Report notes that November's excessive precipitation waterlogged Lake Erie, state's streams

Though statistical details for December are not yet available, November’s water inventory shows that Lake Erie levels went up instead of the typical down while Ohio’s river were over-flowing their banks.

Data furnished monthly by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Geological Survey shows that Lake Erie’s water level rose 0.03 feet in November over that seen in October. And while that increase is actually only a few inches, from a historical vantage point Lake Erie’s water levels drop during the month, not rise.

Indeed, Lake Erie’s water levels this past November were 0.39 feet higher than they were in November 2017. And the lake stood at 1.94 feet above its long-term average.

Should weather expectations prevail, the state’s Geological Survey Division says, for the foreseeable future Lake Erie’s water level could range anywhere from five inches to as much as 26 inches above its normal seasonal average.

The monthly report notes also that stream flows throughout the state were more than just excessive during November. They were extreme anomalies. For example, the Grand River during November stood at 185 percent of normal (average).

Yet that above normal flowage is puny compared to several other measured Ohio streams. The Great Miami at Hamiliton was 532 percent of normal during November while Killbuck Creek was 637 percent of normal for the month.

The head of the high-water pack, however, was the Scioto River near the small village of Prospect in Marion County. Here, the stream flow was a whopping 974 percent of normal for November, the Geological Survey’s data says.

All of which stems from the large volume of precipitation that fell throughout Ohio in November. All of the state’s 10 geologically designated regions experienced well above average precipitation levels; as many anglers - but especially - gun deer hunters know.

These differences ranged from 131 percent of normal for the Northeast Ohio Region to 189 percent of normal for both the Southwest and South-Central regions.

Precipitation amounts saw the lowest recorded at Portage County’s Hiram with 2.96 inches. The most was the 7.79 inches measured at Dover in Tuscarawas County.

The Geological Survey says as well that for eight of the 10 regions, this past November was ranked in the Top 10 wettest since record keeping began 136 years ago, including the fifth wettest for three of the regions.

Such large amounts of precipitation amounts were both a blessing and a curse. Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries biologists say that high Lake Erie water levels are contributing to the welfare of young-of-year walleye. That is because the walleye fry and fingerlings are pushed toward shore and into more favorable nursery waters where their survival is more assured.

On the flip and negative side, the excessive amounts of rain stalked the state’s deer hunters all season long, plunging the overall deer kill results by thousands of animals as sportsmen simply have not been able to take to the state’s fields and forests in usual fashion.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net