The swamp is in the midst of a swoon in its summer rains.
Can you see that reflected in the hydrograph below?
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| Current swamp stage (dark blue line) is 5 inches below the long-term average (dotted white line) for the start of August |
Hopefully it’s just a lull before the storm:
By “storm,” I mean a helping meteorologic hand from the Tropics.
Case in point is Okaloacoochee (OK) Slough.
Can you see on the map below how stations within the northwest corner of Big Cypress Nat’l Preserve are still showing that water levels are below ground? Hint: They are the stations where the “flame” icons are still active. Stations where surface water is present (at various levels) is indicated by the color-coding on the cypress trees. The color coding on the clouds indicates the amount of rain over the past 30 days.
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| Click on the icons to view more detailed hydrologic charts for each station The hydrograph at the top of this post is an aggregated |
Low water conditions aren’t unprecedented for this late in the summer:
OK Slough went an entire year without a wet season in 2007 and last year it didn’t reflood until late August. (Click on the links to view a hydrograph, and historic hydroperiod chart for OK Slough.)
A similar delay is persisting in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, too.
More on that next week.
