Despite recent rain, water levels in streams throughout the Mid-Atlantic and surrounding regions remain near record lows for this time of year, according to hydrologists at the U.S. Geological Survey. Although recent rains have improved conditions in parts of the Midwest, West Virginia and Ohio, rivers and streams from northwestern Pennsylvania to southeastern North Carolina still are flowing at below-normal levels.
Despite recent rain, water levels in streams throughout the Mid-Atlantic and surrounding regions remain near record lows for this time of year, according to hydrologists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although recent rains have improved conditions in parts of the Midwest, West Virginia and Ohio, rivers and streams from northwestern Pennsylvania to southeastern North Carolina still are flowing at levels below normal.
"Stream data collected for 109 years by the USGS on the Potomac River at Point of Rocks tell us that normal flows this week should be about 15,000 cubic feet per second, but the actual streamflows are less than 4,000," says Dan Soeder, hydrologist at the USGS Water Science Center in Baltimore, Md. "Levels this low usually don't occur until July or August. Streams were flowing at essentially normal conditions until about mid-February, but have been dropping steadily since then."