High Sierra Topix

Be careful out there this weekend, and next week!

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD HAS ISSUED A

* FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA...INCLUDING THE
FOLLOWING AREAS...
THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA ABOVE RESERVOIRS...FROM YOSEMITE PARK
SOUTH TO THE KERN COUNTY LINE.

* FROM LATE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO NEXT WEEK.

* POTENTIAL FLOODING OF RIVERS AND STREAMS WOULD INCLUDE THE
MERCED RIVER IN YOSEMITE PARK...THE SAN JOAQUIN RIVER ABOVE
MILLERTON...THE KINGS RIVER ABOVE PINE FLAT...AND THE KAWEAH
RIVER ABOVE TERMINUS DAM INCLUDING THREE RIVERS.

* INCREASING SNOWMELT WILL OCCUR AS TEMPERATURES WARM OVER THE
NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...WITH EVEN WARMER WEATHER EXPECTED FOR THE
FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK.

* IMPACTS INCLUDE POTENTIAL FLOODING OF HIKING TRAILS...
CAMPGROUNDS...AND SMALLER BACK ROADS. RIVERS AND STREAMS FOR
BOATERS AND RAFTERS WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY HAZARDOUS...AS THE
FAST FLOWING...AND VERY COLD WATERS CONTINUE TO RISE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD TO
FLOODING. FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. YOU SHOULD
MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD
FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.

REMEMBER...THAT HIGHEST RIVER FLOWS GENERALLY OCCUR DURING THE
LATE EVENING AND EARLY MORNING HOURS...USUALLY WITHIN AND HOUR OR
TWO OF MIDNIGHT. A CAMPGROUND OR TRAIL MAY BE DRY AND APPEAR QUITE
SAFE DURING THE AFTERNOON...BUT CAN QUICKLY TAKE ON WATER AT
NIGHT.

REMEMBER...THAT HIGHEST RIVER FLOWS GENERALLY OCCUR DURING THE
LATE EVENING AND EARLY MORNING HOURS...USUALLY WITHIN AND HOUR OR
TWO OF MIDNIGHT. A CAMPGROUND OR TRAIL MAY BE DRY AND APPEAR QUITE
SAFE DURING THE AFTERNOON...BUT CAN QUICKLY TAKE ON WATER AT
NIGHT.

We had this discussion before and high flows really depend on where you are relative to the source of the snow melt. But the higher you are in a drainage the more likely the above is likely to hold.

Mike

I wonder if anyone on this forum has camped in a spot, only to flood out later in the day, or night.

I've only experienced that once, but that was an afterbay, and my friends camped too close to the water. They woke up when the feet of their sleeping bags were under water, and their fishing poles had to be rescued by wading in a bit. I was asleep up the hill, warm and comfy in the back of my blazer.

Sweet. Heading to Yosemite for the weekend this Friday. Would love to see some flooding.

When I worked for the BLM we had a "traveling award" called the golden oar award. The the year it was first given it was for arriving at the boat launch with no oars! The next year was for an experienced boater who woke up to find his raft had floated away during the night after an upstream thunderstorm raised the John Day River.

Personally, I've either been lucky or good!

Mike

The water is up to the Cedar on the Happy Isles USGS webcam. How high will it go?

Mike

Washburn Lake in the mid-70's. Campsite was near the water...and in the middle of the night, the water was a whole lot closer, so we hard to hop up and move.

Experience is, in fact, a great teacher!

I haven't posted in an eternity but would like to add that the waterfalls in Yosemite Valley are rocking. Not necessarily rocket science I know but impressive enough for me to add comment.
B.

Be careful what you wish for. If the Merced at Pohono Bridge gets above about 12 feet they close the roads into the valley. The falls may be rocking, but you may not be able to get in to see them.

Not sure I am reading the data correclty, but initial snowmelt model results predict 90% probability of 14.5 feet stage on the Merced at Pohono Bridge for June 14-- basically this closes yosemite valley. Lets hope it is wrong.