Lake Level this Year

robmac · 03-15-2010, 01:20 PM

But with all the rain down in the southern part of the state I would think they have to slow the outflow at the dam.

Island Girl · 03-15-2010, 02:39 PM

since Friday....

RI Swamp Yankee · 03-15-2010, 05:20 PM

Quite a jump in this graph

http://des.nh.gov/organization/divis.../graph2010.JPG

CanisLupusArctos · 03-15-2010, 09:22 PM

There may be "not much snow" around the lake shores but this has turned into quite a winter for elevations above 1500 feet. Randolph NH had 39 inches of snow in the storm 2 weeks ago, and more since. Wildcat Mountain has had something like 5 feet of snow in the last 2 weeks and another foot from this current storm. Mt. Major is looking very white right now. It's a great time to go skiing!

Sooner or later, that snow is going to melt and run downhill. The lake is now 5 inches below my approximate-full mark.

Bizer · 03-23-2010, 08:31 AM

The lake has reached the full mark.
http://www.bizer.com/bztnews.htm#lakelevel

CanisLupusArctos · 03-23-2010, 09:09 AM

The weather station has received 0.70 inch of rain today and there is more on the way. The mountains are also getting rain from this, so snowmelt is beginning to occur there. Expect the lake to continue rising.

HUH · 03-23-2010, 01:02 PM

The lake looks about full..

Lakegeezer · 03-28-2010, 09:35 AM

The water flow at Lakeport dam today is over 1750 cubit feet per second, which is an emergency rate. The lake level is out of control again, at more than a foot above average for April 1. The level is 504.55 which is well above full lake (503.63), near a record high for this time of year (since 1982) and well above the planned limit for anytime during year (504.32). Typical for this time of year is 502.75 to 503.75. We are expecting heavy rain again this week and there is still snow in the higher elevations of the winny watershed. My beach is already eroding. Its a good thing that boat traffic is virtually nil. We could easily hit 505 by the end of the week - which should trigger a no-wake rule until the floods recede.

NoRegrets · 03-28-2010, 10:38 AM

I like the no wake time of the year. You can go out for hours and barely move the fuel needle!

I believe the last time we had a no wake condition it was posted "No Wake within 600 feet of shore". That was made interesting because many "bonehead" drivers had trouble with 150 ft and they still zipped by us at less than the 150 foot distance. No harm to us but it was wrong.

robmac · 03-28-2010, 10:57 AM

I remember it well.I was sitting talking to marine patrol about it while out in the Broads and there goes Captain Bonehead at about 60mph and the officer just shook his head and went off to educate him on what no wake means. And yes the fuel last quite awhile.

LIforrelaxin · 03-29-2010, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakegeezer

The water flow at Lakeport dam today is over 1750 cubit feet per second, which is an emergency rate. The lake level is out of control again, at more than a foot above average for April 1. The level is 504.55 which is well above full lake (503.63), near a record high for this time of year (since 1982) and well above the planned limit for anytime during year (504.32). Typical for this time of year is 502.75 to 503.75. We are expecting heavy rain again this week and there is still snow in the higher elevations of the winny watershed. My beach is already eroding. Its a good thing that boat traffic is virtually nil. We could easily hit 505 by the end of the week - which should trigger a no-wake rule until the floods recede.

Lakegeezer I must correct you full lake is not "503.63" full lake is 504.32 feet above see level... just check the dam operation information on the DES website. As of tonight the lake is 504.53.... which is still with in the safety band the they publish of allowing the lake to fill to 504.80 feet during peak run off events.

I have been looking at a lot of the DES watershed data form many of the lakes and streams.... although there has been a significant amount of rain in a very short period of time which has cause many bodies of water to raise quickly. I have seen that all bodies of water have reacted and continue to react very quickly to the dam operations.

In short I don't believe we will spend very long with a full lake. As long as we can get a week or two of good warm weather the lake will come right down.

Lakegeezer · 03-29-2010, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

Lakegeezer I must correct you full lake is not "503.63" full lake is 504.32 feet above see level... just check the dam operation information on the DES website.

Thaks for the correction. I can't find where I got that wrong, but very precise number. I noticed they opened the dam even more overnight and it is flowing at 1862 CFS as of 4AM today.

LIforrelaxin · 03-29-2010, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakegeezer

Thaks for the correction. I can't find where I got that wrong, but very precise number. I noticed they opened the dam even more overnight and it is flowing at 1862 CFS as of 4AM today.

Lakegeezer, no biggie just want to make sure no one got misled.... I wouldn't be surprised if statistically the average lake level for this time of year is supposed to be your figure of 503.63.... which I would think would be reasonable, as normally right about now is when the lake starts to fill up....and the ice melts. For what ever reason this year mother nature started things up early, and nothing match the statistical past.

This'nThat · 03-30-2010, 09:50 PM

Looking at the level for March 30, one thing is obvious -- the lake level has never been this high, this early in the year --- ever! (at least since 1982, when the lake level chart records began). And this doesn't include today's rain.

So, for everyone who's saying "the lake will recede quickly", I hope you're right -- but so far, history shows it will take 1 - 2 months for the lake to drop down to get back to "Full". That puts us at mid-late May, assuming no more real wet periods over that time. Wishful thinking? Or are we facing a different reality, which might involve "no wake" for quite a while?

Island Girl · 03-30-2010, 10:07 PM

If you want to monitor the lake level and get information about the flow out of the dam at Lakeport you can go to the Lake Watch page on RattlesnakeCam.com. On the right side there are several links. The image below describes three of these that are relevant to the current high lake conditions. Bizer updates his charts when there are rapidly changing conditions, so make sure to visit his site. The other links also have interesting lake information.
Think warm and dry!

See bottom of this post for URLs if you cannot click on above links.
IG

http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/watch.htm
http://www.rattlesnakecam.com

Onshore · 03-31-2010, 09:49 AM

We are thanking our lucky stars here for the abnormally early ice out. An ice sheet raised up on these kinds of water levels could have been devastating.

LIforrelaxin · 03-31-2010, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shore things

We are thanking our lucky stars here for the abnormally early ice out. An ice sheet raised up on these kinds of water levels could have been devastating.

Indeed, devastating to everyone but the dock construction companies......

I would hate to think about a huge free moving sheet of ice like that.... It would put everything at risk.

CanisLupusArctos · 03-31-2010, 10:51 AM

It did happen, in the April 2007 storm. That event took out the Meredith Town Docks, along with many others. In addition to the flood & ice, the wind of that storm (sustained 45 mph with gusts to 64) also put trees in the water, where they became large floating debris for a while.

Today, we're 6 inches below the April 2007 level.

Onshore · 03-31-2010, 11:00 AM

For some reason I thought much of the ice damage that year happened before April but now that you mention it that is about the time we changed our dock repair policy a bit to reduce the number of incoming repair applications.

ApS · 03-29-2010, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakegeezer

"...We are expecting heavy rain again this week...which should trigger a no-wake rule until the floods recede..."

If this is another mis-cue by those dam people (

)...
I'll get particularly irked.

I'm generally happy to own an acre of "near-to-nature" lakefront property.

However...

1) When the lake is over-filled, a great deal of forest duff gets "redistributed" along shallow shorelines.

(Once redistributed along the shoreline, some would call this mud—or silt).

2) These become the nutrients that promote algae—the snails that browse on the algae—and thence to the outbreaks of "Duck Itch".

3) With a no-wake rule invoked due to this mis-cue—though still pending—I'd expect that folks living around Lake Winnipesaukee's bays and coves will experience a growth rate increase of milfoil.

4) It's a much-bigger "deal" than having to discipline the speed of over-sized boats—temporarily.

IMHO

03-15-2010, 02:39 PM	#2
Island Girl Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Central MA Posts: 2,356 Thanks: 18 Thanked 574 Times in 181 Posts	Up 3.5 inches since Friday.... __________________ Island Girl ....... Make Lemonade

03-15-2010, 05:20 PM	#3
RI Swamp Yankee Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Kingstown RI Posts: 688 Thanks: 143 Thanked 83 Times in 55 Posts	Quite a jump in this graph http://des.nh.gov/organization/divis.../graph2010.JPG __________________ Gene ~ aka "another RI Swamp Yankee"

03-23-2010, 09:09 AM	#6
CanisLupusArctos Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,049 Thanks: 15 Thanked 472 Times in 107 Posts	...and still rising. The weather station has received 0.70 inch of rain today and there is more on the way. The mountains are also getting rain from this, so snowmelt is beginning to occur there. Expect the lake to continue rising.

03-23-2010, 01:02 PM	#7
HUH Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 230 Thanks: 21 Thanked 14 Times in 8 Posts	By the growth on the rocks The lake looks about full..

03-28-2010, 09:35 AM	#8
Lakegeezer Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Moultonboro, NH Posts: 1,680 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 356 Thanked 640 Times in 291 Posts	Eroding lake levels The water flow at Lakeport dam today is over 1750 cubit feet per second, which is an emergency rate. The lake level is out of control again, at more than a foot above average for April 1. The level is 504.55 which is well above full lake (503.63), near a record high for this time of year (since 1982) and well above the planned limit for anytime during year (504.32). Typical for this time of year is 502.75 to 503.75. We are expecting heavy rain again this week and there is still snow in the higher elevations of the winny watershed. My beach is already eroding. Its a good thing that boat traffic is virtually nil. We could easily hit 505 by the end of the week - which should trigger a no-wake rule until the floods recede. __________________ -lg

03-15-2010, 01:20 PM	#1
robmac Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Nashua,Meredith Posts: 951 Thanks: 213 Thanked 106 Times in 81 Posts	But with all the rain down in the southern part of the state I would think they have to slow the outflow at the dam.

03-15-2010, 09:22 PM	#4
CanisLupusArctos Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,049 Thanks: 15 Thanked 472 Times in 107 Posts	There may be "not much snow" around the lake shores but this has turned into quite a winter for elevations above 1500 feet. Randolph NH had 39 inches of snow in the storm 2 weeks ago, and more since. Wildcat Mountain has had something like 5 feet of snow in the last 2 weeks and another foot from this current storm. Mt. Major is looking very white right now. It's a great time to go skiing! Sooner or later, that snow is going to melt and run downhill. The lake is now 5 inches below my approximate-full mark.

03-23-2010, 08:31 AM	#5
Bizer Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 337 Thanks: 0 Thanked 250 Times in 83 Posts	The lake has reached the full mark. http://www.bizer.com/bztnews.htm#lakelevel

03-28-2010, 10:38 AM	#9
NoRegrets Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hudson - NH Posts: 408 Thanks: 233 Thanked 212 Times in 88 Posts	I like the no wake time of the year. You can go out for hours and barely move the fuel needle! I believe the last time we had a no wake condition it was posted "No Wake within 600 feet of shore". That was made interesting because many "bonehead" drivers had trouble with 150 ft and they still zipped by us at less than the 150 foot distance. No harm to us but it was wrong.

03-28-2010, 10:57 AM	#10
robmac Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Nashua,Meredith Posts: 951 Thanks: 213 Thanked 106 Times in 81 Posts	I remember it well.I was sitting talking to marine patrol about it while out in the Broads and there goes Captain Bonehead at about 60mph and the officer just shook his head and went off to educate him on what no wake means. And yes the fuel last quite awhile.

03-30-2010, 09:50 PM	#14
This'nThat Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 534 Thanks: 19 Thanked 134 Times in 61 Posts	Level's never been this high, this early Looking at the level for March 30, one thing is obvious -- the lake level has never been this high, this early in the year --- ever! (at least since 1982, when the lake level chart records began). And this doesn't include today's rain. So, for everyone who's saying "the lake will recede quickly", I hope you're right -- but so far, history shows it will take 1 - 2 months for the lake to drop down to get back to "Full". That puts us at mid-late May, assuming no more real wet periods over that time. Wishful thinking? Or are we facing a different reality, which might involve "no wake" for quite a while?

03-30-2010, 10:07 PM	#15
Island Girl Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Central MA Posts: 2,356 Thanks: 18 Thanked 574 Times in 181 Posts	Keeping Track of the Lake If you want to monitor the lake level and get information about the flow out of the dam at Lakeport you can go to the Lake Watch page on RattlesnakeCam.com. On the right side there are several links. The image below describes three of these that are relevant to the current high lake conditions. Bizer updates his charts when there are rapidly changing conditions, so make sure to visit his site. The other links also have interesting lake information. Think warm and dry! See bottom of this post for URLs if you cannot click on above links. IG http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/watch.htm http://www.rattlesnakecam.com __________________ Island Girl ....... Make Lemonade

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Island Girl For This Useful Post:
RI Swamp Yankee (04-01-2010), robmac (03-30-2010)

03-31-2010, 09:49 AM	#16
Onshore Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 503 Thanks: 12 Thanked 425 Times in 146 Posts	We are thanking our lucky stars here for the abnormally early ice out. An ice sheet raised up on these kinds of water levels could have been devastating.

03-31-2010, 10:51 AM	#18
CanisLupusArctos Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,049 Thanks: 15 Thanked 472 Times in 107 Posts	It did happen, in the April 2007 storm. That event took out the Meredith Town Docks, along with many others. In addition to the flood & ice, the wind of that storm (sustained 45 mph with gusts to 64) also put trees in the water, where they became large floating debris for a while. Today, we're 6 inches below the April 2007 level.

03-31-2010, 11:00 AM	#19
Onshore Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 503 Thanks: 12 Thanked 425 Times in 146 Posts	For some reason I thought much of the ice damage that year happened before April but now that you mention it that is about the time we changed our dock repair policy a bit to reduce the number of incoming repair applications.