PROJECT ALERT NOTICE (CA) Flood response due to continued flooding

Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2024 13:25:01 EST

Summary: atmospheric river brings strong wind and rains to parts of CA

The current atmospheric river brought strong winds and widespread rainfall, particularly affecting the City of Los Angeles and Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Santa Barbara Counties.

Much of yesterday afternoon and overnight, high winds affected the northern and central coast, including a swath from Mendocino and Santa Cruz Counties to Nevada and Placer Counties. Strong gusts of over 100 miles per hour were reported in the San Francisco area. This morning, over 500,000 people were reported to be without electricity, and dozens of flights were delayed or canceled. One person is reported to have died yesterday when a tree was blown over.

The extended rainfall on top of the rainfall brought by the atmospheric river last week caused elevated flows in the Sacramento River, Russian River near Hopland, Santa Ynez River near Lompoc, Santa Margarita River at Ysidora, and the San Diego River at Fashion Valley streamgages. High precipitation is continuing in a swath from Los Angeles through San Bernardino, including the Ridgecrest area, and high precipitation is ongoing from the Big Sur area to Turlock.

No peaks of record flows are expected. Sespe Creek and Matilija Creek north of Ventura are not functioning due to high flows.

25 CAWSC field crews comprised of 43 staff are measuring streamflows, collecting sediment samples, and repairing streamgages, primarily in the coastal counties from Lake County through San Diego County, Riverside, and San Bernardino, and the Cache Creek settling basin near Sacramento.