Northwind / lake

Field notes

Water levels, weather and things that happen slowly.

A small record kept since 2024. Measurements taken by hand, on no particular schedule, from the same wooden post by the north shore.

Latest reading: 142 cm, taken at first light. Wind from the north‑west, thin cloud, water very still. The post is beginning to need repainting.

Recent readings

DateLevelWeatherNote
2 Aug142 cmClearstill
26 Jul139 cmOvercast
18 Jul151 cmRainafter three days
9 Jul147 cmClearwarm
1 Jul144 cmWindhard to read

Log

The post needs painting again

Fourth summer for the same marks. The lower numbers have almost gone, which matters only in spring, when the water reaches them.

Three days of rain, nine centimetres

Less than expected. The ground was dry enough to take most of it, and the stream on the east side ran clear rather than brown.

On measuring badly

Wind makes the surface unreadable to within a couple of centimetres. Recorded it anyway, with a note. An imprecise number with a note is better than a gap.

Seasons

Spring high water usually arrives in the second week of April and lasts about ten days. The lowest readings come in late August, occasionally early September if the summer has been dry. Ice, when it forms, is thickest in the sheltered south bay.