If you read the Farmer’s Almanac predictions for the spring of 2018, some of it sounds promising: “April and May will be warmer and slightly drier than normal.” 

Some of it, however, is worrisome: “Rainy periods, warm.”  “Showers, cool.”

Accuweather.com seems to show more of the bright orange sun figures for the next two months than clouds with the little blue raindrops dripping below. But does that mean we will really get less rain this spring? 

I wonder how many living along the shores of Lake Ontario are watching and worrying about those weather predictions, hoping to somehow get a small sense of when the big weather will hit. 

Many are planning for the flooding regardless of how many orange suns or little blue raindrops are on those forecast calendars. 

Homeowners and businesses told us with Plan 2014 in place, they’ve spent the last year shoring up their properties.

We saw stone and concrete barriers. We saw wooden break walls. We saw new pipes and shut off valves.

But, will it be enough to keep back the kind of water we saw last spring and prevent further destruction of the shoreline?

I remember the homeowners showing us the dying and rotting fish that ended up in their yards — the smell, the muck, the mess.

How about the marina with the pumps going 24 hours a day to keep the waters out of its shop? Or another marina that had its gas pumps underwater?

We saw parking lots and grass fields of Sodus Point covered in inches of water.

What about this spring? 

Leaders have already asked the International Joint Commission, who controls the water levels of the lake, to maximize outflows to reduce the risk of floods. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he wants to ensure, “that history does not repeat itself.”

They’ve started sending out sandbags and aqua dams. The IJC responded saying the outflows have already been at record levels. 

No one can say for sure how high the waters will rise over the next couple of months. No one can say for sure how much flooding Orleans, Monroe, Wayne, Oswego or Jefferson counties will see. 

But you can say for sure, the debate over Plan 2014 and what role it will play this spring and summer, is far from over.