The 2020 wet season ended with heavy rains in October, and tropical storms were still dumping rain on Florida well into the dry season.
That late-season rain topped the lake off to the point that it stayed elevated the entire dry season, from mid-October of last year until this past week.
Flows were at about 2,300 cubic feet per second Thursday, according to Army Corps records, with 99% of that volume coming from Lake Okeechobee.
The surface of Lake Okeechobee was 13.25 feet above sea level Friday. Kelly said that's about a foot lower than the lake was just one month ago.
He said the Army Corps is expecting the same dry pattern that the National Weather Service is calling for this month.