Flood Watches

[SSSdave]

Was in Yosemite this weekend but was only briefly in the valley. There was a large amount of vehicle traffic into the park by mid morning and a reason I spent little time there. Did do some 720p HD video of whitewater in the Merced Gorge with my new Canon SX130 compact digital camera. Rather amazing watching the videos later on my computer. So much more impressive than VGA sized NTSC in the past. Will have to get a YouTube account.


From http://faculty.deanza.edu/donahuemary/s ... eader$2113" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;:

1/2/97 10100 cubic feet per second
12/23/55 9860
11/18/50 9260
12/23/64 9240
12/11/37 8400
5/16/96 5900
5/29/83 5450
7/9/95 5220
2/1/63 5200

WHEN FORECAST OR OBSERVED STAGE AT POHONO BRIDGE REACHES 10.5 FEET...WATER TOPS THE SWINGING BRIDGE DOWNSTREAM FROM CHAPEL MEADOW. OVERFLOW FROM WOSKI POND FLOODS ACCESS ROAD (NORTHSIDE DRIVE) LEADING OUT OF THE WEST ENTRANCE OF THE PARK.

Current flow at 4710:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=11266500" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tuesday and Wednesday are forecast warm days, so peak flows ought to be Wednesday 6/15 and Thursday 6/16.

Although most visitors flock to the valley to see the waterfalls, my own opinion is the Merced Gorge rapids easily accessable along SR140 ( between El Portal and the SR120 junction), are much more impressive because one is far closer than one can get to any of the falls, the flows are even larger due to combining of all major valley branches, and the churning cauldrons of whitewater going over the giant boulders and drops are complex thus more interesting as a visual. Almost none of the single-minded valley bound drivers stops at the many gorge pullouts, so unlike the valley that becomes a zoo and parking nightmare by noon, the gorge remains pleasant even on these big weekends. The one waterfall in the valley one can get close to, Lower Yosemite Falls, has way too much mist in the air because the only places where one can see the falls is right in the river channel. So impossible to take any decent pictures or videos. With a hike, Vernal Falls, or along SR120, Cascade Creek, likewise have too much mist where one can actually see the falls to take any shots. But with the cascades in the gorge, most to the minor amount mist goes down the river while the air along the road is dry. Note there are a number of spots where the road is a bit off from the river where one can drop below the road without all the vehicle traffic.