Bull Shoals levels holding in there!

Forsyth Mo. - Thanks to a somewhat lackluster start to March 2019 in the rainfall department, the Bull Shoals Lake levels had dropped back down, just a bit, with the trend likely to continue until around March 8 and 9 when storms were forecast to impact the region. That said Beaver Lake was 1.63 feet above full pool and thus posed a potential problem if we were to be inundated with heavy rains at any point in the month! Please note that the level at which the Corps of Engineers would actually close River Run is mere conjecture on my part.


Update: March 5 - Powersite dam was running strong!And, the Corps must have also been releasing at the dam by the border as River Run Park looked to be in fairly good shape with the water level at 667.47 feet.

Update : March 6 - The lake levels continued to drop, so that was good news. The only fly in the ointment was the unsettled weather pattern that was shaping up towards the start of the second week of March! This from the NWS: "Amplified upper-level flow returns for Tuesday and Wednesday as the models hint at another robust shortwave trough digging across the Dessert Southwest, with its axis taking on a negative tilt as it aims toward the central and southern Plains, as well as the Missouri Ozarks."

Update: March 8 - Bull Shoals water levels now below flood stage for River Run. And, it looked like no real heavy rains were in the immediate future!This from the NWS: At this time instability appears to be more limited across the area with the better thunderstorm potential looking to remain southwest of the area at this time.

Update: March 9 - I recorded a .81 inch rainfall that looked like it covered pretty much the entire Tri-Lake region. That much rain could pose a problem for rising lake levels.

Update: March 10 - After the region got a good dose of rainfall, Bull Shoals was still trending slightly downwards. Good news! However, as the current NWS forecast for the coming mid work week was: ' A cold front will sweep across the area Wednesday into Wednesday night. Lift will increase across the area resulting in widespread showers to develop across the area Wednesday and Wednesday evening. Three quarters to one and one quarter inches of rainfall is expected with this system. A few embedded thunderstorms will also be possible, but overall instability appears to be more lacking and not expecting any severe storms at this time. Northwest flow then sets up across the region late in the week and will result in below normal temperatures into next weekend.' So, another .75 to 1.25 inches of rainfall would keep things interesting. Stay tuned.
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Bull Shoals water levels may hold steady!

River Run Park in trouble!

Forsyth MO. - As a local who likes to enjoy two parks that grace the area, I had taken a keen interest in tracking the current rapid rise of waters in the the Bull Shoals Lake. As of this post, one of the two parks, River Run had begun to flood out. However, Shadowrock was still high and dry. At least for now.

Minor drop in level observed on Feb 25

 What was encouraging to me was fact that the rate of increase had slowed quite a bit. even to the point where I could hope to see it decline a bit in the later part of February. The flies in the ointment here were two; water levels at Beaver Lake continued to be about two feet above full pool and release rates at the Bull Shoals dam near the Arkansas border were still being restricted due to the time of year. And, as spring was still a few weeks off, I found that troubling.

The good news was that, while rain would likely occur over the next ten days, it also appeared to be on the light side of things! So, if we don't get much rain and if Bull Shoals dam does increase their releases and so on and so forth.... at least one of the parks might be spared from flooding.

Note: My estimates of when a park might flood out are just that, estimates.

Update: Army Corps of Engineers to Open Two Gates at Table Rock Dam on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. They needed to perform maintenance on two turbines - I was not sure if this would affect Bull Shoals.

Potential for flooding in 2019 at Bull Shoals!

Forsyth MO. - Some mid February 2019 observations concerning the chances for seeing Bull Shoals flood once again. I got interested in watching the rainfall rates very early in the season as we were still in the middle of winter.  Above is a graphic that shows the current water level of the Bull Shoals Lake in feet above mean sea level. The other two historical lines concerned the levels in 2015 and 1017 -  two years that witnessed flooding levels that also meant that both the Shadowrock and River Run Parks remained closed for the summer and fall seasons. Last year, River Run was closed due to the construction of a new bridge, but many local folks and vacationers were hoping for a chance to enjoy both parks if they could remain high and dry!

I planned to follow up on this post from time to time, especially as we got more into the meat of the spring season. I noted that back in 2015, the level started going up in early March while the 2017 season had a later start. When and if the water rises above 670 some flooding of River Run would occur. Shadowrock, being at a slightly heavier elevation would then flood once the water rose over the 675 foot mark. That’s as best I can remember at any rate.

Feb 11, 2019 - A good bit of rain fell overnight and also looked to continue for much of Monday as a system slowly made its way off to the east. Beginning Tuesday, Feb 12, I plan to post the water levels at the two main reservoirs that are upstream of Bull Shoals. Below is a graphic of the levels on Feb 11. So, stay turned.

[All three of the lakes were at or above full power pools. Beaver was.33 feet above, Table Rock was .61 feet above and Bull Shoals was 1.91' above.]

Feb 12, 2019

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