FOX44 - Burlington / Plattsburgh News, Weather & Sports10.07.11 Lake Champlain Still Very High

10.07.11 Lake Champlain Still Very High

In my last blog, I noted the current dry streak that we are in across the area could tie the longest dry streak of 2011.

This is coming just in time.  Lake Champlain is still running very high, but the recent couple of dry days can already be seen on the level gauge.

All of the images I am about to show you are courtesy the United States Geological Survey or USGS.  The recent rain the area received last week rose the lake once again.  This rise (at Burlington's King Street Ferry Dock) was a result of about 1.25" of rain in two days.  The lake peaked on Wednesday around 98.20 feet and has since been coming down.

Tropical Storm Irene really erased a lot of progress that we had been making with Lake Champlain. 

Until then, the level was dropping very nicely.  The bottom series of triangles you see there on the bottom make up the average lake level.  From June through October there is a natural decrease on the lake when our weather typically gets drier.  We were really doing well until Irene hit, indicated by a huge jump in the lake level.  Since then, a rainy September has kept our level high.

Just how high is it though?

The latest value on Friday for the Burlington Lake Champlain level is around 98 feet.  The mean and median (a good indicator of "normal") shows the lake is typically around 94.5 feet.  A majority of the time our level is between 93.88 and 95.19.  Not this year.  Not 2011.  We're way over the averages.  In fact it appears the highest level recorded on this date was 97.27'.....until 2011.  So this is very unusual to have a lake so high right now.

Here you can see the annual fluctuation on the lake.  Note the minimum around September to October and the maximum in April and May.  The fact that the lake level is near the average levels in April and May is not good.  We need this level to go down because it starts a rising trend next month!  The image above is courtesy the National Weather Service in Burlington.

This graph compares 2011 to average with regards to Lake Champlain levels.  The blue line is the gauge height throughout the year at Burlington.  The darker line on the bottom is average, or what is typical for the lake.  Notice the natural sharp rise from March through May with the snow melting and running into Lake Champlain.  However notice how much more of a drastic event that was for us this year. 

As a result of record-breaking snow and rain, that's what happened.  Before Irene the level was coming down very sharply but that recession has been erased.  Our area will need below-average rainfall and below-average snow for the next few months in order for the levels to drop.  It's too soon whether to say this will result in a flood next spring.  I won't be able to say that until February or March next year.

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