The Vern Wolf Lake dam is still holding as of Sunday afternoon, but Highway 75 in Brighton remains closed to all traffic between Highway 142 and Highway JB.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource Conservation Warden Kyle Dilley, standing watch at the dam this afternoon, said the lake has receded a little bit with the lack of rain today, but due to a hole in the dam it is still being watched around the clock for a breech.
Vern Wolfe Lake is not fed by any other bodies of water, Dilley said. The lake is on the Richard Bong State Recreation Area property.
I shot the above video of the lake and its outlet today from the closest point I was allowed access to.
Traffic on Highway 75 was closed Friday by the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department until further notice as a precaution in case the dam were to fail. The dam is about 50 feet from the road.
The Fox River also is receding. A crest of 13.34 was reached Friday. The latest reading at 5 p.m. Sunday was 13.05. The current forecast calls for the river, as measured at the New Munster gauge, to still be a smidgen over flood stage of 10 feet a week from today.
There is plenty of rain in the forecast for the coming week, potentially exacerbating both situations.
The National Weather Service is calling for a 100 percent chance of rain tonight, with a thunderstorm possible before 5 a.m. Monday. There’s a 30 percent chance of rain Monday during the day, 60 percent for Monday night, 40 percent for Tuesday, 60 percent for Tuesday night, 70 percent for Wednesday, 80 percent for Wednesday night, 60 percent for Thursday. Starting Thursday night, the continuing chance of rain might also come in the form of snow showers.
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