Water level through Winter- What's the norm?

[Hudsongirl]

I know it's late to be asking this but I'm wondering if I was misunderstanding pool water levels over winter.

Our inground pool has a safety leaf cover- the kind that allows water through. We live in NY where there is lots of rain/snow. When the pool was winterized the water level was lowered considerably, but we didn't do anything to keep it low through the winter- most of the winter the cover had a layer of snow over it so wasn't very accessible.

Anyway, we're planning to open in a few weeks, but the water level is already up to normal swimming level, maybe a touch higher. Since Spring brings lots of rain we'll open the cover partially and empty some out now that everything is thawed so it doesn't overflow

My question however is that all winterizing seems to start with lowering the water level considerably, but am I supposed to be keeping it low all winter somehow or is it lowered specifically so it has room to fill up and this is normal? (I remember the pool builder commenting how the advantage of leaf covers was not needing to pay to truck in more water come spring since we're on a well). If it is normal, how often do I need to be checking in the future to be sure it isn't going to overflow? I feel like we got a moderate amount of snow/rain and still it's pretty full by end of March.

 

[PoolStored]

I had to lower my pool water level, in Ohio, 6 times after closing. 4 times were in Nov/Dec and 2 were after the hard freeze and the ice had melted.
My water level is now about 1" below typical operating level.
Never try to lower the water level in winter if there is ICE on the pool; moving the ice by lowering the water level can tear the liner.

 

[Newdude]

On Long Island I started a foot low and drained a foot twice more, and i closed mid November. Every season is different with the weather patters. Some years it's an ice rink for 2 months.

 

[Hudsongirl]

I had to lower my pool water level, in Ohio, 6 times after closing. 4 times were in Nov/Dec and 2 were after the hard freeze and the ice had melted.
My water level is now about 1" below typical operating level.
Never try to lower the water level in winter if there is ICE on the pool; moving the ice by lowering the water level can tear the liner.

That's good to know, I think we started with it pretty low, probably 2 feet below the top (we have a 4.5 foot water depth all the way across so even keeping it above half full we can take out quite a bit) but it sounds like I may have just lucked out that it made it to spring without needing pumping!

As a side note I peeked under the cover by the stairs and water looked pretty clear other than some debris that got through the net so I'm optimistic opening will be pretty easy if it doesn't get too warm before we're able to open.