Update: Water levels are already back down below where we like to see them.  Everything is back on track for the week.

A ton of rain hit very close to home over the last 24 hours.  There is a lot of room for the watershed to take it but we're still gonna get some serious runoff.  Water levels are rising and it's unclear where/when exactly they will level off.  Friday night will be fine. Saturday night should be fine. Sunday night and Monday night are questionable but should be fine given how few people may be on the river (there will be sandbars just not a lot).

The main concern will be the continuous rise of water overnight Friday and Saturday so you will absolutely need to pull your boats way up. Tie them to the tent even. Worth checking to see where the water is over the course of the night to follow the trend and make sure you're high enough (~12" to be safe).

Given the circumstances and uncertainty you are more then welcome to cancel your trips with us for a full refund. Further updates likely Saturday afternoon.

Wednesday evening update: Everything still on track and looking great.

And on a side note, for anyone heading out Saturday, our favorite taco masters (Erin and Jeremy at Enos Farms) are taking pre-orders for 11:30am-3pm drive-thru pick up in Spring Green.  These are on par with the best tacos Amy and I have had anywhere in the world - I honestly don't know how they do it.  Since the Shitty Barn shows have been cancelled for 2020 and that was the easiest place to find these tacos, it's worth jumping on this event for a 2020 taco fix.  Orders due by Friday  

[This is not a sponsored post, I just really love their tacos and general approach to local, sustainable food]

Previous:

The updates practically write themselves since the weather is predominantly great and so are the water levels.  As of now the 10 day forecast is pretty much sunny and pleasant every single day.  Headwinds are definitely more typical this time of year, and sure enough, 10mph winds out of the south every day peaking in the early afternoon (get most of your paddling done in the morning or early evening to make life easier and keep more weight towards the front of the boat to stay pointed down river).

Water levels are at their annual lows (more or less) so tons of sandbars out there. The caveat to this is ongoing maintenance on the Prairie Du Sac dam.  The dam is required to keep the reservoir  level (Lake Wisconsin) within +-3" by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission so, in order to do the maintenance on the spillways, water is released overnight to get a couple inches of cushion so it can be held back during the day to let work happen.  This means we're seeing swings of 6-12" in water levels every day or two which can be awkwardly timed to arrive in the middle of the night depending on how far downstream you are from the dam.  Long story short, pull your boats up! Stake 'em down, tie 'em to a tent, etc.  Our conditions page has the hourly flow rate data coming out of this dam so if you're nervous while you're out there, check that page to see what to expect.

-Ryan

Wednesday Update: The weather forecast is firming up and it looks good!  No significant rain expected this weekend. Small chance of scattered precip Saturday late morning. Water levels will be fantastic.

Tuesday morning update:

The weather is gonna be fantastic through Friday thanks to a strong high pressure ridge over Wisconsin.  This bodes well for good water levels this weekend as well.  They're already good, but they'll still be good.   

Hot and humid weather is gonna move in over the weekend as the pressure ridge breaks down.  A lot of uncertainty with likely scattered rain/rumbles of thunder but mostly dry and nothing I'm concerned about at the moment.

This also looks to be our last sold out weekend of the year (per usual) and we'll quickly start quieting down for the year.  It's a great time to get out.  If you can swing a weekday on either end of the weekend you'll pretty much have the place to yourself.             -Ryan

Should be a great weekend.  Water levels have continued to drop and by this evening will be about as low as they ever go.  Sandbars for dayz.  Winds will be up a bit at 10mph but out of the south/southeast so shouldn't really cause any issues.  

Chance of a quick rumble of thunder Saturday midday but it's not expected to be much, and certainly not severe.  After that, it gets even warmer and more humid for Sunday, i.e. good swimming weather.  

By Monday evening the hot and humid stuff should just become hot with great weather in the low to mid 80s through the rest of the week.

It only took until August but water levels are finally down and as rare as it is to struggle with the high water we've had in July, it's even more rare in August so, fingers crossed, it'll stay down for a while.

The weather forecast looks great all this week with highs in the mid 70s rising to 80s this weekend, reasonable winds, and a pleasant drop in humidity (for the time being anyway).  Should be a good week/end!