Summer 2021 Lake Level
 

The marker in the Weirs channel today was reading right about at the bottom of the red 'full height' line.

Pond is full over here on Winnisquam


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I launched my boat at Glendale docks in Gilford yesterday, and water level seems low for this time of year and all the rain we've received.
Maybe my imagination ?

It’s your imagination.

I think so. I am at Quayside in Moultonborough and it's pretty full over there.

The lake is full!

http://www.bizer.com/bztnews.htm

I heard on the Data Phone this morning its 504.46

Low tide........

We are over full lake. I noticed it last night when pulling into our dock, it was over the lower frame rails (which are basically set at full lake height).

You must be on the high side of the lake.:D

Could it have been the few cold ones during the drive. No judgment, we have all done it over the years


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same at my place...when the lake is even with the dock framing, it's full, and that's where it is!

went through the channel twice this morning, lake level is above the full lake mark by about an inch or so

Very rare to see the Merrimack River flowing so high at this time of year.......

The lake will likely rise some more. With these storms today I have recorded 2.16” of rain so far, according to my tempest weather station. Which is a pretty awesome weather station by the way.

They can easily open the Lakeport dam further. It's at a minimal 250 CFS right now. I think wide open is ~1900 CFS and that drops the lake level about an inch per day, excluding additional rain.

However, they do have to worry about potential flooding impact downstream.

I think it is quite educational that we have gone from moderate drought conditions to effectively no drought (NOAA maps) in just a few weeks. It's been a very wet July but that how weather can work.

I have an Ambient weather station which is great also. 1.47 inches of rain in Moultonborough today as of 7:00 PM. With more to come as T-storms are gathering now over the Ossipees. 8.81 inches total for the month of July so far.

Summer 1998. First season for my boat. No wake speed limit until July

No cold ones. Just facts. It’s 504.47, above full lake.

Lake very high
 

Yikes. Lake at 504'7'' as of this morning. Probably still rising. Discharge at dam at 950 cfs. Has there ever been a lake-wide no wake order in late July, early August?:eek:

Rained all of July and now we have fall weather coming into August.
I hope this means we have a hot and dry fall!:D

I remember a lake-wide no wake policy maybe 15 years ago or so. We were at the lake for a one week vay-cay and it kinda stunk.

But it was needed as the shoreline was being eroded badly.

I like that idea!!

Lake is still rising
 

Our stream off Copp Pond in Melvin Village is flowing faster than I have ever seen it. It is overflowing in areas that have never seen water before. During normal Summers there is hardly a trickle or sometimes bone dry. If this little stream is full and flowing at a high rate that flows into the lake can you imagine the amount of incoming flow of water from all the streams and Springs.

No doubt the lake will be going higher unless outflow is greatly increased. Problem is areas down stream have more water than can be managed. If there is more rain a NO Wake for the whole lake is a real possibility. Another 2" and the water will be over our dock.

July 4th week 1998. No wake for the week. It spoiled a lot of people's vacations! We took a boat over to Sunapee on the trailer just so we could do some "normal" boating.

A lot of waterfront damage. People had their trash barrels full of water on their docks to hold them down. The week following there was a lot of scrap wood floating on the lake.

Winnisquam
 

Winnisquam is about 6" above Normal high. Looks like it topped out last night, but they can only push through so much water to silver lake and the river

Not looking forward to weekend wave action.:eek:

Agree. Wake action today will be interesting to watch. Do enjoy hearing the different sounds being made as high water hits the rocks


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The water level of the Merrimac all along Rt 93 is as high as I have seen it.

Clearly lots of water,,,

Just opening the dam won’t be the answer. River levels will monitored. Interesting to see what happens


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This was 2006...but it was the end May, not the end of July!

I was going to reply to the same post you did but wasn't really sure of the year (1997/1998?).
I was working at Goodhue & Hawkins- Wolfeboro. The water was over the top of the docks and swirling around the foot of the gas pump out at the front end of the dock.
Service people scrambled to move/remove boats from different areas of the marina as some of the sizes of the boats couldn't necessarily be accommodated by their usual dock locations.
Anyway- I took several pictures of the situation, but they were stored on a computer that no longer exists!!! Wish I still had them.
Unfortunately, I believe later, '98 was the same year as the tragic Donzi accident that took place during the maiden run of a 30 footer that had been prepped for a customer.

It was 98. I bought my bought in August 1997 at Goodhue Hawkins and the following spring was no wake on Wiinni until the 4th.

Proof Positive...
 

The strongest winds yet—Friday on the lake didn't dampen the top of our dock. But a few days ago, before recent heavy rains, someone's Wake-Setter wake, from afar, soaked the dock (from underneath, as pictured below).

Note the lake's relaxed surface in the picture.

This is a decent test of the theory that "it is Nature's waves that are doing all the shoreline erosion".

When it's quite clear that powerboat wakes are doing the worst part of the damage. :(

High water = erosion
 

There should be an automatic no-wake policy when the lake gets to a certain height. 505.0 would be a good number and we at 504.61 as of Aug 1, but erosion is already occurring. In the attached picture, the red lines show where the lakefront was 20 years ago and today. It also shows an eroding wave coming over the shore from a tsunami boat (ballast/wake boat). Much money is spent modeling the water quality impact of storm water runoff and septic systems but there is clearly an impact from wake as well. Open the dam!

At the dam right now, all gates are closed, only flow is through the hydro house.

The web site that automatically tracks the Lakeport Dam, as of 8am this morning, still shows it at 950 CFS. (It's possible they changed it right after 8am.)

I believe some of the outlet flow gates are not easily visible. The upper gates, I believe, are the flood gates, only open when they run the output up to the maximum of 1900 CFS. I will look at the web site again in a few hours.

As pointed out in previous posts, the Merrimack is VERY high as is Silver Lake. It is a balancing act, a bit of damage with Winnipesaukee being a a few inches high or significant damage at Silver Lake and along the Merrimack. The system is managed as a whole, for the State of NH AND downstream into Massachusetts.

Tuftonboro neck bridge
 

Anyone ventured under the road from the basin into Winter Harbor? Is it possible to get a typical 21 ft bow rider through?

Yes end of may 2006 my dock was under water

It shouldn't be a problem.

Checking back, the Lakeport Dam output is still at 950 CFS.

In 1998 the island at Silver Sands Marina was underwater.

Public docks in Back Bay, Wolfeboro on 10/26/05:

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/photop...hiwater002.jpg

Taken today 7.30 a.m. at lakeport.

Same time but shows the gates.

Over here on the small lake I counted no less then 12 docks underwater and a few jet skis floating off their lofts before last nights rain. Happy it is early in the week, traffic will be light


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What small lake are you referring to?:confused:

Judging by the user name its safe to assume Winnisquam :D

FWIW Opechee is about 6-8” above normal. Been this high for about a week and a half.

Will level hit 505?
 

Lake at 504.74 and more rain maybe Thursday. Dam at 950 cfs. Downstream must be a mess too. :(

It takes a LOT of rain to bring the lake level up another 3" to hit 505.00' I think we just need a slow week rain wise and the downstream pressure will be off and they can open the dams up a little.

Woodsy

More Rein
 

And we may get a lot more in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Let's hope it stays south because another 1 to 3 inches is possible isn't going to help.

Ecstatic
 

I agree that a lot more immediate rain may pose problems. On the other hand, I'm ecstatic to think that maintaining lake levels will easily extend the season to October 15+. Too many seasons end prematurely when folks can't get in/out of their docks because of low water.

Sunapee was at an all time high level for July.

https://wmur.com/article/high-water-...-rain/37214277


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More rain?
 

More rain coming tonight. Docks will be floating.

Rain stays south
 

Dodged a bullet - at least for now - almost all rain stayed south. Fingers crossed for a relatively dry 7 to 10 days.

It is pouring here in Dover. Looks like we are in the clear until Sunday in Meredith.

Seems like high water also makes for lower water temperature. Looking at the water temperature page, the temp is down to 69.8-degrees which is VERY COLD for August 5, compared to other years. Last summer-2020, it must have been 78 or 79 degrees on August 5, 2020 and now it us just under 70-degrees.

That there water temperature is cold, cold, cold, and it's probably not going up too much higher between now and Labor Day but one never knows about the weather, here? Could be the last two weeks of August could be very warm and very dry, or something ........ nobody knows?

More rain, less sun in July. I think this is probably a good thing for lower milfoil, cyanobacteria, etc; especially since the rain has probably given us more phosphorous in the water

It Floats...Check It Out...
 

My new neighbor's new hydraulic lift doesn't seem to be keeping up with the water level. Wakes are making it wobble on its bunks. :(

But it's a good excuse to come up to the lake early this weekend! :)

Cold
 

Yes a but nippy but a lot warmer then Hampton beach. That water is like an ice bucket.

In the last 4 days the dam output at Lakeport has been increased steadily and now stands at 1525 CFS. The lake level is dropping toward the Summer "Full Pool" level and should continue to go down. The rain forecast for the next 10 days is around .3 inches so that shouldn't be a problem.

And meanwhile Opechee is at least a foot above normal! All gates at the dam are open, the first time we’ve seen that.

On our sunset cruise last night we noticed a few submerged docks and many more about to flood…

Yesterday the Weirs Channel had a pretty good current, similar to a normal April and May.

The indicator on the sign under the bridge shows about two inches below "full lake". However, a few years ago I was told by someone at DES that the level shown on the sign is not accurate.

Accurate?
 

I agree that it may not be accurate as the bridge causes some compression and thus a "false high". Nonetheless, it is the standard. It is my understanding that, flat calm, Wolfeboro is normally one inch higher than the Weirs. Depends on where you measure, but if you're close to the Wolfeboro docks, the inflow from Back Bay does not have time to disperse, so, if you measure, say, at the Mount's dock, you get a higher level.
For the most part, I can get in/out of public docks at low water, but using my own docks at low water is a problem. You all know I think full lake should be on August 1, not some unknown date in May/June. I'm quite happy this year, but don't like to see 1550 cfm going over the dam in Lakeport. That flow should start Oct 1. Lots of time before snow melt and a better time to let boaters extend their season. The old idea that boating ends on Labor Day is just that, an old idea.

Every year the lake does seem to be lowered too soon. Deeper water for a longer season would cut down on the rock strikes and damage too.

If the indicator currently shows 2 inches below full lake and you say it is actually lower than that, I am not sure why they have not lowered the flow at Lakeport.

That is especially true if the downstream lakes are still over full.

Our boats on the beach went from floating to beached in a few days—water level was dropped/is dropping way too fast.

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Don't worry. Bizer can see into the future and will warn all of us if the lake is getting too high or too low! :laugh:

(FWIW, forecast for the next 2 days should cause a rise again)

I am really impressed. I need a good stock suggestion from Bizer.:)

4.64" lower than when I was there on August 9th, and I tied my boat tight :(

It will be interesting to see what happens with Fred and possibly Henri.


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Another 2 inches expected from Fred tomorrow.:(
The only Fred I ever liked was Fred Flintstone.

Henri looks more scary, but it is far away and, as usual, a lot of wiggle room in the forecast. But the trend of the models is concerning.

What about Fred Astaire, Bigg?!


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Henri was a dud, water wise, at the lake. However, the Lakeport dam output has been dropped to 650 CFS and, correspondingly, the lake level decrease rate has slowed down and the level is about 4" below "full pool".

That's a bit high for this time of year but gives the dam managers a bit to play with if the next couple months are dry. The north country is still in mild drought so a bit more rain wouldn't hurt. Unfortunately, NOAA is predicting the the north will trend to remain slightly dry and the south continues to be on the wet side.

I'm guessing the drop in outflow is more due to flooding downstream rather than a concern about Winni level. Areas to the south were saturated for a long time.

"A bit high"? I think it's about right and other years were too low. I hope that means we can boat well into October. Too many years recently the lake has been too low after Labor Day and people were forced to pull their boats early, close camps, etc. A couple of years ago my marina had to do extra dredging because too many boats were hitting bottom in the middle of the channel. This was hard bottom, not just accumulate silt.

Expected rain
 

If anyone harbors any concerns about lack of rain then fear not. The 3-day Labor Day weekend is almost here and I predict a holiday three-fer. It’s just been one of those years.

Go to Bizer. The level now is "a bit high" compared the other 5 years on the graph. I did not evaluate the "goodness" of that FACT. I gave a recognition to the FACT that drought has been a problem in the Fall and the OPINION that SOME extra water might be good to have for a while.

I would point out that the lake doesn't need to be at "full pool" to avoid the low water problems you describe. The outflow drop to 650 seems to signal that the dam operators are trying to allow for the possible problems of low water. I would also point out that unpredictable weather events can quickly throw A LOT of water into the lake as happened in late 2017 and 2018. The dam operators have to be ready for that as well.

Reduced Lakeport flow starts October 18
 

Unlike the other lakes, Lake Winnipesaukee is not purposely drawn down in the fall. Instead, after Columbus Day, the releases from Lakeport Dam are reduced from a normal minimum of 250 cubic feet per second to a flow between 30 and 50 cubic feet per second for up to two weeks to allow for maintenance of the dams and hydropower facilities on the Winnipesaukee River.

https://www.laconiadailysun.com/boat...79536f362.html

Warmer and dryer weather is predicted for the North East this fall so along with the high water level I'm hoping for an extended boating season and no prop damage. :D