A SNOW SHOW
Latest storm could add big deposit to state’s water bank
TRUCKEE, Calif. — A lull in a series of powerful winter storms gave Northern California a chance Monday to clean up from widespread f looding while also assessing how all that moisture is altering the state’s once-grim drought picture.
A few big storms alone won’t end the six-year drought, but there were growing signs that the socalled atmospheric river was making a major dent.
Officials released water from the Folsom Lake reservoir and several others as a flood control measure.
For the first time in 11 years, the floodgates of the Sacramento River were opened Monday morning, releasing a wall of water downstream into the Yolo Bypass, one of several drainage areas designed to catch floodwater. The National Weather Service warned farmers in that region to move farming equipment and livestock out of the way.
The impending storm is expected to usher in 7 feet of snow in higher elevations. By the end of the week the total for the year could already be up to 20 feet. That means a generous addition to the Sierra Nevada snowpack, a precious water supply that California cities and
farms rely on when it melts in the spring and summer.
On Monday, it was at 126% of its average for this time of year, according to the California Department of Water Resources.
“We haven’t seen an event of this magnitude in at least a decade,” state climatologist Mike Anderson said.
The storms over the weekend were relatively warm, meaning snow levels stay high. Some of the snow that did fall melted fairly quickly, creating raging rivers — and flooding — across the region.
But the next round of storms will be colder, meaning more of the snow will stick. That’s good news for the state’s water collection systems, which rely on snow remaining in the Sierra Nevada into the spring.
The colder storms bring with them the threat of blizzard and whiteout conditions, as well as avalanches.
“It’s not over yet,” said Alex Hoon, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Reno station.
The storm is expected to last until Thursday and will bring several feet of snow to lower altitudes, such as Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain in Northern California, as well as cities in western Nevada and southern Oregon.
Many of those communities are still reeling from rainfall that left tens of thousands of households without power, cut off main transportation arteries, stranded motorists and felled trees, including a giant sequoia that served as a tunnel in Calaveras County.
Residents, businesses and government agencies are now forced to prepare for a whole new type of storm while they scramble to address the damage still wreaking havoc on their surroundings.
The Union Pacific Railroad at Norden was washed out by rain Sunday night, cutting off Amtrak passenger and freight trains into and out of California. A Union Pacific spokesman said the railroad expected to have the line reopened by Monday evening.
Interstate 80 reopened Monday morning heading east, but westbound drivers attempting to enter California were stopped at the border. Those who could show they had business in Truckee were allowed through, but for the rest, the remnants of a giant mudslide from Sunday evening kept the road closed.
Heavy-machinery operators had made progress overnight, said California Highway Patrol Officer Peter Mann, but water cascading off the Donner Summit slope was the next problem.
“We have a river on the interstate,” Mann said.
Other key highways including Interstate 280, U.S. 395 and U.S. 101 were closed for periods because of hazardous conditions, such as mudslides.
Residents in the ski town of Mammoth Lakes spent the weekend rushing to fill sandbags to protect their homes amid gusty winds, thunder and lightning. Still, the slush that filled their streets seeped into their homes and garages.
Sonoma County officials issued voluntary evacuation orders to hundreds of households near swollen rivers. Picnic tables on campgrounds were submerged after the Truckee River overflowed. Ten homes in the Carmel Valley were flooded late Sunday after a river swelled from the heavy rain, authorities said.
In Nevada, Gov. Brian Sandoval declared a state of emergency. Residents in Washoe County were asked to stay home Monday, and several government offices were closed.
Yosemite National Park closed the popular Yosemite Valley because of flooding worries, though it will reopen Tuesday. Rockfalls that occurred Monday, however, shut down access on some roads, including Highway 140.
The Merced River in Yosemite Valley reached flood stage at Pohono Bridge on Sunday. The river peaked at 12.7 feet at 4 a.m. The park is assessing the impacts and will address any repair needs in the coming days and weeks. Although there was no major f looding in Yosemite Valley, its roads and sewer systems were affected.
Authorities were trying to determine whether the deaths of three people in the Bay Area — one killed by a falling tree, the two others by car accidents — were related to the storm.
As for Southern California, rain disrupted the Monday morning commute before the skies cleared. But another storm was expected to appear Tuesday night, delivering up to half an inch of rain. That system will bring potential snowfall above 6,000 feet. A third storm late Thursday could bring snow as low as 4,000 feet and affect the commute in mountain passes, including Interstate 5 at the Grapevine.
The rainfall totals in Southern California over the weekend were less than in the northern parts of the state, but officials said the speed of the downpour — up to a half-inch per hour — elevated the risk of flash floods and mudslides.
Northern California has seen unusually wet conditions for several months. Anderson said the most recent storms probably helped replenish groundwater basins depleted from years of drought, though the full benefits of the rain won’t be known for some time, he said.
Water officials have stressed that other parts of the state continue to suffer from acute water shortages, including some rural areas of the Central Valley. The continued dry conditions in Southern California remain a concern.
Though Southern California still gets some of its water from the Sierra, about 50% comes from local sources such as groundwater and reservoirs.