PROJECT ALERT NOTICE (CA) Flooding continues for California - Day 10

Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2017 22:14:50 EST

Summary: Flooding continues in California as another series of AR storms brings more rain to the region.

Another series of atmospheric river storms will bring rain and snow to California today and continuing possibly through the end of next week (Feb 23). Today and tomorrow, precipitation is expected for all parts of California, with the storm tomorrow expected to bring as much as 4-6 inches of rain to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued flash flood warnings for much of southern California for Friday, Feb 17. Major flooding is expected, along with increased potential for flash floods, landslides, and debris flows, especially in recent wildfire burn areas.

Today, many counties remain under flood warning or flood watch, with much of the central valley under a 7-day hazardous weather outlook. The NOAA/NWS California Nevada River Forecast Center reports many California rivers remain above flood (14 gages) or monitor (34 gages) stage today, including 13 gage locations along the Sacramento River, 4 gages on the San Joaquin River, and 4 gages on the Feather River.

The California Water Science Center (CAWSC) has 2 crew responding to this event today from the Redding, CA (1), and Ukiah, CA (1) service areas. Today, these crews finished deploying 25 water-level monitors along the Feather River floodplain below Oroville Dam to collect data that may be used to advance and refine hydrologic models. These data are collected as part of a short-term network that will be used by the USGS to monitor the watershed for the remainder of California's rainy season. The USGS is coordinating this work with officials from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). Although the mandatory evacuation for the Oroville, CA area has been lifted, an evacuation warning remains in effect and the USGS is following standard safety protocols while working in the area.

No safety issues have occurred during this series of storms and all staff have followed USGS field reporting and safety protocols. Many flood response crews are expected to deploy tomorrow and into the weekend. Updates will continue to be provided during the course of this event.