Shasta Dam could see 7 inches of rain
Looks like the first week of February is going to be a wet one for most of California. Forecast for the Shasta Dam area- the state’s most important reservoir – for the next seven days indicate the area could get up to 7 inches of precipitation. Also note that the ten-day forecast for the lake shows rain every day.
The key federal CVP reservoir is already nearly 80% full. The most recent estimate is that Lake Shasta was 119% of historical average. It is only 40 foot to the top of the dam and 40 foot higher than was a year ago. The water level has climbed about 12 feet in the past 10 days.
Now another atmospheric river is on the way, and the National Weather Service (NWS) Climate Prediction Center expects there is at least a 70 percent chance for above-average precipitation along California’s coast from January 30 to February 3.
The storms will help fill not just the most important federal dam in California, but the most important state reservoir at Oroville is at 132% of average today. Bu the snowpack has a ways to go at just 54% of average today.
Further south, the active AR is expected to blanket the slopes of China Peak ski resort near Huntington Lake above Fresno. In the San Joaquin watershed, this is the source of water for the most important canal in the Central Valley – the Friant-Kern. Snow forecasts for the next 5 days expect 3.5 feet of snow for China Peak – and a total of 7 feet in 10 days – more than double what has fallen this season.
The difference is these big AR events
