Highway 91 is Open!




After a year of it being closed it’s finally open. There was a lot of damage all around Lake Texoma from the historic flooding of 2015. One thing damaged was a portion of Highway 91 at the Shawnee creek crossing. Denison Dam has a spillway that diverts Lake Texoma overflow back around to the Red River to avoid danger to those living in Denison when the lake tops over. The water spills over it when the level of the lake raises 640 feet above sea level, which it did. In fact, it topped it twice in a matter of weeks! This hasn’t happened in 58 years! What an engineering feat that spillway and dam are! Without that spillway the damage could have been a major catastrophe.

Today I want to bring to your attention about the spillway and what happened to Highway 91 during the 2015 floods. For those that don’t know, Highway 91 is the road that crosses the dam between Texas and Oklahoma. There are people from businesses and homes that utilize that road on a daily basis. It has been a struggle for these people without being able to cross the dam for more than a year and relying on alternate routes.

What once was just a small crossing that went over the small creek is now a fairly large bridge that crosses a ravine. The consistent flow of the large amount of water that flooded over the spillway brought on strong currents and what it did was change the topography of the land there tremendously! It’s absolutely amazing to see and demonstrates to us what the power of water can really do! A portion of highway 91 at the creek crossing was gone and the ground not only was washed out, it was literally carved out 23 feet deep! It also left the road carved to a 256 foot wide gap!

Go for a drive across the Denison Dam and see the beauty of the lake and while you’re on Highway 91 take a look at the new bridge. Look into a before picture of the Shawnee Creek land there and be amazed as you compare with what the overflow left behind. It’s actually quite beautiful and a sight to see!

**My photo here is after the flood, when the road and land were washed away**

 




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Lake Texoma Current Weather Alerts

There are no active watches, warnings or advisories.

 

Lake Texoma Weather Forecast

Thursday

Sunny

Hi: 66

Thursday Night

Mostly Clear

Lo: 56

Friday

Mostly Cloudy

Hi: 71

Friday Night

Partly Cloudy

Lo: 60

Saturday

Mostly Cloudy

Hi: 75

Saturday Night

Mostly Cloudy

Lo: 65

Sunday

Mostly Cloudy

Hi: 75

Sunday Night

Slight Chance Thunderstorms

Lo: 68


Lake Texoma Water Level (last 30 days)


Water Level on 3/28: 615.11 (-1.89)



Lake Texoma

Fishing Report from TPWD (Mar. 20)

GOOD. Water normal stain; 57 degrees; 1.35 feet below pool. Striped bass fishing is good using live shad on main lake ledges and flats in 30-40 feet of water. The bite has improved drastically around 10:30-11:00 A.M. each day, so stick it out if you are not seeing active fish early. Backs of coves and around the mouths of the rivers are good with swimbaits in 8-15 feet of water where the water is dirty and warmer. Catfish are slow, anchor in shallow water near the rivers where the inflow is using whole gizzard shad or cut buffalo for big fish. Smaller fish showing up on the flats in 20-30 feet of water. Crappie are fair in the creeks in 1-5 feet of water using jigs and minnows on brush sticking up or lay downs from the bank. Mo glo and black/chartreuse on a slip cork in shallow creeks. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are fair on swimbaits along the bluffs and on sandy points with stumps in 5-8 feet of water. Topwater bite will be on soon! Report by Jacob Orr, Guaranteed Guide Service Lake Texoma. Striped bass continue to be caught with Alabama rigs or sassy shad targeting structure. Somedays fish are in 5 feet and some in 40 feet of water. The water clarity is clear near the dam and muddy where rivers enter the lake. Report by John Blasingame, Adventure Texoma Outdoors.

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