While Lake Champlain usually floods every spring due to winter snow melt and spring rains, this year has been exceptionally bad—in fact, lake levels are the highest ever known since 1869 when records began to be kept.
Flooded ferry dock, Essex NY, April 2011
The photograph at left (courtesy of Kathleen Wiley) shows the ferry dock at Essex, NY a few days ago. The white structure with the stop sign is the ticket booth—cars normally line up on the far side of the booth before driving onto a docked ferry. The parking area looks like it’s at least two or three feet underwater, and normally it sits a good six feet or so above the lake surface.
You can get real-time data on current lake levels at the USGS water level web site.
