Northern California braces for flash floods
SAN FRANCISCO — Forecasters issued flash-flood warnings Monday throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California as downpours swelled creeks and rivers in the already soggy region.
The U.S. National Weather Service said heavy rain could persist into the evening and was expected to cause flooding on the Carmel River in Monterey County and Coyote Creek in Santa Clara County.
In the San Joaquin Valley, residents were patrolling levees for signs of danger, reviewing evacuation plans and filling hundreds of sand bags as the San Joaquin River kept rising.
“Our community is pulling together like real champs,” said San Joaquin River Club resident Paula Martin, who was helping to co-ordinate emergency plans for the private neighbourhood of 800 homes.
Martin said the neighbourhood has sirens in a clubhouse and church that can warn residents of impending flooding.
The weather service issued snow and wind advisories, including a flash-flood warning for the Soberanes burn area in Monterey County. It said winds could reach 100 kilometres an hour in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Santa Cruz County had seen more than seven centimetres of rain in 24 hours and could see up to 20 cm before the storm passes today. About 2.5 cm fell in San Francisco.
Forecasters said rainfall in San Francisco has surpassed the normal annual amount for the wet season that begins in October.
The city has logged more than 62 cm of rain since Oct. 1, said forecaster Bob Benjamin. The average rainfall for the year ending Sept. 30 is about 60 cm.
A pre-evacuation advisory was issued for a community in Madera County after water discharges from Bass Lake were increased and threatened to swell rivers, officials said.
The Fresno Bee reported that the order was issued for several roads near downtown North Fork, about 16 kilometres from the lake.
The sheriff’s office said residents should be ready to leave quickly if conditions worsen.
In the mountains, the weather service forecast heavy snow in the Lake Tahoe area with a high avalanche danger until today in an area of the Sierra Nevada from Yuba Pass to Ebbetts Pass.
Forecasters say the winter storm could drop up to 1.5 metres of snow in areas above 7,500 feet.
Moderate to heavy rain along with snowmelt below 7,000 feet was expected to swell rivers and streams and increase the chance of flooding.
The San Joaquin River was approaching the top of levees and could remain at that level for four days, said Tim Daly, a spokesman with the San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services.
The weather service also issued flash-flood warnings for the North Bay and Monterey areas as well as south-central Alameda County and southeastern Santa Clara County.
Elsewhere, the water level kept falling at Oroville Dam, where a damaged spillway had raised major flood concerns a week ago.