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Despite the fact that the rainfall at RDU is above normal since Jan. 1st and way above normal since August, Falls Lake level is four feet below normal. I don't understand how the lake can signficantly drop during a period of significant rain. Rainfall since August 2nd is almost 6 inches above normal. I do realize that the rainfall for the past 12 month is down almost 1.5 inches but I don't see how that translates into 4 feet down in the lake level. When I compare all the graphs, it doesn't make sense.
Is the Army Corps of Engineers releasing water on purpose? Anyone know? Lake Levels -- Normal vs. Actual :: WRAL.com RDU Rainfall Totals -- Normal vs. Actual :: WRAL.com
My guess is that there has been some significant demand for watering all the lawns that are seeded in September and October.
FWIW, the army corps always has some water leaving the lake - If you didn't let any water out of the lake the Neuse River would dry up and it is important to keep in mind the Neuse serves as a drinking water supply to communities downstream from hear to the coast.
The summer was hot, and to put it in perspective the water level doesn't reset every 12 months so technically the levels could have been below normal 12 months ago.
The summer was hot, and to put it in perspective the water level doesn't reset every 12 months so technically the levels could have been below normal 12 months ago.
Yeah, but the lake has been dropping in level significantly since July yet the rainfall has increased significantly since August. That's why I can't reconcile the two metrics.
I've noticed it too. I think much of it is that some of the rains we got just did not fall in the Falls watershed. If you notice Jordan lake is doing better and rain that falls at the Willet where the measurement is taken will drain to Jordan.
I live within walking distance to Falls Lake. The water levels have struggled all year. Even after periods of long heavy rains, the lake levels continued dropping. It looks more severe now. I'm fairly confident that they are letting more water out of the dam than usual and for longer periods of time. They were supposed to do repair work on the dam last year, but I think that project got delayed. So it's possible that they are draining it for that. But the low levels you are seeing right now do not at all coincide with the rainfall amounts we have had this year....it IS not naturally low. It's common to see the lake rise after a good two days of rain. We had a 3+ day period of solid rain a few months ago and the lake didn't come up at all. I watch it daily...and what we are seeing isn't "naturally occurring".
I live within walking distance to Falls Lake. The water levels have struggled all year. Even after periods of long heavy rains, the lake levels continued dropping. It looks more severe now. I'm fairly confident that they are letting more water out of the dam than usual and for longer periods of time. They were supposed to do repair work on the dam last year, but I think that project got delayed. So it's possible that they are draining it for that. But the low levels you are seeing right now do not at all coincide with the rainfall amounts we have had this year....it IS not naturally low. It's common to see the lake rise after a good two days of rain. We had a 3+ day period of solid rain a few months ago and the lake didn't come up at all. I watch it daily...and what we are seeing isn't "naturally occurring".
I agree that the lake level doesn't seem to correlate with our rainfall but it doesn't seem like the outflows are excessive from the chart linked at the bottom.
Puzzling and not very , well, *informative* :-)
I've noticed it too. I think much of it is that some of the rains we got just did not fall in the Falls watershed. If you notice Jordan lake is doing better and rain that falls at the Willet where the measurement is taken will drain to Jordan.
I think you are on to something. The Jordan Watershed is much larger than Falls. The Jordan watershed is about 1,700 square miles vs. just 770 square miles in the Falls Watershed. As such the the Jordan watershed drains a much larger land area and gets more rainfall feeding into it. That coupled with the fact that some of the heavier rain storms have occured west of the Falls Watershed seems to be part of the reason why Falls Lake levels are not as high as those that are found in Jordan Lake.
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