Lake Texoma update

Yesterday the Roosevelt Bridge over Lake Texoma was closed and likely will remain closed for at least a few weeks. This is the mile or so long bridge that pretty well divides the lake into north and south. Currently, water is now over 4' above the spillway and rising and likely will continue to rise as we are expecting a lot more rain thru Sunday morning when it appears to be over.
All ramps, as far as I can tell, are now closed on Texoma and the Hwy 199 bridge on the north side of the lake is still closed and looks like it will be for quite some time.
Inflow has been pretty well consistent for several weeks at over 100,000 cubic feet per second!!!! Think about that! Folks thats a bunch of water, I don't care who you are!
Local weatherman said last night the lake will reach it's all time high level this weekend.
If you want to fish Texoma, you'll be limited to bank fishing or something you can launch without a ramp.

Bob,
Is the Roosevelt bridge aka 377 bridge? Please pardon my ignorance.

Guy, the 377 is the Willis bridge. Roosevelt is 70 running east/west up by catfish bay.

Thanks Lane

Just crazy! Thanks for the update Bob!!!!

Guy, David was correct. However, the 377 bridge was shut down yesterday for a few hours. Back open, last I heard. I'd double check before driving up there.

Hard to imagine, but inflow 100,000 cubic feet per second equals 750,000 gallons per second!!!!

One gallon of water = 8.3 pounds One cubic foot of water = 7.5 gallons = 62.4 pounds per cubic foot.

750,000 gallons = 6,250,000 pounds of water flowing into Texoma every second.

That's insane.

Yes it is!
I read a report that said that we can expect this rainy weather pattern to continue thru out the summer!

And we 'had' a tournament set for July 18th on that lake. I think the guys should start determining where we might go as an alternate, as that lake will most likely take longer than that to get down to being fishable.

CAT has already determined that Lake Palestine will be the alternate for Lake Texoma

Unbelievable how high it's getting to be.

That's the same as American Falls at Niagara during the daylight in the summer time!

We were praying so hard for rain last few years, now we got more than we expected.

Guy, if you are talking about Texoma, I'd definately change my plans. I drove around yesterday and don't have words to describe what I saw. First, the lake set an all time record and is still rising. There is more than 5' of water OVER the spillway and the spillway is HUGE. Nothing is open on the lake and nothing likely will be open for several weeks, if at all this summer.
I don't know how long they can continue to release water at this rate and not cause serious flooding downstream.
I can't speak about the Texas side of the lake but, from what I hear, it's at least as bad as the OK side. I found new road closures and locked gates everywhere I went.
Just remember, this is the 12th largest lake in the USA and it's at record flood stage and rising with heavy rains expected today.
The good news is that the forecast calls for the rain to end by Sunday morning! Full sun to partially cloudy all next week!
One last note, if you are thinking about driving up to see what it looks like, please don't. Everyone wants to see it and the traffic is creating problems for those that live around the lake.
If anyone has specific questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them for you.

This video was taken on May 24th so the lake has risen another 5' or so since then and is still rising. This bridge is in Catfish Bay which is just south and west of the west end of the Roosevelt Bridge (which is now closed). If you look at it via Google maps satellite view it gives a better idea how long this bridge is.

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