Recent Heavy Rains Have Area Lakes Near ‘Full Pool’

5 short months ago, November 2011, things were looking very bleak for East Texas lakes.  After suffering through last year’s historic drought, many lakes were down at least 10-12 feet.

And the outlook was not promising.  Many forecasters were in agreement that the overall drought pattern across the state would probably continue for another 6-12 months.  This meant that it may take at least a couple of years for area lakes to get close to being at full pool levels again.

With apologies to Forrest Gump, forecasting the weather is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.

Recent heavy rains have done a lot to replenish many area lakes, let’s take a look at some of the statistics:

LAKE SAM RAYBURN

Full Pool Level – 164.4

4/3/12 Level – 162.98

Nov 2011 Level – 151

TOLEDO BEND

Full Pool Level – 172

4/3/12 Level – 170.73

Nov 2011 Level – 159

LAKE NACOGDOCHES

Full Pool Level – 279

4/3/12 Level – 275.51

Nov 2011 Level – 267

LAKE LIVINGSTON

Full Pool Level – 131

4/3/12 Level – 132.5

Nov 2011 Level – 126

And with more heavy rains in today’s forecast, it looks like these levels will just keep going up.