Monday morning October 16: The level of Lake 4 is falling and is now about 4 inches below yesterday's high water point. At 9:41pm on the 14th I received a broadcast email from a neighbor to the south about the situation. I responded at 11:55am Sunday morning with an update and a link to this blog post. "Here’s current conditions including Wheaton lakes 3& 4 and COD pond 9". On Sunday the rain had stopped, but the lake level was increasing. It does take some time for these chained ponds to stabilize after the rain ceases. Water flows throughout the watershed downhill from pond A to 1, then 2, then 3 and finally to 4. As this occurs the level of lake 4 continues to increase, even if the downours are over. Lake 4 is at the bottom of this chain and is also fed by Glen Ellyn/COD's Hoddinott marsh, Pond 9 and GE's storm sewers. I'm not sure everyone understands that. I did not get a reply from Crystal. Not really surprised.
5:00PM Situation Update, October 15: The level of Lake 4 has risen about 1-1/2 inches in the last six hours. Lake 4 has not overtopped. Water continues to flow from Lake 3 to Lake 4 above ground and also via the underground storm pipe. The level of Lake 3 has fallen about 2 inches. Lake 4 levels won't decrease until the flow from Lake 3 and COD decrease.
Observation: We usually have at least one board member monitoring extreme events in the neighborhood such as this one. I saw several dog owners walking their pet and a jogger while doing my tasks. None are on the board, of course and some don't live at BLMH. I beat my 60 minute exercise goal for the day by 21 minutes. Simply by walking a good portion of 32 acres several times today. I'm sure there are those who would say "I'm fortunate". But then I had people telling me in my 52nd year in the work force that "I was fortunate I could work".
11:30am COD Pond & Wheaton Lake conditions, October 15: Currently there is water flowing from Glen Ellyn's College of Dupage Pond 9 into Wheaton's Lake 4. The water level upstream in Lake 3 is such that there is water flowing above ground from Lake 3 to Lake 4. The water level in Lake 4 seems to be slowly rising with less than a half-inch increase in the past hour and a half. If this continues and the rate of rise remains constant, it could be expected for the lake level to rise about 2 inches by 5pm today. That's not a prediction as rain or upstream events can impact this. The level of Lake 4 cannot decrease until the inflows from Glen Ellyn, COD and Wheaton's Lake 3 decrease below Lake 4's outflow. It is a race.
Original post 11:50 am October 15:
Flood Warning October 14:
We got flood warning messages on our Verizon cellphones last night at about 10:00pm. Really liked the pop-up message. We knew it was a gusher as there was crazy downpour.
Rain Gage:
A nearby electronic rain gauge registered 6.375 inches as of about 9:30am. The good news is the sun has come out and it appears this storm is over. Here's a NWS estimate for the area:
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| NWS 24-hour estimated rainfall Oct 14, 2017 |
Lake and COD Pond conditions, 9:30am:
G and I walked the lakes this morning. COD's pond 9 has overtopped and is flowing into the Hoddinott marsh, and also into Wheaton's Lake 4. Wheaton's Lake 3 level has exceeded the height of the discharge basin, and water is currently exiting the basin and is flowing downstream above ground and into Lake 4. This is in addition to the underground storm sewer which connects Lake 3 to Lake 4.
The positive is Lake 4 has a ways to go before it overtops, but the lake levels is now above the overflow. It is going to be a race. Will the outflow of Lake 4 be sufficient before the Hoddinott water level reaches the lowest point of the berm, in Glen Ellyn and then flows into Wheaton? A decrease in the flow of water from COD's Pond 9 and Wheaton's Lake 3 will be necessary to avoid overtopping Lake 4. I'll be monitoring conditions throughout the day and will provide a blog update.
Current Weather Conditions:
NWS Today: A chance of showers before 11am, then patchy drizzle between 11am and noon. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to around 54 by 4pm. Breezy, with a northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
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| Flood Warning Map 10:07am Oct 15, 2017 |
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