Water levels

[fatlazyless]

2.3 inches of rain fall is a big rain, and that's what the weather page here says has fallen today, Saturday October 17, so will be interesting to see how much the lake level rises in the next day or two, or three.

Probably, the land that surrounds the lake is very dry and will absorb a lot of rainfall before it sheds or drains down hill into the big lake.

2.3-inches of rain recorded at Laconia Airport on Oct 17, 2020; so when was the previous day which had a larger amount? How long ago was that?

THE ANSWER: To find an amount greater than 2.3-inches of rain, you have to go all the way back to August 6, 1974 ...... about 46-years ago ...... ha-ha-ha ..... just kidding here ...... have no clue ..... anybody know for real? .....

[Lakegeezer]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

..... anybody know for real? .....

As it turns out, NOAA has a web site that lets you look up historical weather information for free. Going back to 1994 (26 years), we've had:
1 event with over 5" (10/8/2005)
1 event with over 4" (10/21/1996)
11 events with over 3" (most recent 10/25/2017)
30 events with over 2"

[TiltonBB]

As many have noticed the runoff in the spring combined with excess rainfall result in the need to increase the flow at the Lakeport Dam. When that happens, the current in the Weirs Channel increases substantially. That creates a boat safety problem, especially near the bridge because when the Channel narrows the water speeds up even more. Sometimes Thurston's customers as well as people docking and travelling in that area find the current challenging.

Several years ago I called DES to make the suggestion that they increase the outflow between 9 PM and 8 AM when boating activity was very low and cut it down during the day. They told me that was not possible because they only work days. Hmmmm.......

[Descant]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

...
Several years ago I called DES to make the suggestion that they increase the outflow between 9 PM and 8 AM when boating activity was very low and cut it down during the day. They told me that was not possible because they only work days. Hmmmm.......

All the valves, flow rates etc at our local wastewater treatment faculty are controlled electronically. The main control room looks like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. At night and on weekends a supervisor takes a laptop home to monitor and make changes if there is a need. Think of all the things that we now control from our phones. The Dam Bureau needs an app for that. Good project for Laconia HS physics class.