Flood — Ottawa, Ohio

2019-06-01 to 2019-06-30 · near Isle St George, Ottawa, Ohio

Event narrative

The mean level of Lake Erie rose 4 inches from May to June to a level of 574.61 ft. This monthly mean level broke the record high June level and it is the lake's highest recorded monthly level mean since 1918, the beginning of its period of record. Lake Erie's monthly mean level was 10 inches above its level of a year ago. Flooding impacted the western Lake Erie shoreline with most of the impact along the Islands and Ottawa and Erie Counties where homes, businesses, and parks took on high water. Area beaches were underwater and many marinas were in accessible due to high water levels. During periods of high wind South Bass Island was temporarily divided into two islands notably on the 8th and 15th. Ferries to the islands were temporarily grounded.

Wider weather episode

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, announced that that based on preliminary data, new record high monthly mean water levels were set on Lake Superior, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in June 2019. The new record June level on Lake Erie was over four inches higher than the previous records for the month, which was set in 1986, and the highest for any month dating back to 1918 with an average of 574.62 feet. Precipitation in May was 21% higher than average in the Great Lakes basin and preliminary estimates indicate the Great Lakes basin received above average precipitation in the month of June, its 3rd consecutive month of above average precipitation. Although Lake Superior received below average precipitation for June, all of the remaining lakes experienced precipitation ranging from 13% to 24% above average. Localized water levels are often impacted by winds and were significantly higher during storms. Lake Levels in the Western Basin peaked on the 8th, with nearly identical levels on the 10th, 13th and 21st.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.7182, -82.8239)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 840281. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.