Wow, almost full pond on Lake Norman!

I know, I know, we're all a bit tired of the constant rain over the past few weeks but it is helping replenish the water table and if you live on Lake Norman, you can't complain about having a full lake to boat on.

To be precise, we were at 99.7 on Saturday and 99.5 on Sunday. That is just inches away from full pond. Of course the down side is that you have a lot of debris washing in from the shore, the islands have very little usable beach, and what beach you have is covered in trash that has wash up. Still, you can use the opportunity to go into coves that may not normally have enough water for your boat or you can enjoy a fair amount of swimming from the back of your boat.

No matter what, get out and enjoy LKN!

Lake Norman Levels on the Rise

Wow, we are really looking good on LKN. The weather was really good this past weekend and this coming weekend looks really equally promising, 80+ degrees! Add to that, we have lake levels that are on the rise. 

Welcome to the 2009 Boating season on Lake Norman! Please get out and enjoy the LKN. And as always, please be safe!

Lake Norman is on the Rise

Technically, we may still be in a slight drought but LKN is looking pretty healthy these days. In checking the latest Lake Levels at Duke Energy, we are above target for this time of year and only a little more than 2 feet from full pond. 

Let's hope we continue to see some slow, steady rains this year and we can then put the previous two drought years behind us. 

How to Become a Weather Geek

"My name is Tommy and I am a gadget geek" (Hello Tommy).....

At least that is what I feel I should be saying. I can't seem to help myself (although my wife seems to be enough help for us both but that is another post). If it runs on a laptop, can be plugged into a wall charger or a car cigarette lighter, I just want it, period. So imagine my delight when I found a web site today that sells weather station equipment. I was even more delighted to learn that you can join a network of other weather geeks and deliver real time weather data to the network. I have to tell you, it is all I can do to not to whip out the Visa and go to town!

But not only is being a weather geek fun for me, it is down right necessary because of my other obsession, boating. No responsible captain takes to the waves until he has checked the weather, both current conditions and the forecast. Now, do I need a $500 home weather station to do that? Well, no but wouldn't it be cool? I mean, I could tell my wife if it is cold, raining, and windy without ever opening a door or window. What woman doesn't want that kind of efficiency from her man? Anyone?

Oh well, I guess I will once again suppress my inner geek and log into weather.com!

Drought, Drought Go Away....

Looking out over Lake Norman this morning, it is clear that the water level is slowly rising but we are still in a drought. Many of the hazards we have seen in LKN over the past few months are slipping back under the merky waters and giving us a false sense of relief that really isn't so.

Please keep up the water conservation practices you have started. Even when the rains do come (and they will eventually come), we still need to think about how the region around LKN is growing and that more and more people will depend on our living jewel, Lake Norman, in the years to come.