Scott Lake is a lake in Thurston County, Washington, United States.[1] It is located 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south of the Tumwater city limits, 8.4 miles (13.5 km) south of the Olympia city limits, and 14.1 miles (22.7 km) north of the Centralia city limits.[7] The location for Scott Lake is in Sections 33 and 34, Township 17N, Range 2W, Willamette Meridian.[8]

Scott Lake
Scott Lake is located in Washington (state)
Scott Lake
Scott Lake
LocationThurston County, Washington
Coordinates46°55′11″N 122°55′53″W / 46.91972°N 122.93139°W / 46.91972; -122.93139[1]
Primary inflowsSpruce Creek (5.08 cu ft/s) [2]
Primary outflowsAllen Creek[3] (6.77 cu ft/s) [2]
Catchment area2.52 sq mi (6.5 km2) [2]
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. length0.44 mi (0.71 km) [4]
Max. width0.40 mi (0.64 km) [4]
Surface area69 acres (28 ha) [2]
Average depth11 ft (3.4 m) [2]
Max. depth18 ft (5.5 m) [2][5]
Water volume760 acre⋅ft (940,000 m3) [2]
Shore length16,700 ft (2,000 m) [2]
Surface elevation189 ft (58 m) [6]
FrozenLake freezes only during unusual cold snaps.
References[1][2][5][6]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

The lake receives its water from a creek that comes out of Deep Lake. The creek is officially unnamed,[3] but is referred to as Spruce Creek by the Millersylvania State Park.

The creek that flows out of Scott Lake is officially named Allen Creek.[3] Allen Creek flows into Beaver Creek,[3] a tributary of the Black River. Thus it is part of the Chehalis River watershed.

A nine-hole golf course that is opened to the public,[9] and a private park opened only to residents of the Scott Lake Community are located next to the lake.

Eurasian water-milfoil (myriophyllum spicatum), an invasive species, was found in the lake in the spring of 1996.[10]

The area is subject to occasional flooding in winter. Its causes are being studied.[11]

Climate of Scott Lake

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The climate of Scott Lake is cloudy and rainy during the fall, winter, and spring. Summers are generally warmer and sunnier. There is an average of 161.6 days of precipitation per year,[12] and an average of 228.5 days of complete cloud cover per year.[12] On December 21, there is 15 hours and 30 minutes of darkness.[13] On June 21, there is 15 hours and 53 minutes of daylight.[13] Until the 2021 North American heat wave, the highest temperature ever recorded was 104 °F on August 9, 1981[14] and July 29, 2009.[15] The lowest temperature ever recorded was −8 °F on January 1, 1979.[14] The most rain ever recorded in one day was 4.82 inches[16] on January 7, 2009.

Climate data for Olympia Regional Airport, Washington (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1948−present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 64
(18)
73
(23)
79
(26)
88
(31)
96
(36)
110
(43)
104
(40)
104
(40)
98
(37)
90
(32)
74
(23)
64
(18)
110
(43)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 56.3
(13.5)
59.4
(15.2)
67.9
(19.9)
76.2
(24.6)
83.9
(28.8)
87.9
(31.1)
93.6
(34.2)
92.2
(33.4)
86.3
(30.2)
73.7
(23.2)
61.5
(16.4)
55.5
(13.1)
96.0
(35.6)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 46.0
(7.8)
49.1
(9.5)
53.7
(12.1)
58.9
(14.9)
66.1
(18.9)
70.8
(21.6)
77.6
(25.3)
78.0
(25.6)
72.1
(22.3)
60.2
(15.7)
50.6
(10.3)
44.9
(7.2)
60.7
(15.9)
Daily mean °F (°C) 39.6
(4.2)
40.7
(4.8)
44.1
(6.7)
48.2
(9.0)
54.5
(12.5)
59.1
(15.1)
64.2
(17.9)
64.2
(17.9)
59.1
(15.1)
50.3
(10.2)
43.2
(6.2)
38.9
(3.8)
50.5
(10.3)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 33.2
(0.7)
32.3
(0.2)
34.5
(1.4)
37.5
(3.1)
43.0
(6.1)
47.4
(8.6)
50.7
(10.4)
50.5
(10.3)
46.2
(7.9)
40.5
(4.7)
35.8
(2.1)
32.8
(0.4)
40.4
(4.7)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 18.8
(−7.3)
19.0
(−7.2)
23.9
(−4.5)
27.5
(−2.5)
32.3
(0.2)
38.4
(3.6)
42.7
(5.9)
41.9
(5.5)
35.9
(2.2)
27.9
(−2.3)
21.6
(−5.8)
18.4
(−7.6)
12.6
(−10.8)
Record low °F (°C) −8
(−22)
−1
(−18)
9
(−13)
23
(−5)
25
(−4)
30
(−1)
35
(2)
33
(1)
25
(−4)
14
(−10)
−1
(−18)
−7
(−22)
−8
(−22)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 7.80
(198)
5.09
(129)
5.68
(144)
3.67
(93)
2.26
(57)
1.46
(37)
0.53
(13)
0.96
(24)
2.04
(52)
5.07
(129)
8.21
(209)
7.85
(199)
50.62
(1,286)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 2.0
(5.1)
0.6
(1.5)
0.1
(0.25)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
1.2
(3.0)
3.9
(9.9)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 20.3 16.4 18.8 16.3 11.4 8.5 4.0 4.8 8.1 15.1 19.5 20.2 163.4
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 0.5 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.8 2.2
Average relative humidity (%) 87.5 84.5 80.0 75.6 72.9 72.4 70.8 72.1 77.6 85.1 88.4 89.1 79.7
Average dew point °F (°C) 34.5
(1.4)
36.0
(2.2)
36.9
(2.7)
39.2
(4.0)
43.9
(6.6)
48.9
(9.4)
52.0
(11.1)
52.7
(11.5)
49.6
(9.8)
44.8
(7.1)
39.6
(4.2)
35.4
(1.9)
42.8
(6.0)
Source 1: NOAA (dew points and relative humidity 1961–1990)[17][18]
Source 2: National Weather Service[19]

The closest weather station to Scott Lake is located at Webster Nursery near Tumwater. The closest weather station to Scott Lake that has a long history of weather records is located at the Olympia Regional Airport in Tumwater.

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References

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  1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Scott Lake
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Data on Selected Lakes in Washington" (PDF). (13.3 MB) in Water Supply Bulletin 42, part 4 (1976), p. 122-125 - with 1973 data
  3. ^ a b c d Washington State Board on Geographic Names
  4. ^ a b Google Earth
  5. ^ a b "Lakes of Washington: Thurston County" (PDF). (5.55 MB) in Water Supply Bulletin 14 (1973), p. 511-512 - citing 1950 survey
  6. ^ a b "Scott Lake - High Water and Rainfall (1997 - 2007)" (PDF). (17.4 KB)
  7. ^ Mapquest
  8. ^ Mesker's Atlas of Thurston County, 1929
  9. ^ Seattle Times "Scott Lake Golf Course"
  10. ^ Washington Secretary of State "milfoil"
  11. ^ Scott Lake Groundwater Study 2008
  12. ^ a b http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/clilcd.pl?wa24227 Western Regional Climate Data Center
  13. ^ a b U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department
  14. ^ a b Western Regional Climate Data Center http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?wa6114
  15. ^ The Olympian, July 30, 2009.
  16. ^ NOAA January 2009 Flooding
  17. ^ "U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  18. ^ "WMO Climate Normals for OLYMPIA, WA 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  19. ^ "NowData - NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved June 27, 2021.