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Douglas

Beach Comber
Aug 27, 2012
40
12
Seagrove Beach
The inlet breaks out sporadically. Sometimes it may take three or four months between breakouts. Recently, we had one breakout, the sandbar built up rather quickly, and the torrential rains filled up the lake so fast that it broke out less than a week later. This is fairly rare to have two breakouts in quick succession. I can only surmise that this unusual amount of rain is washing an unusual amount of tannin into the lake, then into the ocean. It will get dissipated by Issac,and we should have clear water in a week or so. Or, maybe not. Nature can be fickle.

Thanks! Can you give me an idea of how many times a year the Eastern Lake overflows into the Gulf and how long the outfalls last? And after it stops streaming into the Gulf, does it trickle through the sand for a while carrying that lovely coffee color into the Gulf? If so, how long? What percentage of the year would you find the Gulf water right around Eastern Lake discolored by lake water?
 

Lake View Too

SoWal Insider
Nov 16, 2008
6,862
8,297
Eastern Lake
There's no real schedule or interval between breakouts. As I said before it can be several months between breakouts. Trust me, the Gulf will be as clear as crystal if you just wait a little while. The "beer colored" lake water is just a part of nature, so you have to accept the changes that nature brings.
 

BeachSiO2

Beach Fanatic
Jun 16, 2006
3,294
737
Thanks! Can you give me an idea of how many times a year the Eastern Lake overflows into the Gulf and how long the outfalls last? And after it stops streaming into the Gulf, does it trickle through the sand for a while carrying that lovely coffee color into the Gulf? If so, how long? What percentage of the year would you find the Gulf water right around Eastern Lake discolored by lake water?

Maybe this will help :wave:

http://www.ask8ball.net/

Just kidding! It's Mother Nature at it's finest and as my mother used to tell me, "because I said so." If anyone tries to give you a definite answer on your questions, they are pulling your leg. For a natural opening, it depends on two factors, rainfall and storm events. Either the rainfall provides enough pressure to push through and create an opening, or the waves from a tropical event saturate the sand and it becomes like quicksand and the lake opens. No one can honestly predict the rain or tropical weather to the degree you are asking. Sorry...
 

Douglas

Beach Comber
Aug 27, 2012
40
12
Seagrove Beach
There's no real schedule or interval between breakouts. As I said before it can be several months between breakouts. Trust me, the Gulf will be as clear as crystal if you just wait a little while. The "beer colored" lake water is just a part of nature, so you have to accept the changes that nature brings.

Thank you. When the rest of the Gulf along 30-A clears up, does the "beer colored" water linger in the Gulf within, say, 100 yards of where the breakout had been?
 

Douglas

Beach Comber
Aug 27, 2012
40
12
Seagrove Beach
No one can honestly predict the rain or tropical weather to the degree you are asking. Sorry...
Yes, but anyone who regularly uses the beach near a dune lake inlet would know about how much of the year the Gulf water is tannin-stained right there. I'm hoping someone who knows will say either (1) the breakout shuts off like a faucet and the Gulf in front of it clears up within a day until the next breakout, or (2) the breakout gradually diminishes and the Gulf right in front of it stays brown for, on average, X weeks after the rest of 30-A is cleared up.
 

Lake View Too

SoWal Insider
Nov 16, 2008
6,862
8,297
Eastern Lake
I would say the gulf might clear in less than a week, but it would vary on how stormy the gulf might be. Sometimes there might be murkiness in the gulf because of other factors, seaweed and storms. Perhaps what you are experiencing at Eastern Lake is because Deer Lake also broke out recently, which is very rare, and the water was probably extra "beer-colored". This convergence, along with the double break-out from Eastern Lake has caused what is generally called a "triple-whammy", in which case, we are all doomed, and we might as well all move to Ft. Lauderdale, where the water is brown all year round. ( I'm just joking.)
 
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