JudyJB wrote:And how is the rain going, Anne???
Thanks for asking, Judy. It has been raining here all day, but just a light rain most of the day. Probably raining a lot more in the foothills than here in the valley, as it always does.
Keeping my eye on Oroville dam. Although I can't find verification, considering the amount of current outflow it looks like water is being released down the spillway. They had been releasing quite a bit through the power plant, but I don't think this volume of water can go through the power plant.
Oroville Dam and Spillway - at 771 feet, Oroville dam is the tallest dam in the United States
(more info below photo)
Just now checking on inflows and outflows:
https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/QueryF?s=OROLooks like outflow (11,605 cubic feet per second) is a bit more than current inflow (11,264 cfs). This really is a tremendous amount of water, both coming in and going out. 1 cubic foot equals about 7 1/2 gallons. So 11,605 cfs is equal to 86,811
gallons of water -
per second - coming into the dam.
Due to this tremendous outflow (about as much is going out as is coming in), the water level in the dam is not rising at the moment - but the Feather River (outflow of Oroville dam goes into the Feather River) is definitely rising, although I don't think water is up on the levees yet.
The level of the Feather River near me is predicted to reach about 50 feet within the next few days, a "Stage II Warning" is 65 feet. "Full Alert" is 70 feet.
So still a lot of room to spare, but I am keeping my eye on things.
More water to come, of course. Watching our local tv weatherperson (Mark Finan) on his YouTube channel, this is the first of three incoming "atmospheric rivers" that will hit California over the next several days.
Luckily, this current storm is on the cooler side, but warmer storms are probably coming - and with warmer storms a massive snow melt could begin.
The worry here is not only the incoming torrential downpours, but also the snowmelt.
Stay tuned!
Anne