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__________________________________________________________________________________________ 2008 Winter Conditions on Cedar Lake So, much of the winter is behind us & good intentions have not panned out. We have not kept up with the work of updating our web page. Starting today, February 22nd, we'll do better. Winter conditions will be posted as close to weekly as we can get for the remainder of the winter Snow: It seems we have access to a link to get reliable snow accumulation statistics. The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center provides comprehensive snow observations, analyses, data sets and map products for the Nation. Check here to see if we've posted a current update to help you plan your recreational visit "up north". Snow Accumulation - We had our 1st "sticking" snowfall early this year. On November 19th we received about 2 inches of snow. With temperatures staying below freezing for the time, its sticking around, at least on the ground and side roads. Snow on the Ground: March 21st - No snow on the ground in the area surrounding the lake. Ice: Be aware that we will report random samplings of ice thickness around the lake. DO NOT!! consider any report on ice conditions to be a recommendation from the association on the advisability to walk on, or in any way rely on the ice surface to support recreation. You need to make such an assessment for yourself! ICE-IN -On November 22nd, after over 6 of days of below freezing temps, the lake is completely iced in. It remains to be seen if this early ice-in is it for the season, or if we'll get a thaw. The weather forecast would seem to indicate that this could be it. As it turns out, while much of the lake froze over, the high winds kept areas of the northern part of the lake open until around December 21st. Ice Thickness - Again, in 2008-09 we have only a single volunteer to report on ice thickness. As last winter, the report will be for the south end of the lake. Ice Thickness: So, we unfortunately went the entire winter without reporting ice conditions. Today March 21st there is ice on the lake, but it is quickly dissipating. At the thickest point, I understand the ice was about 13.5 inches thick throughout much of February & early March. __________________________________________________________________________________________ "Ice-out" on Cedar Lake lake for 2008 - April 7, 2008 2008 Water Level Tracking - So, on April 22nd we installed the staff gauge in the lake at it's home on the northwestern side of the causeway. The new & improved staff gauge is one-of-a-kind. Thanks to the ingenuity & creativity of board member Harold Carriveau, the designer & builder of our gauge, we have a piece of equipment that will give dead-on accurate water level readings in a gale. Again this year, we will take water level readings approximately twice a week & post the information here on this page. We've started taking readings about 3 weeks earlier then we did last year, getting the staff gauge in the water the day after ice-out. The April 22nd reading is just over 4 inches below our 1st reading of the year in 2007. The re-charge from the winter melt-off is somewhat disappointing. For the rest of the year it will be our normal tug of war with mother nature playing on both sides. On the re-charge side, what's left in the swamp and rainfall will be battling against the man-made, and natural drainage of our lake and evaporation. Unfortunately, we already know that drainage will win over re-charge. Only time will tell by how much drainage will win out . So, on April 22nd, when we put in the staff gauge, we were approximately 1/2 - 1 inch above the legislatively set level for Cedar Lake, with water going over the easterly most ( the lower) dam (spillway), but not going over the westerly most spillway. This is pretty low for a normal year. High Water Level for 2008 - May 3rd 608.65 feet with a staff gauge reading of 2.21 feet was recorded. This is 3 inches lower then the 2007 high water level. Low Water Level for 2008 - 607.86 feet, 7.7 inches below the court ordered lake level and an annual water level loss for the season or 9.5 inches Mid-July we stopped overflowing at the spillways. Sherman Creek stopped flowing on July 26th. CURRENT WATER LEVEL READINGS Annual Rise/Fall in Water Level November 8th - 9.5 inches below the high water level for 2008 Comparison to the Legislatively Set Water Level for Cedar Lake - At its current location, a reading of 2.06 feet on the staff gauge equates to the legislatively set water level for the lake of 608.5 feet. November 8th - 7.7 inches below the legislatively set water level Rainfall - Is an important ingredient in our water level situation. As the swamp dries up throughout the "summer" season, rainfall becomes critical. The Kieser hydrology studies tell us that we require a minimum of 2 inches of rainfall a month throughout the season (June thru September), or we will have major water level problems. Rainfall is monitored twice a week. Monthly totals for rainfall will be posted here. On April 8th we cleaned out the winter debris accumulated in the rain gauge & began taking rainfall readings. We were told by those who were here (as opposed to wintering in Florida) that in the 1st 7 days of April we had no significant rainfall. It turns out that the association rain gauge was defective & malfunctioning. A new one was acquired & is in place to collect July data. Thankfully, Ron Henning tracks rain data & was willing to share his data with us. So, we will use Ron's data for all the months prior to July. In July the new association rain gauge was installed. It has a data logger that captures daily rain data automatically. Much more accurate then our previous gauge. It does not, however, have a visible display. In order to obtain rain info, the logger must be removed from the gauge & attached to a computer to display daily rain totals. So, only occasionally throughout the month early in our use of it will we disconnect it to check out what its capturing. This means that rain data will mostly only be posted at the end of each month. April - 1.69 inches May - 3.00 inches June - 4.65 inches July - 2.2 inches August - 3.25 inches September - 4.78 inches Water Temperature - Will be monitored weekly starting in May, at both the northern and southern ends of the lake. Temperature at those two locations is usually within a degree or two of each other, but not always, so, the average temperature at a depth of five feet will be reported for each location. On September 18th we stopped monitoring water temperature for 2008. Along with unusually high amounts of rainfall in 2008, we did not reach high air temperatures. Consequently water temperature never got into the 80's this season at all. Most unusual & most likely another reason for the high water levels this year (less then normal evaporation). North of the Causeway - September 18th - 59 degrees South of the Causeway - September 18th - 61 degrees The section of the page below will track seasonal information of historical significance to record lake conditions for the year. Spring - Everyone thought we had a wet winter. Lots of snow mixed in with big rainfalls. Well, the lake began the season lower then any year in the last three or four (since we've been paying close attention to these things). In this writer's memory, I cannot remember a spring that we didn't start out overflowing both spillways, consistently until late June or early July. On May 2nd we had dropped .08 of a foot from the start of monitoring. A steady, albeit, slow drop, this early in the season. In contrast, last year the lake level rose from the staff gauge install date of April 24th to May 1st by .06 of an inch, thereafter, steadily dropping. We never overflowed the western spillway (as of yet), and only have had a modest overflow going over the eastern most spillway. On May 2nd its finally raining, but at last check we were over 5 inches lower then our high point of 2007, which was exactly a year ago. It turns out the heavy rains of May 2nd & 3rd raised the water level to a high for the year, putting us just 3 inches lower then the high water mark for 2007. As May progresses (we're a week away from Memorial Day writing this paragraph) the water level has maintained. We are still above the legislatively set water level by 1.4 inches. There is a flow going over the eastern most spillway. The western most spillway has had a trickle overflow on and off thru-out the month. Currently, its not overflowing. On June 17th we're in the midst of a very wet period. Already we have had 2.24 inches of rainfall in June. The lowest spillway has a trickle overflow, and we're approximately at the legislatively set water level. While we started out this spring low compared to last year, this wet spell has us right at where we were this time in 2007. Summer- June 24th, unusual rain persists. We have caught up & are higher then we were in 2007 at this point. July 12th, greater then normal rainfall, makes a difference. The lake is now 4.7 inches higher then it was at this time in 2007. July 26th, the unusually heavy rain has stopped for a few days & already the effects are showing. Sherman Creek stopped running today, the latest it has run into the season since we've been tracking it (2004). The lake level is dropping, more then 1/10th of a foot in 2 days. No rain yet on the 29th & the lake continues to drop. We are still 3.6 inches higher then we were this time last year thanks to the heavy rains we had prior to this. The week after Labor Day, we logged over 3 inches of rain again in August & for September its already rained nearly 2 inches. This will go on record as being the wettest summer in 12 or 13 years, however long we have data for. The lake is 6.7 inches down for the year & less then 5 inches below the legislatively set level. If only we could count on this kind of rain...... Fall- Mid-October and we are only 8.5 inches lower then the high point for the entire season. The recreational season is all but over & lowered water levels for the 1st time in years was not an issue on Cedar Lake! October 20th, while the lake is down 8.6 inches for the year, Sherman Creek has water in & there is a barely discernable flow. Jones Creek has water in it, but no flow is discernable. |
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