California monster El Niño storm to bring up to three feet of snow

California monster El Niño storm to bring up to three feet of snow

It has to be global warming. Right? Everybody?

May 15, 2019
By Chriss Street

California is being targeted by a monster El Niño Storm that will bring seven days of torrential rain, up to three feet of mountain snow, and may cause an Oroville Dam overflow.
A period of strengthening trade winds that seemed set to end this year’s El Niño that brought a record 188 percent of average snow pack to California’s Sierra Mountains, reversed in mid-April to surge a bloom of heated water along the Equatorial Pacific and reawaken a late season El Niño that has a 70 probability of lasting through the summer.
The upper atmosphere jet stream normally blows east to west at about 100 miles per hour across the Pacific Equator bringing torrential rains to Polynesia before curving up Asia, curving past Japan to Alaska and dropping down along the West Coast. But the jet stream has radically bent down and accelerated to 200 miles an hour to directly target California with the full load of Polynesia’s monsoon rains beginning on Wednesday.

https://www.americanthinker.com/imag.../212599_5_.png Rainfall for the month of May normally averages just a quarter inch in Los Angeles and a half inch in San Francisco. But this storm is expected to dump at least 1 to 2 inches along the coasts, 4 inches inland, and up to 36 inches of snow at higher elevations.
The surprise storm-train, coming as all four Northern California reservoirs along the Sierras are already filled to 94 percent of capacity, will require opening their spillway gates, potentially flooding valley croplands and large population centers downstream.
The California Department of Water Resources announced that the water level at the 899-foot Oroville Dam is at 890 feet, just nine feet from overflowing. A $1.1 billion rebuild of the main spillway that washed away in an El Niño downpour February 2017 and almost caused the catastrophic collapse of America’s tallest earthen dam is still not completed.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea, who at the height of the crisis took control to call the emergency evacuation of 188,000 downstream residents who could have faced a 30-foot wall of water if the dam collapsed, joined DWR officials and reconstruction contractors to tour the dam and the supporting public safety infrastructure on Tuesday.
DWR’s public information officer stated that the California-owned dam’s staff shared information about the operations plan and engineering and design features that are part of the two-year reconstruction project.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski warned California residents that in addition to drenching rain, hail, wind gusts, and mountain snow, there is risk of brief tornadoes and waterspouts.

Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog...t_of_snow.html

AccuWeather

May 15, 2019

Rare May storm drenching California with unusually heavy rainfall


By Renee Duff, AccuWeather meteorologist


California and surrounding states will be soaked into Thursday by a major storm more typical of the winter months. Many cities could double or triple their normal precipitation for May in the span of a day or two.

Everything from rain and thunderstorms to wind and mountain snow will make for slower-than-normal travel, ruined outdoor plans and an increased risk of flooding and damage in some communities.

Rain, thunderstorms to soak San Francisco to San Diego
"This storm will bring unusually heavy rainfall and a flooding and mudslide threat to parts of California in what is normally a dry month," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jack Boston.

https://accuweather.brightspotcdn.co...sual-rain.jpeg

A widespread 0.50 of an inch to 2 inches of rainfall will be possible, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 5 inches in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and Northern California Coastal Range.

These amounts of rainfall are extremely out of the ordinary for this time of year. With the exception of far Northern California, average precipitation for May is generally under 0.75 of an inch across the state.

https://accuweather.brightspotcdn.co...ali-storm.jpeg

"One bull's-eye of heavy rainfall looks to be in the foothills east of the Sacramento Valley eastward into the Sierra," said AccuWeather Meteorologist and western U.S. blogger Brian Thompson.

"The Northern California coast will be another spot that could get hit pretty hard, from Mendocino northward through Eureka and Crescent City," Thompson added.

Over an inch of rain could fall around the San Francisco metro area, with 0.50 to 1 inch possible in Los Angeles and up to 0.50 of an inch expected in San Diego.

The timing of the rain can lead to a nightmare Thursday morning commute in Southern California.

People living near larger burn scars and low-lying flood prone areas along creeks and streams should closely monitor water levels and follow any evacuation notices that may be issued.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weath...rsday/70008278

​Lake Oroville Community Update



May 14, 2019

Oroville Operations Update

Reservoir Levels and Weather

DWR is monitoring weather forecasts into the Feather River basin this week, and the impact incoming storms will have on melting snowpack. Forecasts and weather can change rapidly, and DWR will notify the public and media if the main spillway needs to be used to manage reservoir levels. Currently the reservoir is at an elevation of 889 feet and outflows to the Feather River are 9,500 cubic feet per second. DWR is targeting high lake levels through spring and summer in accordance with normal state and federal regulations, which is good news for local recreation and for statewide water supply.


Sheriff Honea Visits Oroville Spillways
Last Friday, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea joined DWR on a site visit at Oroville’s main spillway. As the county’s lead law enforcement official, the Sheriff receives regular site visit briefings, along with other state and federal law enforcement personnel. “It was great to have Sheriff Honea on site to talk through the spillways reconstruction and about how we’re managing the reservoir to ensure safety while keeping lake levels high this spring and summer for recreation and water supply,” said Joel Ledesma, Deputy Director of the State Water Project. “The Sheriff and his office are an integral part of public safety and security at the Oroville Dam complex and we value his partnership in our shared efforts to ensure the safety of those downstream.” DWR staff shared information about the operations plan and engineering and design features from the two-year reconstruction project.




Road Construction
Repaving operations continue on Oroville Dam Crest Road, the Spillway Boat Launch facility, and other nearby roads. Paving construction vehicles will use Hyatt Access Road through Wednesday, May 29. DWR will notify the public when there are any changes to this information and thanks the community for their patience.
###

https://dwroroville.water.ca.gov/com...ce=dwroroville