Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
January 3, 2008
1. Top Items
Prepare for storm swarm; High winds, rain, snow expected to clobber north state for days - Sacramento Bee
Storms with strong wind, heavy rain expected in Northern California - San Francisco Chronicle
Blustery storm heads our way; Snow in forecast sparks optimism on water levels - Fresno Bee
Prepare for storm swarm; High winds, rain, snow expected to clobber north state for days
Cats and dogs to return to Southland skies; A storm moving into the area could bring the most rain since the 1990s. Ten inches is possible in the mountains - Los Angeles Times
Tag-team of storms expected by Friday -
Sacramento
By Dorothy Korber And Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, staff writers
Batten the hatches – and anything else that's not nailed down – while you can. The first in a potent series of weekend storms is forecast to roll in tonight, bringing gusts of up to 65 mph in
The California Highway Patrol advises travelers to get out of the mountains by this afternoon – or find a warm, safe place and stay put.
"Otherwise, be prepared for the absolute worst," said CHP spokeswoman Kelly Baraga.
The absolute worst arrives Friday.
Locally heavy rain and the strongest winds in a decade are predicted beginning Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. On mountain passes, gusts of up to 100 mph will mix with swirling snow to create whiteout conditions.
"We have a blizzard warning in effect from 4 a.m. Friday to 4 a.m. Saturday in the mountains," said Karl Swanberg of the weather service's
A third storm is forecast for Saturday into Sunday, but Swanberg said there will be little respite between the systems.
"By the end of the weekend in the mountains, there could be locations with 10 feet of snow," Swanberg said. "It will be a dumper."
Valley and foothill locations will be doused with 3 to 6 inches of rain by Sunday evening.
Urbanites also will face challenges on local roads and in their own backyards, noted Elissa Lynn, senior meteorologist with the state Department of Water Resources.
Dubbing herself "weather mom," she offered two bits of advice in her online newsletter Wednesday:
"No, don't drive Friday. Really." And, "Take down the outdoor decorations tonight, or early Thursday. Or you'll be picking them out of the trees and neighbors' roof."
The stormy weather likely will continue into next week.
"The amounts of snow will be incredible and winds very, very strong,"
Despite their wallop, these storms should be handled easily by the region's major rivers, posing no threat of flooding from the American or
After a dry 2006 and a relatively slow start to the rain season, there is plenty of room in reservoirs and river channels to handle whatever these storms can dump on the north state.
Further reducing the flood threat, we'll get snow – not rain – at high elevations.
"The more it snows the less it runs off, so the reservoirs are going to see very modest inflow," said Arthur Hinojosa, chief of the hydrology branch for the state Department of Water Resources.
Still, so much runoff will stream into the Sacramento River that forecasters expect it to rise more than 12 feet between Thursday and Sunday at the Verona monitoring station near the northern end of the Natomas basin.
But not to worry. The river there will still be 16 feet below flood level.
At Rio Vista, the
This storm's combination of high tides and high winds is less worrisome than the one that sent waves pounding into Delta levees in 2006, said Ron Baldwin, who chairs a five-county Delta flood group.
The high tides during this storm will be 3 feet lower than the 2006 high tides,
"It's not as bad as we have seen it," said Baldwin, who is
Local flood districts will step up patrols on Friday and Saturday when tides are highest, he said.
Across the region Wednesday, communities braced for a heavy blow. Utilities held pre-storm meetings. Safety officials warned against driving through standing water. The city of
The heavy winds worry
And he urged people to take a hard look around their yards, and secure patio furniture, awnings, garbage cans and anything else that could be swept up by heavy gusts.
"I've been in 60 mph wind,"
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/605874.html
Storms with strong wind, heavy rain expected in Northern California
San Francisco Chronicle – 1/3/08
By Marisa Lagos, staff writer
(01-02) 08:21 PST SAN FRANCSICO -- A series of storms is expected to wallop the West Coast over the next several days, bringing a potentially fearsome amount of rain and snow and warding off fears of a dry winter, forecasters said Wednesday.
Three systems are headed south from the Gulf of Alaska and are expected to hit
"There will be rain, wind and a lot of power outages,"
Winds in the first storm could gust to 55 mph, and the second storm - due in Friday - could bring hurricane-force winds of 75 mph to the hills above 1,000 feet, the weather service said.
The third storm, expected to hit during the weekend, won't be quite as powerful, but will be colder than the first two, forecasters said.
In the Sierra Nevada,
"They will be measuring it in feet," he said. "We'll see 5 feet on average and up to 10 feet at some of the higher resorts."
The weather service issued a blizzard warning for the northern Sierra and other mountains in
The storms could push the Bay Area's rainfall totals and the Sierra snowpack to above average for the season that runs from July 1 to June 30, the weather service said. If those forecasts come true, state water officials will be celebrating.
"The water hasn't fallen yet, but if we get the amount they're saying, we could see the snowpack doubled by this time next week," said Maury Roos, a hydrologist with the state Department of Water Resources.
Statewide, Roos said, the snowpack is at about 60 percent of average for early January, the same as it was at this time last year. By April 1, 2007, when the department conducted its final measurements of the season, the snowpack was down to about 40 percent of average - "almost drought levels," Roos said. But 2008 is looking better.
Last year, "we had one small storm in January," Roos said. "Then things fizzled and it turned out to be very dry.
"January, on average, usually ends up being the wettest month," Roos said. "And we don't really expect the full January total with this series of storms."
Weather forecasters expect rainfall in the Bay Area over the next few days to total at least 2 to 4 inches in the lowlands and 8 inches in the hills,
"For
The storms may be packing too much of a good thing, however. The weather service compared them to a series of storms in December 1995 that killed four people in Northern California, laid waste to the Conservatory of Flowers in
The city Public Utilities Commission also said crews have been working to clean catch basins and sewers. The agency is asking residents in flood-prone areas to report any clogged drains or catch basins by calling 311.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. spokeswoman Darlene Chiu said the utility is trying to get ready for the blustery weather.
"We are in motion, preparing for it - we know it's coming and we are closely monitoring it," she said. "Every hand is on deck to make sure that we continue to deliver the service to our customers that they rely on."
The storms could put to the test a compromise worked out in
City Councilman Mark Ross said the city has hired a beaver expert from
The popular rodents could still be left homeless if too much rain falls this year, Ross said.
"If it gets too dicey, we can take the dam out," Ross said.
In the mountains, where the winter economy relies on abundant snow to attract skiers from the flatlands, resort operators are eagerly awaiting the forecast storms.
"The excitement is palpable," said Russ Pecoraro, a spokesman for Heavenly Mountain Resort near
Heavenly now has a base of 25 to 36 inches, Pecoraro said, a combination of natural and man-made snow.
"The surface conditions have been excellent," he said. "But more snow can always make it better." #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/03/BAUFU83M9.DTL
Blustery storm heads our way; Snow in forecast sparks optimism on water levels
By Marc Benjamin, staff writer
A series of blustery winter storms beginning today will bring rain to the Valley and blizzardlike conditions to the Sierra, with several feet of snow forecast at higher elevations.
The storms are expected to peak in intensity Friday with an inch of rain on the Valley floor. When the storms taper off Monday, up to 2 inches of rain is forecast to fall, said Carlos Molina, a National Weather Service meteorologist in
In the Valley, rains will be accompanied by winds gusting to 40 mph. In the mountains, winds could gust to 70 mph, Molina said.
Snow is expected to pile up, with 3 to 4 feet expected at the 7,000-foot elevation level through Monday, about the elevation of Sierra Summit, Molina said. At the highest elevations, Molina said, 5 to 6 feet of snow could fall.
The storm will be more moderate than one that dropped more than 1.6 inches of rain in 24 hours on
"We have been tracking this storm for a while now, and it's keeping its strength together," Molina said.
Normal rainfall by today's date is 3.49 inches.
Since July 1, the start of the rain season, 2.64 inches of rain has fallen at
The incoming storms are generating optimism among water officials.
"We are excited about these storms because there will be a lot of snow in the mountains," said Jeff McCracken, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Reclamation in
He said
"The key really is how much snow we get and the snowpack," he said. "We are hearing a total of 8 feet in the high spots of the Sierra."
A few more systems like this one could bring rainfall to near-normal levels, said Gary Serrato, general manager of the Fresno Irrigation District.
"We are looking well below normal right now, but drought isn't a word I would use," he said.
"Two or three storms of this magnitude can get us back to normal."
The most impressive feature of the coming systems is the potential for added snowpack. Increased snowpack raises the possibility that farmers can have normal water deliveries in the spring and summer for crops and assures municipal water agencies of enough water to meet the state's growing needs.
Around the Valley, storm preparations are under way.
Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District workers were pushing water through the system and placing pumps in basins Wednesday in anticipation, said Jerry Lakeman, the district's engineer.
The plan is to pump water from basin to basin in the district's systems to keep water from overflowing at any single locations.
The agency is expecting up to 2.4 inches of rain by next week, he said.
"Our principal concern is debris and leaves and trash in the street," he said.
In
Clovis Fire Department spokesman Chad Fitzgerald said the city is encouraging residents to rake leaves before the storms to reduce chances for clogged drains and flooding.
Patrick Wiemiller,
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/296156.html
Cats and dogs to return to Southland skies; A storm moving into the area could bring the most rain since the 1990s. Ten inches is possible in the mountains
The first of three major rainstorms is expected to strike the Southland today, with the storms possibly unleashing as much as 5 inches of rain in
Forecasters said the first major storms of 2008 could cause the most significant rainfall to hit
The National Weather Service predicted that the most powerful storm system, which is expected to land Friday, would bring "strong and possibly damaging winds." Forecasters predicted gusts of up to 70 mph in the mountain areas and the
In
"It's three storms wedged one after another, with the middle one being the largest," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.
Today's storm is expected to bring light to moderate rain tonight. The Friday storm is expected to bring light to moderate rainfall in the morning, with the downpour intensifying later in the afternoon and overnight.
"If this delivers as advertised, we haven't seen something like this for three years, so it will be a shocker," Patzert said.
Forecasters warned that burned areas possibly could be hit by mudslides beginning Friday night. They also said the heavy rain could cause urban and small streams to flood, and warned of potential "life-threatening flash flooding."
"Once we get into the rain on Saturday, that's when the problems could start because the ground is already wet," said Stan Wasowski, a weather service forecaster in
Another inch of rain could fall Sunday.
The last time
The 2004-05 rainy season nearly set a record, with more than 37 inches of rain falling on
But weather experts say that they believe this winter's rainy season won't break any records. Since July 1, 3.76 inches of rain has fallen on downtown
"The forecast is still for a dry winter, and that's largely based on the presence of La Niña this year," said Kelly Redmond, interim director of the
"We've looked at this relationship over the past 75 years, and we haven't seen above normal rainfall years with La Niña,"
Still, he said: "I've been surprised thus far with the vigor of the storms" in
Meanwhile, authorities spent Wednesday preparing for the storm.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews were assembling a special team to respond quickly to downed power lines, and additional crews and operators were placed on standby.
In
Kirsten James, water quality director of Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay, advised people to avoid going to the beach during and after the storms, as the rains flush trash and other debris into the creeks, bays and coastline.
"There will be all this bacteria that has built up and is being washed down," James said. "We advise [residents] to stay out of the water 72 hours after a storm event."
The storm also was expected to bring significant surf along the coast starting Friday. U.S. Coast Guard officials said they expected waves of up to 15 feet by Saturday.
"This is definitely not a time for new or inexperienced boaters to be out on the water," Coast Guard Lt. Andrew Munoz said.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-weather3jan03,1,5577509.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Tag-team of storms expected by Friday
RIVERSIDE – Three back-to-back storms expected over a four-day period, beginning Thursday, will boost rainfall totals in the Inland Empire area above seasonal norms – and potentially create weather-related hazards, meteorologists and fire officials said Wednesday.
“These storms will put everybody above normal (in seasonal rainfall) by Monday,” said San Diego-based National Weather Service meteorologist Stan Wasowski. “We've been dry in
Wasowski predicted most
According to Wasowski, the first storm, expected to arrive late Thursday afternoon, is coming off the central Pacific Ocean, near
But Wasowski said the next two storms, both spinning in from the Northwest, will pack a heavier punch.
“We'll start off with some light showers Thursday night,” Wasowski said. “Then we'll see as each disturbance rotates around the larger low-pressure system up in
According to Wasowski, the
He said Palm Springs is already one inch above its seasonal average –having recorded three inches of rain since July – and the upcoming systems will “pad the bill some more.”
The NWS predicted gusty winds, occasionally in excess of 40 mph, as the storms roll in from the north Friday and Saturday.
Wasowski said snow accumulation in the resort areas, around 8,000 feet, could reach 12 inches, with more than two feet of snow possible above 10,000 feet.
Of concern, said Wasowski, is the amount of flooding that might occur in connection with the storms.
“The first couple of days, the ground will be dry enough to handle the moisture,” he said. “The biggest risk (of flooding) would be during the Saturday-Sunday time frame.”
Riverside County Fire Department Capt. Fernando Herrera said in the past, desert areas have been the most prone to flooding during protracted periods of rain.
“We have a history of flooding in the lower elevations where there's no proper drainage, particularly in parts of the
The NWS warned of mudslides in fire-scarred areas, but Herrera dismissed the likelihood of a major slide, even in places south of Cabazon that were impacted by the 40,000-acre Esperanza wildfire in October 2006.
“The newer developments dispersed around the mountainsides out there have appropriate drainage, roadways and reinforced walls,” he said. “Precautions have been taken.”
Still, Herrera noted the fire department was ready to augment resources and react to weather conditions that may pose a threat because “no matter how much you plan, Mother Nature can throw you a curve.”
Herrera said in the event of flooding, fire crews would likely try to redirect overflowing water using sandbags. In worst-case scenarios, he said, evacuations would be ordered.
“It's hard to react until you know the scale of the event,” he said.
The fire department's swift-water rescue teams will be on standby and ready to assemble on short notice for emergencies requiring extrication of victims from flood zones, according to Herrera.
“Our teams will be strategically located,” he said, “so we can hopefully get to people who get trapped ... trying to cross a wash or creek.” #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/riverside/20080102-1542-rain.html
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