10/28/2024
WT Staff
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October 28, 2024 12 pm EDT
Major river systems recording extreme low flows
Streamflow Situation from the network of USGS monitors in Ohio
From Marion Municipal Airport, conditions are fair and 51 degrees, the forecast calls for mostly sunny conditions today with a high of 64, no rain or hazardous weather in the forecast for the Cleveland area. Streamflows remain more below seasonal normal than normal with three stations running the 1st percentile low flows statewide. With tributary creeks and rivers recording extreme low flows for more than a week we are seeing the slowing of the major river systems, especially south of the state height-of-land divide. Ohio River is recorded at extreme low flow below Greenup Dam, Muskingum River is running a record low flow at Dresden and Little Muskingum River is 1st percentile low near Bloomfield, just over 2 ft deep at .25 cubic feet per second where we saw over 20 ft deep and more than 6000 cfs during a flood event earlier this year.
Severe drought continues to grip the southeast from the central Muskingum River basin to the Ohio River. Severe drought rating remains for Walhonding, Muskingum River, Wills Creek and Little Muskingum River watersheds as reported on the weekend. Adjacent Ohio River minor tributaries Wheeling Creek and Shade River watersheds remain in severe hydrologic drought, adjacent to the west, Raccoon-Symmes and Scioto basin's Tygarts watershed are rated with moderate drought, skipping over the Ohio River tributaries Brush Creek and Whiteoak Creek watershed (unrated) to the Laughery watershed in Hamilton County, moderate drought.
On the north side of the divide, Lake Erie west drainage area's Auglaize and Lower Maumee River watersheds remain in moderate drought leaving all but Tiffin and Blanchard River watersheds unrated. All other area of the northwest is below normal. Moving to the north central and northeast watershed, the only surface area Huron-Vermilion River, Cuyahoga and Grand River watersheds are all below normal leaving Black-Rocky and the Ashtabula-Chagrin unrated. All other surface area of Ohio is rated on the drought map at below normal, most of the Ohio River minor tributaries, the Muskingum basin, the Scioto basin and the Great Miami River basin, all below normal, sending less water down to the Mississippi and Gulf of Mexico. Needless to say, there are no active floodings reported in the network and no high flows. Several low flows include three at extreme low, 1st percentile.
WT HAB Tracker from the satellite monitoring program of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science(NCCOS)
The latest upload from NCCOS was captured Oct 27 at surface wind speed 11.5 mph. This capture is completely clear, the high wind speed may be pushing the HABs below the surface out of the range of detection by the satellite imaging equipment. The band of dispersed HABs outside Sandusky Bay stretching to the east Vermilion-on-the-Lake has spread out further dispersing the bloom mats, now occupying 2 to 3 nm of water at the low concentration 100 thousand cells per ml or less. Dispersed open water HAB persists in Sandusky Bay, the concentration appears lower in this image compared with the prior image of Oct 26, we put it at 400 thousand cells per ml rather than the 600 to 700 thousand that has been common here for the last month.
See the latest NCCOS image, here.
NWS Cleveland calling for Snow Observers
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Cleveland is looking for new volunteers to measure snow in the Snow Observation Program. If you are already in the program, you do not need to re-apply.
New snow observers are needed in all of the counties that NWS Cleveland serves. Check the openings on the map of snow spotters locations, here.
Each snowflake represents an existing snow spotter. NWS is hoping to fill the gaps for the 2024-2025 winter season.
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