-March 14,2023-
pictured: floater in Woodlake
Southern Sierra has biggest snowpack ever
Southern Sierra now has the largest snowpack in recorded history (as measured by snow water equivalent, or SWE). Not just for March 12, but any time. Snowpack is 257% of normal and that is before this week’s storm.
All creeks flow to Tulare Lake
It does not look so much like a lake but more holding basins but with the Sierra dams overflowing and uncontrolled foothill creeks roaring water is moving by gravity to where Tulare Lake was found-near the community of Corcoran.
PBS photo above Springville: An aerial view of landslide on Highway 190 during heavy rain in Springville, California on March 11, 2023 as atmospheric river storms hit California. Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Since Saturday Success Lake (Schafer Dam) above Porterville has been spilling its overflow and is expected to increase to 10,000 CFS reported the Army Corp of Engineers Monday .”Schafer Dam began spilling approximately 2,400 CFS on Saturday, and has gradually increased to around 4,200 CFS as precipitation continued. We estimate the combined outflow of the dam outlet and the spillway to increase to approximately 10,000 CFS within the next 48-72 hours, based upon current weather forecasts. That increase may result in limited localized flooding downstream of the dam, but we are unable to estimate the degree of possible damage.”
The lake filled in matter of days after a huge rainstorm and melting snow caused damage in Springville reportedly impacting the town’s wastewater treatment facility. Tule River water will flow to Tulare Lake. Overflows on the Kings River as well as Kaweah tributaries will have no place to go but the Tulare Lake area.
Rain on the Sequoia Crest
Water expert Dennis Keller says the last warm storm a
ctually resulted in rain at 10,000ft with steady rain at 8000ft – melting snow that rushed down the mountain filling Lake Kaweah with 100,000 AF as of today and bringing the lake to 145,000AF in just a few days. The dam’s capacity is listed at 184,000AF. But Keller offers this note of hope that the dam might not overflow in that the spillway and fuse gates of Lake Kaweah allow the reservoir to handle about 44,000AF in additional capacity. Second note of hope – this latest storm today is a little colder than the last one so it might not melt as much high elevation snow. But the expected predicted volume per hour is concerning, he adds.
Photos show impact of storm in the past few days
Roads were flooded from Highway 99 near Earlimart, Yohokl Creek along 198 near Badger Hill to Sand Creek in Cutler, in Woodlake and also along the Kern River where homes were damaged an even destroyed.