California’s historic snowpack is turning to snowmelt. What you need to know
After a winter of record snow and rain, California is dealing with the Big Melt.
As temperatures warm, the snowpack is melting and flowing into rivers and streams. All that water has both good and potentially dangerous effects. Flooding has already hit the Central Valley, including around Tulare Lake.
But the water can also help drought-battered farms and water storage networks.
The Tulare Lake Basin and the San Joaquin River Basin remain the areas of top concern, as record-deep snowpack in the southern Sierra Nevada is expected to send a cascade of water down into the San Joaquin Valley as it melts.
But though the next few months will see the bulk of the melt, the depth and density of the snowpack means flows could persist into fall, according to state water supply forecasts.
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With forecasters predicting a weeklong heat wave, work crews are scrambling to shore up flood defense along the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
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With temperatures rising in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged support Tuesday for Central Valley communities facing historic snowmelt and flooding.
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As mountain snow melts and fills the nearby Tule River, Corcoran officials and residents fear the rising waters will also raise the risk of erosion and a catastrophic breach.
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Much of Yosemite National Park will be closed due to flooding fears from April 28 until May 2, officials said. The closures could extend beyond that.
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Temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley will climb to the high 80s and mid-90s this week, melting deep Sierra snowpack and triggering potential floods.
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Striking photos from space show the Sierra and Southern California mountain ranges beginning to shed their record snowpack as weather warms up.
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State officials have released preliminary flooding forecast for the San Joaquin Valley and Tulare Lake Basin due to a historic snowpack.
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The snowpack is so deep that it currently contains roughly 30 million acre-feet of water — more water than Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir.
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Days after the rain stopped, communities across Central California, including Porterville and Visalia, are still under evacuation orders and flood warnings.
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After record snow in the San Bernardino Mountains, rain has caused much of it to melt, with some flooding and rockslides.
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As the state gets drier, and wildfires climb to higher elevations, snow is melting faster and earlier than before — even in the middle of winter.
