KEEPING AN EYE ON THAT RAINY, RAIN GAUGE

December 27, 2018 Dick Mangrum
It’s been a rainy fall and early winter, and the Army Corps of Engineers would like to avoid another winter rain event such as the one the region saw three years ago. That deluge between October and December 2015 prompted the corps to open the spillways at both Hartwell and Thurmond dams. The corps’ Jerry Buddemeir says while the Savannah River Basin plunges into winter, the average monthly rainfall has been steadily increasing in its march toward the month of March—the basin’s wettest month. Corps managers report October’s rainfall was just slightly above average. The reservoir lakes saw twice as much rainfall as normal in November. Lake Hartwell received eight inches, well above average. On Christmas Eve, the Lake Hartwell level stood at 659.41 feet above mean sea level. The corps hopes to avoid having to open Hartwell spillways.