading →

And that’s a wrap! I have archived the December water level chart (at left and above) bringing 2023 to a close. Once again as has happened so often this past year, December rainfall vastly exceeded the monthly average. We received 7.47 inches of rain in December, 4.03 inches more than the average of 3.44 inches. We ended the year with a total of 60.31 inches of precipitation, 16.25 inches more than the annual average of 44.06 inches. To say it was a wet year doesn’t quite do it justice: we got soaked in 2023! All this rain resulted in some wild swings in the lake level in December with it twice rising above the High Water Mark resulting in gentle overtopping of the dam. This isn’t actually all that unusual. Despite our efforts to keep the lake level “down where it belongs” going into Winter, over-topping in December happens roughly 3 years out of 5. Continue reading →