I have archived the October 2021 Water Level Chart (at left). October was looking to be a very dry month with rainfall well below normal until the next to the last day of the month when a significant wind and rain storm blew through the area. I recorded 2.68 inches of rain by the time the weather cleared on the 31st, bringing our monthly total to 4.34 inches, just shy of the average for October of 4.45 inches. There was a major 3 day northeaster back on the 25th of the month that was forecast to drop 3-5 inches of rain here, but it turned out to be mostly a southern Maine rain event; here we received less than an inch of rain. I thought we’d end the month with the lake level down around 1 foot below the top of the dam, but instead, by the end of the day on the 31st the there was water running OVER the top of the dam, with the lake level the highest it’s been all year. This morning as I’m writing this, the lake level is 0.25 above the High Water Mark, and still rising.
At 39 inches of precipitation so far, we’re a solid 3 inches above normal for this date. Whether this trend will continue through to the end of the year remains to be seen.
Seeing as how we’re not trying to set any lake level records, this morning we opened the gate to 1.00 foot opening and removed 1 of the remaining 3 stop logs from the weir, increasing outflows from about 94 cubic feet per second to an impressive 132 cfs. This adjustment should keep the lake from getting too much higher, in fact by tomorrow morning it will likely have peaked and may even have begun falling again. The picture at left was taken after the gate and weir adjustments were made. I also took a short video which I’ll post later.
You can keep track of dam operations by visiting our Clary Dam Operation Log.