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Department of Water Resources California Water News: Supply 12/31/09
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Plenty of snow at Sierra ski resorts Fremont Argus Another New Year's storm to set in Eureka Times-Standard Storm gives Sierra snow in time for holiday weekend Fresno Bee Light rain helps boost season totals Santa Maria Times
Plenty of snow at Sierra ski resorts
Fremont Argus-12/31/09
Water officials in California are concerned about the below-normal snow pack in the Sierra. But ski resorts around the Lake Tahoe area say they are doing just fine, thank you very much.
Squaw Valley USA says it has already received 13 feet of snow this winter, including 2.5 feet since Christmas at the resort near Truckee, California.
The 127 inches that has fallen there so far this month makes it the snowiest December since 2001. And more is expected by New Year's Day.
The coming year marks the 50th anniversary of when Squaw Valley hosted the eighth Olympic Winter Games in February 1960.#
Another New Year's storm to set in
Eureka Times-Standard-12/31/09
By John Driscoll
Four years after a freak winter storm throttled the North Coast with high winds, the region is looking at another strong weather system to bridge the New Year.
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for today for sustained south winds of between 25 to 35 miles per hour and gusts up to 45 mph. The northern parts of the county are likely to bear the brunt of the wind, with ridges north of Trinidad getting blasted by gusts of up to 50 mph.
New Year's Eve 2005 ushered in a storm that brought screaming gusts of up to 84 mph, flooded U.S. Highway 101 at Bracut between Eureka and Arcata, toppled hundreds of trees and knocked out power to 64,000 residences. It took weeks to recover and did millions of dollars in damage.
Heavy rainfall today and Friday could bring up to 3 inches of rain, with even more in coastal mountains. Snow is expected at elevations of 3,000 feet and higher.
”It's a nice winter storm,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist-in-Charge Nancy Dean. “We haven't had one that has had all the ingredients so far.”
Dean said that some flooding could occur in low-lying areas, and in communities like King Salmon, as rain corresponds with particularly high tides. Rivers in the region will rise but are not expected to flood, Dean said.
A high tide of 9.3 feet at the Eureka Slough Bridge is forecast to occur at 10:59 p.m. just before the moon is officially full. The full moon is the second
of the month -- a blue moon as it's called. The last blue moon, to occur on New Year's Eve was in 1990.
The ocean will get steadily rougher until Saturday, with wind waves of 5 to 6 feet and a swell of 8 to 10 feet building to wind waves of 3 to 4 feet on swells of 16 to 18 feet. The Weather Service has issued a gale warning for coastal waters.
The storm could make headway toward boosting lagging rainfall totals and mountain snowpack. Eureka has seen only 10.9 inches of rain since July 1, just 70 percent of normal.
The state's largest reservoirs are still precariously low, and the state's first snow surveys in the Sierra Nevada found that Northern California readings are 77 percent of normal for this time of year. Trinity Lake is at a pitiful 37 percent of capacity. Diversions to the Sacramento River until just two weeks ago exceeded the amount of water flowing into the lake.
”Despite some recent storms, today's snow survey shows that we're still playing catch-up when it comes to our statewide water supplies,” said California Department of Water Resources Chief Deputy Director Sue Sims.
Sims said that the possibility of a fourth consecutive dry year means conservation is needed throughout the state.#
http://www.times-standard.com/ci_14099878?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com
Storm gives Sierra snow in time for holiday weekend
Fresno Bee-12/30/09
By Paula Lloyd and Vanessa Rakis-Garabedian
A storm that blew over the Valley late Tuesday dropped up to 7 inches of snow on the Sierra Nevada, just in time for the holiday weekend.
That was good news for the Hungry Hut restaurant in Shaver Lake, where business had been relatively light so far this season.
"We could use some more snow," said Linda Sinks, manager of the restaurant just a short drive from the Sierra Summit ski resort. "We got a little bit on Tuesday, and that was good. It's been bringing the people up finally, and business is picking up."
The snow level was around 5,000 feet Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service in Hanford, and it is expected to stay around 6,000 feet through the weekend. The Hungry Hut is at 5,500 feet.
All that new snow is a boost for a Sierra Nevada snowpack on the rebound. California's first snow survey of the winter showed the snowpack below normal Wednesday but up from the previous two years.
The state Department of Water Resources reported the findings from monitors along the 400-mile-long Sierra. The snowpack -- the source for much of the water used by California cities and farms -- contains about 85% of its usual water content for this time of year. At this time last year, the snowpack was at 76% of normal. Two years ago, it was 60%.
Forecasters are predicting a moderate to strong El Niño effect this winter. The periodic warming along the equatorial Pacific generally produces heavier-than-normal precipitation in California.
The Valley probably will see patchy fog tonight that could become more widespread Friday night and Saturday night as high pressure builds, the weather service said.
"Fog is definitely a possibility in the areas that are prone to it, like the Highway 99 corridor and the Highway 41 corridor," said Cindy Bean, a weather service meteorologist.
Tuesday's storm brought .05 of an inch of rain to Fresno over the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to weather-service figures. That brought the season total to 4.01 inches; normal to date is 3.31 inches.
Rain is not expected to hit the Valley again for more than a week, Bean said. A weak system could move through the northern part of the Valley on Friday, and it might produce light precipitation in the Sierra, but not on the Valley floor.
High pressure will dominate over the San Joaquin Valley through the middle of next week, bringing fair skies during the day but patchy late-night and early-morning fog, according to the weather service.
Through Sunday, the National Weather Service office in Hanford is predicting high temperatures on the Valley floor in the mid-50s and lows in the low 40s, dipping to 39 on Sunday night.
Mountain visitors can expect a mixture of clouds and sun with daytime temperatures in the 50s, the weather service said.#
http://www.fresnobee.com/1100/story/1764707.html
Light rain helps boost season totals
Santa Maria Times-12/31/09
By Brian Bullock
The rain that fell on the Central Coast Wednesday was literally a drop in the bucket, delivering less than a tenth of an inch to most areas.
But it contributed to an above-average seasonal total and at least one minor traffic accident.
Rainfall amounts ranged from .03 inches in Goleta to .08 inches in Santa Maria, with the light storm hitting the coast from the northwest.
The rain made the roads slippery enough to cause one accident when a teenage driver rolled her SUV while attempting a left turn from Patterson Road onto Bradley Road.
Things will start to dry out beginning today, according to National Weather Service expert Bonnie Bartling.
The weather service is forecasting partly cloudy skies for New Year’s Eve, with highs in the 50s and 60s and lows in the 40s. New Year’s Day is expected to be partly sunny, with some high clouds and temperatures in the mid- to high 60s, a trend that will continue through the weekend.
The light rain added to an encouraging rainfall total so far this year.
Santa Maria has recorded 4.7 inches of rain since Sept. 1, which is 112 percent of normal.
Countywide, most areas are above their normal rainfall totals for the year.
The U.S. Forest Service station on the San Marcos Pass has seen the most rain, with nearly 17 inches, 171 percent of normal for the year. Goleta, with nearly 7.5 inches, Santa Barbara, with just over 7 inches, and the Gibraltar Dam, with 10.2 inches, are all at 135 percent of normal rainfall.
The only areas in the county below normal are Cachuma Lake, Santa Ynez, Buellton, Los Alamos, Figueroa Mountain and Cuyama, which range from 98 percent to 70 percent of normal. Cuyama has had the least rain of an area in the county with 1.55 inches.
“Really, up and down the coast it has been 100 percent to 135 percent of normal,” said senior meteorologist Ken Clark with Accuweather.com. “We got a lot of winter left to go. Really, our wettest months are from late December to the latter half of March. So we have our wettest weather yet to go.”#
http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/local/article_d240d380-f5d6-11de-8323-001cc4c03286.html
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