Unsettled Forecast — Look Out The Window!
by Dick Greenan
A view looking north along Main Street (Route 27) from the Village Dam.
Well, we can throw out the long-term forecast that the Dams Committee has been following for the past few years as we are obviously back to more normal summertime afternoon showers — and the occasional downburst, wind shear or whatever the meteorologists ultimately come up with for this historic Village weather event! I was in the Village when this debacle hit and was stranded down in Hulin Road due to a large three foot pine tree that took down the power lines, a neighbor's SUV and of course, blocked the road.
Thanks to CMP and associate contractors, the road was unbelievably cleared later that evening. Looking across Mill Stream, I saw all of the fire trucks and emergency vehicles up at OUR Village Dam so, as the road was blocked, I walked up in the pouring rain to see the fire and rescue crews from Belgrade, Augusta and neighboring communities working on clearing the live wires and debris. Whatever we're paying these folks ain't enough! They are incredibly dedicated and hardworking people.
Belgrade firefighters confer on Main Street in front of Peninsula Park.
Even with the aforementioned afternoon showers, our water levels are still going down but not as drastically as we have seen lately. Salmon/McGrath reported in this afterrnoon that they are still 2.6″ below full pond with their one gate opened just enough for the mandated 1 cfs flow. Our neighbors on Messalonskee are now down 5.4″ below full pond with their gates now closed. Long Pond is presently 1.44″ below full with Great Pond once again holding their own, right at full pond.
As I pen this week's issue, we are forecasted to have 1.07″ of precipitation over the next ten days, which if we get it, will still be somewhat of a relief. But with such an unsettled forecast, 1.07″ of precipitation is a paltry excuse for all of this basically, bad weather!
Enjoy the family and your vacation and please, stay safe!
Dick Greenan is secretary to the Belgrade Lakes Watershed Dams Committee. He submitted this report on July 1.
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