Mild weather pushes Vt. lake to record level

A wet autumn, followed by this month's thaw and snow melt, caused the high waters.

On Wednesday, rain drove rivers in Vermont and New York over their banks, and most of that water flowed into the lake.

The high water doesn't mean lake shore residents have to automatically worry about flooding this spring.

There's about half as much snow in the mountains this year, said Greg Hanson, a hydrologist at the National Weather Service in South Burlington. That means about half as much snow could wind up in the lake this spring.

But large snowstorms toward the end of winter in March could spur spring flooding. Dry and cold weather would let the lake level lower and reduce the amount of water rushing in to the lake in the spring, Hanson said.

The lake is expected to reach its highest point in the next day or two and then slowly begin to recede.

The forecast calls for colder, drier days in the coming weeks.

Scientists say an unusual bout of weather in one area -- such as a warm spell or rain in January -- is more of a fluke than an indication of global warming.

But scientists with the United States Geological Survey have noticed changes in the thaws and freezing in New England winters and springs. Northern New England rivers have ice for a shorter time than they did 40 years ago; many areas receive more rain and less snow during winter; the spring runoff starts at least a week earlier than 30 years ago; and ice thaws on waterways earlier in the spring than 50 years ago, according to surveys by the United States Geological Survey.