Weekend Rainfall Expected to Bring Hartwell Lake to Full Pool

Hartwell Lake is almost at full pool, but still the only lake in North Georgia still not where it should be.

As of Monday evening, the lake level stood at 658.43 feet above mean sea level.  That’s just slightly over a foot below full pool, which is  659.46 ft msl.

The increase is due to the rainfall we’ve had over the past couple of months and this past weekend.  Some parts of Northeast Georgia and the North Georgia mountains recorded three to four inches of rain this weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg.

Franklin County weather spotter volunteers with the group, Community Collarborative Rain, Hail & Snow or CoCoRaHS, reported a total of four inches of rain falling from Friday through Monday morning.

Toccoa recorded just over 3 inches of rain for the weekend.  Hart County weather spotters recorded a total of just over two inches falling from Friday through Monday.

All that rain is expected to bring the lake up to full pool this week.

Over the fall and winter months, Hartwell lake had fallen to about 13 feet below full pool, but by the end of February, the level began to rise and stood at  654 feet above mean sea level, which is considered drought trigger level two.

Meantime, Lake Thurmond also continues to rise and as of Monday evening its level was 325 ft msl – just three feet below full pool.