With the tropical storm that poured out over 8 inches of rain upon the WNC area, they had to open the Fontana spillway to be sure the dam did not flood. We got there on a day when only one tunnel portal was open, but the water was shooting out so far into the air, (about 100ft), we had to use our windshield wipers to see where we were going to park. It shoots out of these tunnels at about 95 mph. It was certainly a site to see! They had to open the spillway to let the overflow into the Little Tennessee below. Refer back to our blog on Fontana Dam for more information on the dam itself. And look at our album pictures for photos of the dam when the spillway is closed. The rainfall was lasted so long, they had to leave the spillway open for at least a week. The day we went to check it out was the first day they had it open.
