Weiss Lake Water Level
Weiss Lake is at 562.54 ft today (Oct 31), 1.46 ft below its 564 ft full pool, down 0.41 ft this week.
Alabama · Coosa River
Full pool is the summer level. Weiss Lake is drawn down about 3 ft to roughly 561 ft over winter for flood storage, so a lower reading outside the summer season is usually scheduled rather than drought.
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Water level history
About Weiss Lake
Weiss Lake is a reservoir on the Coosa River in Alabama, operated by Alabama Power. It's billed as the “Crappie Capital of the World.” Its full summer pool sits at 564 ft above sea level. Live water levels come from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CWMS) and update hourly.
Understanding Weiss Lake's water level
Weiss is the first of the Coosa River dams below Georgia, and the lake reaches back across the state line into Floyd County. Alabama Power broke ground near Leesburg in Cherokee County in 1958 on what was then a $30 million project, with Gov. Jim Folsom and a crowd of more than ten thousand on hand, and the first generator went into service on June 5, 1961. It was the opening dam of the company's push to further develop the Coosa in the late 1950s and 1960s, and it is named for Fernand C. Weiss, a former chief engineer. The layout is unusual. The spillway gates sit about four miles from the powerhouse, and water bound for the turbines travels a manmade canal roughly a mile long to the forebay, then returns to the old riverbed through a tailrace channel. Three generators of 29,250 kilowatts each give the plant 87,750 kilowatts, and more than 30,000 feet of earth dikes hold the reservoir in place.
Weiss is a storage lake, so its level is meant to move through the year. Full summer pool is 564 feet, and starting October 1 Alabama Power draws the lake down, with the drawdown expected to finish by November 30. Since September 1, 2022, the normal winter pool has been 561 feet. Before that it was 558. Residents on Weiss and Logan Martin had asked for higher winter levels during the relicensing of the Coosa dams in the early 2000s, and pressed the Corps of Engineers again in 2015 while it was finalizing new water control manuals for the basin. The Corps signed a Record of Decision on August 27, 2021, approving Alabama Power's request to raise the Weiss winter pool three feet permanently and modify flood operations. The lake usually bottoms out in December and refills toward the guide curve with winter and spring rain, when rainfall is adequate.
Because Weiss covers about 30,200 acres with a maximum depth of only 62 feet at the dam, a few feet of water changes a great deal of shoreline, and there are 447 miles of it, second only to Lake Martin in the Alabama Power system. Floods arrive from Georgia, down the Coosa and the Chattooga, and the east side of the lake can run a foot to a foot and a half higher than the reading at the dam. In February 2019 the lake crested and then held at 570.92 feet, nearly seven feet above full summer pool and equal to a record last reached in 1977; docks and fishing piers went under and campgrounds flooded. The gauge panel on this page covers only about 2020 onward, so its high of 568.54 feet is lower than that record. The lake is often called the Crappie Capital of the World, and the state fisheries agency calls the fishery the main economic driver in Cherokee County.
Weiss Lake — frequently asked
What is Weiss Lake's full pool?
564 feet above sea level, the normal summer level. That is the second highest summer pool among Alabama Power reservoirs, behind Lake Harris at 793 feet. At full pool the lake covers about 30,200 acres, runs 52 miles long, and has 447 miles of shoreline. The watershed above the dam covers 5,273 square miles of northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia.
What is the winter pool at Weiss Lake?
561 feet, three feet below summer pool. The winter level was 558 feet until Alabama Power, with approval from the Corps of Engineers in August 2021 and coordination with FERC, raised it permanently starting September 1, 2022. The same change raised Logan Martin's winter pool from 460 to 462 feet. Older guides and dock plans that cite 558 are out of date.
When does Weiss Lake draw down and refill?
The fall drawdown starts October 1 and is expected to finish by November 30, taking the lake from 564 to 561 feet. Weiss usually reaches its lowest point in December, leaving room to store winter and spring floodwater. It climbs back toward summer pool in late winter and spring, but Alabama Power refills only to the guide curve when rainfall allows, so a dry spring delays it.
What is the record high at Weiss Lake?
In late February 2019 the lake crested and then held at 570.92 feet, nearly seven feet above full summer pool, matching a record last set in 1977. Docks and fishing piers were fully submerged, campgrounds flooded, and boaters were told to stay off the water because of debris, propane tanks, and possible sewage. By March 1 the lake had fallen back to 569 feet.
Why is the powerhouse so far from the spillway?
Weiss Dam is split. The spillway gates are about four miles from the powerhouse, and water headed for the turbines runs through a manmade canal about a mile long to the powerhouse forebay. After passing through the three generators it flows down a tailrace channel back into the original riverbed. The concrete section is 392 feet long and 126 feet high, with 30,406 feet of earth dikes.
Why does flooding hit the Georgia side of Weiss first?
Most of the water comes from Georgia. During the September 2022 rise, the Cherokee County EMA warned that a large volume was headed for the east side of the lake, after the Chattooga River at Gaylesville crested at 22.9 feet, its third highest level on record. The agency noted the east side can stand one to one and a half feet higher than the level at the dam.
Why is Weiss called the Crappie Capital of the World?
The nickname is widely used, and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources calls Weiss the Crappie Fishing Capital of the World. State fisheries staff also rate it among the better bass lakes in Alabama, with most largemouth 15 to 18 inches, and striped bass mostly 3 to 7 pounds, with fish over 25 pounds caught. Four free public access areas and 37 private marinas serve the lake.
Flow released below Weiss Lake
This gauge reads the water leaving the dam, which is the number to check for fishing, paddling and downstream conditions. Live flow is tracked on riverlvl.com.
Other lakes near Weiss Lake
- West Point LakeGA/AL
- Lake Wedowee (R.L. Harris)AL
- Wheeler LakeAL
- Walter F. George Reservoir (Lake Eufaula)GA/AL
- Wilson LakeAL
- Pickwick LakeAL/TN/MS
See current levels for all 21 Alabama lakes and reservoirs →
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