As most of you know Mother Nature was not kind to us this year.  Although NWS predicted we would have a wetter-than-normal winter and some forecasts showed we may have been entering a six-year wet cycle, it was not to be this year.  October saw only 68% normal precipitation.  November was 84%.  December at 63%.  Then we moved into the crucial months for snowpack.  January was 57% and February 77%.  That pretty well settled the fate of the lake level for the 2018 sailing season.  March brought some relieve at 142% with April being about normal.  But the damage was already done.

We are now in the first part of May and the long-term forecast for May is dry.  And NWS is predicting we will have a hotter-than-normal and drier-than-normal summer.

This does not bode well for a long sailing season for much of the fleet.  Lake levels right now are comparable to where we were last August.  Some of the deeper draft boats are already running aground in soft silt at the mouth.

The lake is showing signs that it has already topped off or is about to top off.

If NWS’s forecast holds true we may even see the four foot draft boats starting to have trouble getting out late fall.  On a good note though is that NWS is very often wrong on their long-term forecast.  They certainly were this winter when they predicted a wetter-than-normal winter.

My recommendation to all of you is to make the best of the sailing season while you can.

We are still measuring depths throughout the marina but I think we can probably get by with all the boats staying in the marina by juggling some slips where boats will need to be located.

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I feel it is important to inform you of where we sit for this year.  Our best hope is that we finally end this 18 year drought and have a phenomenal winter coming up.

Dave