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Little Rock Lake Weather and Phenology
Weather & Phenology in Review
Jim Hovda - jhovda.rice@jetup.net
Little Rock Lake resident Jim Hovda composes this "Little Rock Lake Weather and Phenology" newsletter, monthly from his home on the north shore of Little Rock Lake.
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ARCHIVED 2011 FLOOD REPORTS
WATER LEVELS AROUND THE LAKE FROM JIM HOVDA
(We'll be trying to add these to this site as often as we get them here newest to oldest)
The higher the number the better the situation. The readings indicate the height of the water to the base of the bridges where the measurements are taken.
CLICK HERE to view map showing creeks entering Little Rock Lake referenced below.
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Update from James E. McDermott, Director - Benton County Emergency Management 4-8-11
The river is open and will continue to rise over the next week to about 8.5', a half foot under flood stage. The lake remains iced over, but is at a normal level for this time of the year.
With the threat of ice jams now gone, we only have to worry about heavy rains and they do not seem to be in the immediate forecast. If we can avoid heavy rains for the next two weeks we should be out of the woods.
Please advise me if you see any changes in the lake or river.
Jim
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View the Benton County EM Flood Information page for any further information.
We also have an archives page HERE detailing all of the reports we've recieved and
posted to this date. (posted 4-7-11)
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Update from James E. McDermott, Director - Benton County Emergency Management 3/28/11
The cold weather has been keeping the river in check; it has stayed steady at 6.5' for the last three days. I do not have any more lake readings.
The NWS is talking about a second wave of crests, I believe that is more for southern Minnesota once the northern snow starts to melt and that water starts down the river systems.
We are still keeping everything on hold until the water starts up again. LRL itself may now only be affected by a heavy rain or an ice jam. It remains to be seen how much of a water flow the lake will receive from the watersheds once it starts melting again.
Take a close look at the two charts I have included. The first one show an increase in the likelihood of flooding on the Mississippi, the second one shows that our chance for flooding has fallen to 70% which is still high and does not factor in other weather conditions that might occur.
It is best just to keep an eye on things for things can change rapidly as it has in the previous two years.
Jim
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NOTE: Lake levels are not being taken at this time due to the fact that the lake is not currently rising. Levels will be taken once again as things start happening again.
Joan Spiczka - webmaster for LRLA
Here are the grid locations (GPS) of the places that water level is measured:
Little Rock Creek - - N 45 45 .003 W 094 10 .487
Zuleger Creek - - N 45 45 .003 W 094 10 .017
Gordon Bridge - - N 45 40 .898 W 094 10 .087
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March 24, 2011
It was below zero this morning, bottoming out at -2.8 degrees. Will it ever end?
Precip at 0700 hrs. .10
Snow. 1.7"
Snow on ground. 6.0"
Total precip for the month. 1.71"
Total snow for the month. 15.6"
Below zero days. 7 (Will be one more tomorrow.)
Zuleger Creek - 74.3". Down 14.2"
Little Rock Creek - 73.8". Down 5.4"
About 75 geese were in the LRL Creek freezing their tails off in the steam coming from the water.
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BENTON COUNTY NEWS RELEASE -- March 24, 2011
“Benton County Puts Sandbagging on Hold Until Further Notice”
With below-freezing temperatures expected through the weekend, Benton County has put its sandbagging efforts on hold. Sandbagging planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday has been canceled. Benton County Emergency Management Director Jim McDermott noted that Mississippi River and Little Rock Lake levels have fallen over the past 24 hours. McDermott cautions that with the additional snow and saturated soils, the flood risk is still elevated. Possible ice jams on the Mississippi River and the Little Rock Lake channel remain a significant concern. Benton County will continue to closely monitor weather and water levels and will re-open its sandbagging operation as needed. The County urges residents to check the Flood Information website (http://www.co.benton.mn.us/Emergency_Management/Flood_Information/) for updated information on future sandbagging and flood conditions. Residents can also call the Sheriff’s non-emergency number (320.968.7201) for information on future sandbagging events.
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3-24-11 We will be closing the Watab EOC until further notice. People can visit the county website at www.co.benton.mn.us or call the Sheriff's non-emergency number 320-968-7201 for current hours.
The reason for this decision is the current cold wave we are experiencing. This has caused a slow down in melting north of us which is our concern. The temperatures are to stay in the low 30's thru Sunday
night and the teens during the night. A slight warmup is expected for next week.
This weather is a two-edged sword, it may have slowed things down, however when it does warm up we will see longer periods of warm temperatures which means thawing might occur faster than normal.
The river predictions still show the Mississippi rising to flood stage early April. The river is stable as of today at six feet, flood stage is 9 feet. The lake is down 5+ inches. If conditions change rapidly we will open the EOC on an emergency basis.
There are several thousand sand bags still available, I will be giving them to the township so residents will have to contact Craig Gondeck in order to register to receive them.
We are concerned with ice jams when the ice goes out, so if anyone knows people living on the Mississippi that could act as our eyes have them check our web site later today or tomorrow for a link to a report form that the weather service would like ice jam spotters to complete and send to them.
James E. McDermott
Director - Benton County Emergency Management
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0715 hrs 23 Mar 11
Zuleger Creek actually went down from 53.0" to 60.1" = a 7.1" drop. Lot's of floating chunks of snow.
Little Rock Creek - the same level as LRL. Went up from 71.9" to 68.4" = a 3.5" rise.
At 0700 hrs I recorded .77" of precip and 6.6" of snow. The snow depth was difficult to measure due to blowing. It was still snowing and visibility was less than a mile.
The rain/snow gage was frozen to its mount. What a pain in the butt to have to go back in the cabin to get hot water to free up the gage.... This will not be an easy snow to remove from the driveway.
You weather folks called this one right on the money. Anyway, you should have known this would happen as it is the HS Basketball tournament. It always storms at either the hockey or basketball event. Even tho the calendar says it is spring, it looks like it will be winter until the end of the month.
jimhovda
LRL/Rice Weather recorder.
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NEWS RELEASE -- March 23, 2011
“Benton County Sandbagging Postponed Due to Snowstorm and Cold Temps”
Sandbagging scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday (3/23 and 3/24) has been postponed due to the heavy snow and cold temperatures. Benton County tentatively plans to open its sandbagging operation again on Friday (3/25) from 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Please check the County’s Flood Information Website or call the Benton County Sheriff’s non-emergency number (320) 968-7201 for updated information. The County plans to have its sandbagging operation open on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Montgomery Headley
Benton County Administrator
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3-23-11The EOC at Watab will NOT be open today due to the weather. The river only rose 2" overnight which is good. We do not plan on openng tomorrow either, Friday is tentative and Saturday is still on, as for Sunday we will have to see. I would think that the majority of the people who plan
The EOC at Watab will NOT be open today due to the weather. The river only rose 2" overnight which is good. We do not plan on openng tomorrow either, Friday is tentative and Saturday is still on, as for Sunday we will have to see. I would think that the majority of the people who planon sandbagging have already picked up their sandbags. Some are just waiting to see what happens.
It does not look like we will have daytime temps to start melting this latest snow until next Monday and Tuesday.
James E. McDermott
Director - Emergency Management
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0700 hrs - March 22, 2011. Rain falling.
Precip. .19
Snow. .1
Snow on gnd. .1
Creek levels:
Zuleger Creek water level dropped yesterday during the day. I suspect that most of the snow has melted and runoff is minimal. This morning it was up a little measuring 53.0" still down from yesterday of 43.9". (Down 9.1") This creek is still within its banks.
Little Rock Creek level is up to 71.9" up 1.9" from yesterday. It appears that the water flow in this creek has increased.
I noted that there were no large gates at the Sartell dam open.
Jim Hovda
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From James E. McDermott, Benton County Director - Emergency Management
(6:08 PM - Update from 3/22 Weather Briefing)
General Notes from 3/22 NWS Briefing
Precipitation is higher than was expected. Many of the river level forecasts can be expected to be a foot higher than originally thought. Ice jams have been occurring on some of the rivers. This is a very large weather system that should exit our area about 7 pm Wednesday night.
The two day total of precipitation should be between .75" - 2"+ inches with the higher amount in west central Wisconsin. Just north of us it should be 1" - 1.8", this is the water that will come down the Mississippi and from Morrison County. Thursday should be dry. Cold for the remainder of the week and into next week. Daytime highs around 30 degrees and night time lows 10-15 degrees, this should slow
down any melting north of us.
If they send me a copy of the presentation I will pass it along.
Based on their predictions we should start seeing the Mississippi River go to action stage level around Monday.
My major concern at this point is ice jams.
If we can stay at the action or minor flood level until all of the ice goes out we should be ok, unless of course this storm and others do not dump a large amount of water.
James E. McDermott
Director - Emergency Management
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From James E. McDermott, Benton County Director - Emergency Management
( 8:51 AM, 3-22-11)
Hours for the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) this week will be...
Watab EOC Hours for this week are:
Wednesday 3 PM to 8 PMThursday 3 PM to 8 PMFriday 3 PM to 8 PMSaturday 9 PM to 5 PMSunday 9 PM to 5 PMHours are subject to change - depending how the river is rising we might cut out Thursday and Friday, it is even possible we will not open this Wed. We do not want to burn out the volunteers. It is all a crap shoot.
(Check on the Benton County Website to see further updates on hours.)
General Information
The river is still iced over - so the potential for ice jams remains with us until the ice goes out.
The river has risen 1' from last week. We are approximately 2 1/2 feet from flood stage.
On Saturday over 40 residents came to the EOC at Watab and picked up approximately 20,000 sand bags and sand. There is a small number of sandbags left which will be made available starting on Wednesday.
I am having another conference call with the NWS today at 2 pm, focus of the discussion will be on the expected impact today's and tomorrow's weather might have on the flooding outlook. I will forward any
information I receive from the briefing.
The weather is to remain cold for the rest of the week that might slow down melting in the north which feeds our river and watershed.
According to the NWS predictions for the week of 3/21 - 3/27 we only have a 10% - 50% chance of the Mississippi being at 5', we are all ready at 6.24' which means we are ahead of their predictions. For the week of 3/28 - 4/3 we have a 50% - 90% chance of reaching 8.4', the predictions indicate that we have a 50% - 90% chance of reaching flood level (9') during the week of 4/11 - 4/17.
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0700 hrs today, March 21, 2011.
Zuleger Creek: 43.9", up 8.4".
LR Creek: 73.8" up 2.2" from yesterday and up 7.0" from the base measurement of 80.8".
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Water levels. 0700 hrs March 20,2011
Zuleger Creek - - 52.3" and Little Rock Creek - - 76.0"
Remembering that the starting (base) measurement for creek and lake level was: Zuleger Creek 88.8" and Little Rock Creek 80.8". Little Rock Creek is the lake level and it is up 12.8" from the 14th of March. Vehicles are still on the lake doing winter ice fishing. (I'd be careful if I were them) Here at the N end of LRL the water is still well in its bank. Last night it rained .13" and there is about 50% snow cover. Mostly where it was drifted or in shaded areas.
Jim Hovda
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Water measurements at 0700 hrs 19 Mar.
Zuleger Creek: 52.5". Down from a high on the 18th of 35.7" or 16.8".
Or 36.3" above the base measurement of 88.8" on 14 Mar. (Measuring
from the bridge deck to the water.)
Little Rock Creek: 77.6". Up .6" from yesterday. Up 3.2" from my
base measurement on 14 Mar of 80.8". The level of Little Rock Lake.
The cold weather really put a hamper on the melting.
Jim Hovda -- Little Rock Lake/Rice climatological reporter.
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Benton County Emergency Management Provides Flood Information
Benton County Emergency Management is now providing information regarding the 2011 flood season in a new section of its website. The web pages will provide a central location for information regarding floods, sandbagging, and more. View the Benton County EM Flood Information page.
(posted 02/08/2011)
Also from the Benton County website, 2011 Flood Toolkit
Letter From Jim McDermott, Benton County Emergency Management on Little Rock Lake Flooding Prep (PDF file)
Also check out the Homeowner Information page of the Benton County EM site for information on where else to purchase sandbags from as well as other important information.
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Benton County NEWS RELEASE
March 21, 2011
“Benton County Sandbagging Schedule for the Week of March 21st”
Benton County will again open its sandbagging site the week of March 21st, as follows:
Wednesday through Friday, 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Residents should go first to Watab Town Hall located at 660 75th Street NW, where County staff will verify County residency and also that you live in the 100-year floodplain. Please bring a driver’s license or some form of identification showing your current home address. After checking in at Watab Town Hall, you can then proceed to Saldana’s Excavating and Aggregates to get your sandbags and sand. Again, please go to Watab Town Hall first.
County resources allow us to provide up to 500 sandbags per home at no cost to residents. Sandbags are provided on a “first come-first served” basis and are limited to the County’s available supply. Saldana’s will have additional sandbags available for purchase. The County will provide sand at no cost up to the amount needed to fill 500 bags, plus an additional amount for sandbags purchased. Volunteers will be available to help fill sandbags. Residents should provide their own means to transport sandbags to their homes. Residents needing assistance with transporting and placing sandbags should speak to County staff about obtaining volunteer assistance.
The County urges residents to check the Flood Information page on the County website (www.co.benton.mn.us) for detailed, up-to-date information on flood levels and future sandbagging events. (posted 3-21-11)
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Benton County NEWS RELEASE
March 16, 2011
“Benton County Begins Flood Preparations”
With the Spring thaw beginning and flood risks increasing, Benton County has taken steps to help County residents get a head-start on flood preparations. Benton County will provide a limited number of free sandbags to County residents on Saturday, March 19th from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Residents should go first to Watab Town Hall located at 660 75th Street NW, where County staff will verify County residency and also that you live in the 100-year floodplain. Please bring a driver’s license or some form of identification showing your current home address. After checking in at Watab Town Hall, you can then proceed to Saldana’s Excavating and Aggregates to get your sandbags and sand. Again, please go to Watab Town Hall first.
County resources allow us to provide up to 500 sandbags per home at no cost to residents. Saldana’s will have additional sandbags available for purchase. The County will provide sand at no cost up to the amount needed to fill 500 bags, plus an additional amount for sandbags purchased. Volunteers will be available to help fill sandbags. Residents should provide their own means to transport sandbags to their homes. Residents needing assistance with transporting and placing sandbags should speak to County staff about obtaining volunteer assistance.
No other sandbagging events are planned at present. Should flood conditions warrant, the County will re-open its sandbagging site during weekdays. The County urges residents to check the Flood Information page on the County website (www.co.benton.mn.us) for detailed, up-to-date information on flood levels and future sandbagging events. (posted 3-18-11)
2011 Lake pics taken as lake thaws and potentially floods.
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