Lancaster County

[sixfootfenwick]

Driving around yesterday and looking at wildlife etc, Middle Creek Lake looks very low. Lots of exposed lake bed and the creeks in that area are barely flowing. In all my years, I can't remember the Lake looking this low.

I'll be honest, I normally don't worry but with the already low populations and this very low water heading into a 90 degree heatwave doesn't look good to me.

Anyone else's thoughts that have seen the Lake recently?

 

[jifigz]

I was just in Lancaster County yesterday and it looked much different than central PA. They must not be getting any rain at all. My grass is green, lush, growing quickly and our streams have a good amount of water for this time of year. Things are definitely vastly different in terms of precipitation received.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I was just in Lancaster County yesterday and it looked much different than central PA. They must not be getting any rain at all. My grass is green, lush, growing quickly and our streams have a good amount of water for this time of year. Things are definitely vastly different in terms of precipitation received.

It is and I'm sorry, I was just looking online to see if there was anything about the low lake, it appears so.

At Middle Creek Lake, thousands of invasive carp are being evicted to save native species

Thousands of non-native, invasive carp have taken over Middle Creek Lake. They are being evicted to help migratory waterfowl and other gamefish at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in northern

lancasteronline.com

Even still, you're right, it's dry as a bone around these parts

 

[barrybarry]

Pretty dry here in York County as well, especially since we're heading into a hot dry week. Several plants that never seem to have problems are showing significant damage. Even had to water some ground cover. (pachysandra) I haven't had to do that since it was planted about 15 years ago.

 

[Letort]

Drought extends well into Dauphin and Cumberland counties.

Saw the Conewago in Adams yesterday and it was the lowest I have seen in 20 years.

The Susqy, at least in the Harrisburg area last week, was slightly elevated and off color. So it appears rain is happening upstream.

Looking at the state USGS map, upper counties are at mean or above, lower tier counties are below 10%. Not good at all.

 

[afishinado]

FYI. Close to normal in the area

National Water Prediction Service - NOAA

water.weather.gov

 

[sixfootfenwick]

FYI. Close to normal in the area

National Water Prediction Service - NOAA

water.weather.gov

It doesn't look normal at all.
Regardless of what the link shows, water levels look lower than I ever remember.

I'm sure the urban sprawl all over is factored into that. Lots and lots of new development.

 

[bdhoover77]

The low humidity days last week, despite feeling great, really dried things out here in my area. The extreme heat this coming week is not going to help either, and there seems to be no rain in sight. I am really ready for some cooler fall weather.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

The low humidity days last week, despite feeling great, really dried things out here in my area. The extreme heat this coming week is not going to help either, and there seems to be no rain in sight. I am really ready for some cooler fall weather.

Amen

 

[Mike]

Interesting article. Thanks for the link. I’ve passed the euthanizing solution info to my former crews. The total weight of the carp being handled was not a surprise.

For once the Lehigh Valley is very green. In recent summers everyone else, particularly next door neighbor Berks Co, seemed to be getting what little rain was available. It has been quite a summer for mowing once the initial drought-like conditions ended, but fortunately my yard only takes 25 min to cut with a pollution-free, push reel mower and the extra h.p. provided by cyclist’s legs.

 

[JeffP]

Driving around yesterday and looking at wildlife etc, Middle Creek Lake looks very low. In all my years, I can't remember the Lake looking this low.

I'll be honest, I normally don't worry but with the already low populations and this very low water heading into a 90 degree heatwave doesn't look good to me.

Anyone else's thoughts that have seen the Lake recently?

I was surprised how low the lake looked. I really never remember it that low. I wonder if they were able to drain some water to make the carp harvest easier.We did dodge some recent rains. Middle is low now, but has been running pretty decently since about mid-June or so. Interesting to note how bad lower Hammer has looked all summer clarity-wise. I jog from my how out to Buch Mill Road. I was jogging out there the other day, and I see a guy stopped along the bridge peering over the downstream side. He had gone by the time I left so I looked over and I see 2 stockers swimming around the water that was now really clear. I was shocked to see this is this lower stretch from Clay Road to the mouth has virtually no tree cover, no visible springs or limestone influence, and is almost all highly eroded pastures. There is a spring down a bit that I have seen trout around in summer's past. I think overall it has been a decent summer for local streams. Back to Middle Creek, we are getting close to the time when it turned bright green the last 2 years. I have only fished lower Middle a couple times this summer and haven't seen a trout.

 

[JeffP]

Interesting article. Thanks for the link. I’ve passed the euthanizing solution info to my former crews. The total weight of the carp being handled was not a surprise.

For once the Lehigh Valley is very green. In recent summers everyone else, particularly next door neighbor Berks Co, seemed to be getting what little rain was available. It has been quite a summer for mowing once the initial drought-like conditions ended, but fortunately my yard only takes 25 min to cut with a pollution-free, push reel mower and the extra h.p. provided by cyclist’s legs.

We fished Middle Creek Lake a lot as kids. We caught a few bass and crappie fishing was good in the spring. I never saw a carp in the lake but there were always a couple in slower areas of the creek. I know there was an article maybe 20 years about ice-fishing the like and it shocked me what they were catching. I don't know of any lake surveys. The amount of birds in the water over winter months cannot be good. I seem to recall my brother saying they can't even use the water from the lake for fire-fighting because it would damage their equipment. Sounds odd but that's what he said.

 

[dc410]

Bottom line, we need some rain badly in Lancaster Co. It’ll come to us I’m sure we’ve just been in that area where bands of precipitation slide past us to the north or south.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

Although not Lancaster county I have noticed decreased flows in Chester/Berks county. Everything seems lower than it has been ever. Brandywine, Beaver Creek, Hay Creek, and the Skook, are super low.

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

Guidance suggests stormy weather could return late week and persist through the weekend.I don't believe exact locations of t- storms can be pinpointed in advance so take the precip amounts with a grain of salt..
Lancaster, York,Adams, and Daupin probably need the rain the most and I feel like the type of set up outlined by the modeling guidance usually brings good precip totals to that area.
Its probably worth noting that CPC 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks both favor below avg temps and avg /above average precipitation over the Commonwealth.

 

[JeffP]

I think we did pretty well the last few days!

 

[Bamboozle]

The rainfall totals have been all over the map depending on where exactly you live and what weather station is providing the data.

For example, it's not Lancaster County but I have my own weather station on my property and we've got over 3" of rain since Thursday September 7.

In nearby Macungie, another personal weather station recorded over 5.23" of rain in the same period!!

However, if you look at generic weather information for the Lehigh Valley in the last 5 days, most likely the data you will find is for Lehigh Valley International Airport which shows a fraction of that amount of rainfall.

 

[JeffP]

I think some of the radar that you see (the orange) doesn't always have as much rain in it as it appears. With bubble up storms going on it is tougher to tell as well when you are watching radar. There is no line to follow, and most of the time they are morphing rather than consistently moving. My general impression was that Lehigh Valley go a lot the last number of days. Lebanon, especially northern, also and I say they are getting hit again. Harrisburg did better than Hershey. Penns is way up. They must have gotten hit this morning or overnight.

 

[JeffP]

The rainfall totals have been all over the map depending on where exactly you live and what weather station is providing the data.

For example, it's not Lancaster County but I have my own weather station on my property and we've got over 3" of rain since Thursday September 7.

In nearby Macungie, another personal weather station recorded over 5.23" of rain in the same period!!

However, if you look at generic weather information for the Lehigh Valley in the last 5 days, most likely the data you will find is for Lehigh Valley International Airport which shows a fraction of that amount of rainfall.

You mentioned the personal weather stations on weather underground. I am looking at Lititz ones now. Many say 0 and others as hi as 4.3. How do you know how long they have been recording?

 

[Bamboozle]

You mentioned the personal weather stations on weather underground. I am looking at Lititz ones now. Many say 0 and others as hi as 4.3. How do you know how long they have been recording?

It should be for as along as the owner of the personal weather stations (PWS) has been linked to Weather Underground (WU).

Off the top of my head, I don't know how far back in history you can view on Weather Underground (yes my PWS is on there too) but via my weather station & it's software, I can go back years.

It is a little tricky on WU to get the history for PWS but it can be done.