PROJECT ALERT NOTICE (CA) California experiencing another wave of AR storms—Continued: Day 4

Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2017 16:55:15 EST

Summary: Flooding is expected as multiple atmospheric rivers continue to bring heavy rainfall and snow to parts of California today and into next week.

Heavy rain, high winds, and snow are expected across most of California beginning today and continuing into tomorrow. Many parts of central and southern California are under flood warning, with higher elevations under winter storm warning. Major and wide-spread flooding is expected, particularly in the greater metropolitan areas of Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Statewide, numerous streams are more than 90 percent above normal flow for this time of year, with many of those streams predicted to peak and exceed flood or monitor stage late Sunday or on Monday.

The California Water Science Center (CAWSC) has 10 crews responding to this event today from the following service areas: Santa Maria, CA (3); Redlands, CA (3); and Santa Cruz, CA (4).

In addition to routine USGS flood-response, some crews are also conducting specific scientific work in coordination with USGS cooperative partners. Today, one USGS crew is conducting flow verification measurements over a range of timed floodgate releases on Rio Hondo below Whittier Narrows Dam (11102300) in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District. Another USGS crews is conducting streamflow measurements and storm water-quality on the Mojave River as part of a cooperative study with the Mojave Water Agency to help inform water-resource management decisions.

More crews are planned to deploy tomorrow and into next week in response to these events. No safety issues have occurred during this series of storms and all staff have followed USGS field reporting and safety protocols. Updates will continue to be provided during the course of this event.