All Aboard the Pineapple Express

[cdevine]

What a day.... Been watching the rivers and creeks swell as the heavens opened up big time. Would have loved to see temps colder as it seems like most of this is falling as rain below 8500k feet. At this point it looks like eastern sierra passes are getting a lot more snow than the western slope.

Truckee is over 3500 CFS in the canyon and almost 3k in Nevada.
Yuba River 25k+

Lots of H20 in our reservoirs.

Not many fishing windows in the next week. I'm going to try and catch the BT on the down. Going to get real cold later in the week. Like sub 0 in the high country for overnight lows.

Be safe.

[Sheepdog8404]

There's still a few tailwaters that are fishable! With this rain, the winter chromers should be pushing up into the lower American. Time to go hunt for some winter steel while the rest of the rivers are blown out!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Over here in Davis, CA we got missed by the rain.

[SeanO]

Salmon season in the Sac metro is almost done with these flows coming now.

[Mark Kranhold]

Here's a video a buddy sent me ,SF Yuba! Hate to be a Fish in that.
https://www.facebook.com/amory.kipster/videos/10211841120447004/i

[Sheepdog8404]

Here's a video a buddy sent me ,SF Yuba! Hate to be a Fish in that.
https://www.facebook.com/amory.kipster/videos/10211841120447004/i

That poor girl has lived a very boring life if that's "legitimately" the scariest thing she's ever seen.

[cdevine]

That poor girl has lived a very boring life if that's "legitimately" the scariest thing she's ever seen.



That is a pretty amazing video. Incredible how powerful mother nature is. Pretty amazing rain event for us in norcal. I heard Grass Valley, Blue Canyon, and foothills 5-7 + inches of rain in 24 hours. JB posted a cool video of englebright spilling on Facebook.
Looks like the east side the sierra did really well up top with snow.
Kirkwood 18 inches of new snow.
Mammoth 2.5 Feet at Summit

Winter storm warning with another 1-2 feet of snow coming on the west/east slope of sierra (Places like Sugar Bowl, Donner, kirkwood).

Looking like a good winter.

[John Sv]

Sorry to be the turd in the punchbowl Truckee got deluged and the river is up and chocolaty. Should move some fish around though.

I HATE it that Truckee is the new drip line, we at least is has been for the last 8 years. Even 2011, the last big year, the first half we had drip line issues. Heck we went mountain biking on New Years that year.
Precip is always a good thing, just wish it were white and fluffy! This upcoming event- could be rain or snow at 6K. fingers crossed!

[Mark Kranhold]

Sorry to be the turd in the punchbowl Truckee got deluged and the river is up and chocolaty. Should move some fish around though.

I HATE it that Truckee is the new drip line, we at least is has been for the last 8 years. Even 2011, the last big year, the first half we had drip line issues. Heck we went mountain biking on New Years that year.
Precip is always a good thing, just wish it were white and fluffy! This upcoming event- could be rain or snow at 6K. fingers crossed!

John, every time I hear turd in the punch bowl it reminds me of the scene in Caddy shack. Bill Murray taking a bite out of the baby Ruth that was floating in the pool.:D CLASSIC!!

[cdevine]

John, every time I hear turd in the punch bowl it reminds me of the scene in Caddy shack. Bill Murray taking a bite out of the baby Ruth that was floating in the pool.:D CLASSIC!!

Mark- Still my favorite movie. Nothing even close.

As for the precipitation I know its a bummer. Wish we had 2 feet on the ground in Truckee, but at this point water at least is getting into Tahoe, Donner, Boca, Prosser, Stampede, Folsom, etc, etc. We have tail waters with a few exceptions and I'm just grateful water is falling. This next one does look cooler so fingers crossed.

Fishing the BT on the down though will yield possibility of some big winter fish. A lot like steelhead fishing. You can get into something that will break you off quickly.

Fingers crossed. I realize I'm an optimist .

[PV_Premier]

So how high will the rivers go this weekend?

Looks like we are going to lose all that hard earned mid elevation snow, with rain again predicted up at pass levels. A real pain in the you know what this winter is turning out to be.

I'll say the Yuba hits 40-45K if the predictions of 10-15" rain come true. Maybe higher if it doesn't get the chance to level off before then (currently it's 17K and rising).

[tascaso]

We are hitting 50's in Modesto this week. Balmy for January, but the Tule Fog is not missed! The snowpack water content report from 1/3/17 is water content at 50% of average. We need big piles of snow falling up there into April!

[cdevine]

Wow... Been a great storm. It actually came through. Depending on where you are 50-60 inches of the white stuff over the last 4 days on the western slope. Mammoth area is sitting in amazing shape. Snowpack was 73% before this storm. They are up to 7 feet of new fluffy. There were some crazy models showing 16+ feet at 10k feet from these systems and they don't look so crazy anymore. Going to be a lot of snow this year.

For the western slope things look really dicey. We need some cold air because snow levels look to be very high on Sunday. I just hope that we keep that pack above 7-8k and colder air moves in right after. Long term forecast looks good with more snow next week. Hold on for the ride and please be careful around streams/creeks/rivers.

[John Sv]

I will get to see how our meadow/creek restorations and 3 new trail bridges hold up. Yikes!

[cdevine]

I will get to see how our meadow/creek restorations and 3 new trail bridges hold up. Yikes!

I hope so John. I would hate to see all that hard work "down the drain". The rainfall amounts are forecasted to be copious. Not sure 1997 ish but I guess time will tell. I'm going to try and make it out somewhere tomorrow. Either east on the Truckee or maybe one of the walkers. I'm going stir crazy. And starting Sat/Sunday it looks crazy again. If I was more into snowboarding today & tomorrow is going to be epic.

[yubaman]

Wow, here she comes! Check this out . . .

12581

[Troutstalker55B]

So how high will the rivers go this weekend?

Looks like we are going to lose all that hard earned mid elevation snow, with rain again predicted up at pass levels. A real pain in the you know what this winter is turning out to be.

I'll say the Yuba hits 40-45K if the predictions of 10-15" rain come true. Maybe higher if it doesn't get the chance to level off before then (currently it's 17K and rising).

Predicted to reach 85,000 as of today; http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sto&gage=mryc1
It's going to be exciting to document the entire event. - J.

[VinnySteel]

How many cubes did the Yuba reach in 97?

[cyama]

On Jan 1 1997 the YRS gauge reached 86,000 CFS after that the CDEC site says ABT. I am guessing ABT means there was too much water to measure.

[gitt]

Some things you don't forget. I recall reading the '97 event had rain at 10,000' and flows were at or near 13' above Englebright's spillway. Yosemite's high country had a snow pack of 10'. We had reservations New Years' Day in the Valley and did not go because of the weather and flooding event. Talked to park rangers later who shared their experience of the event. They said they observed predators waiting at the edge of the flood in the meadows for any animals that survived and made it to shore. During the evening the ranger said she heard large boulders rumbling as they rolled in the current's hydraulics- something they did not expect nor had experienced before.

Last winter, the Sierra received more rain than snow. If I recall correctly, rainfall came in at 60% of total precip. Warmer storms were the reason for the lack of snow. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as well.

[grnwtrs]

fwiw earlier today, I heard a newscast on the radio KCBS that there was a likely storm this weekend comparable to the one in 1997.
What caught my attention is that only last night, I clicked on a link on this forum that showed parts of that storm in 1997.

The parts of what I saw was the motel area upon arriving Quincy, some to the downtown area, and of course the 2 rivers area, including Cromberg on the middlefork of the feather. Also parts of the Feather River canyon. It sure looked bad.

I am usually on the north coast/south coast of Oregon then, but this year, I am waiting until February. Got a couple of projects in process that I would like to have done before leaving for Crescent City.

Lets hope the storm is nothing like the one 1997.

Regards,
gene

[yubaman]

The calm before the storm this morning. Sunrise, a beauty . . .1258312583

[SeanO]

The calm before the storm this morning. Sunrise, a beauty . . .1258312583

Red sky in the morning...

[PV_Premier]

Predicted to reach 85,000 as of today; http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=sto&gage=mryc1
It's going to be exciting to document the entire event. - J.

They have now bumped the flow prediction to nearly 97K with an expected crest just below flood stage. This would make it the 3rd highest crest in recorded history at that station, if it is realized as forecast.

As I moved here only 5-6 years ago, this doesn't feel "normal" despite the fact that I know it isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last that this occurs.

God save the fish.

[Troutstalker55B]

They have now bumped the flow prediction to nearly 97K with an expected crest just below flood stage. This would make it the 3rd highest crest in recorded history at that station, if it is realized as forecast.

As I moved here only 5-6 years ago, this doesn't feel "normal" despite the fact that I know it isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last that this occurs.

God save the fish.

Saw that this morning. That's a really neat page, if you go back to the main map you can scroll around and hit each station and get a preview. Got to thank Hogan for turning me onto that great source of information. I'll be updating social media during the event through FB and my blog. Lance and I may have to create an entirely new map of the Lower Yuba River after this winter...

[hwchubb]

We used to park at a gravel bar off Too Handy Rd and walk around giant tailing piles to my favorite wide riffle in the entire river. That 97 flood moved the river a good 300' to the north and the tailing piles - hundreds of thousands of yards at least - completely disappeared. I grew up in New England, where our bedrock granite freestone rivers just don't do that. It was an eye opener.

[bigfly]

As I recall, in 96-97 there were those who predicted huge dumps....of snow.
If I've seen three of these "100 year" events, I think the weather isn't co-operating, statistically.....
We don't have as much snow on the ground this year as the new years flood, but it stopped raining after two days then....
It's as big a melt event as I've seen......Tribs are in full voice.
6" of snow melted and no slowdown in sight...water is pouring off the roof....scary.
We are shoveling water, not snow, it's melting so fast, it backing up into garages, it's flooding up here......

Jim

[TyV]

We are shoveling water, not snow, it's melting so fast, it backing up into garages, it's flooding up here......

Jim


Thanks for the update. Please stay safe warm and dry. Hoping it turns back over to snow in the coming hours as forecast and things can begin to settle down. Please update us all when you can from there in Truckee.

Thanks again

Ty

[bigfly]

Looks like a massive 1 inch of snow today.....
The dripping has lessened.....
Weather service is predicting 3-5" in Truckee.....
Not sure where 3-5 feet is coming from.....
This is my pick for predicted info....they come close....
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Truckee&state=CA&site=REV&textField1=39.3281&textField2=-120.182&e=0

This is how I decide....been watching it for 15 years....
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/dml/west/nhem/nepac/wv.html
Watch it enough, and you won't need a weatherman......

I'll let you know if we have of a change....

Jim

[cdevine]

Looks like a massive 1 inch of snow today.....
The dripping has lessened.....
Weather service is predicting 3-5" in Truckee.....
Not sure where 3-5 feet is coming from.....
This is my pick for predicted info....they come close....
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Truckee&state=CA&site=REV&textField1=39.3281&textField2=-120.182&e=0

This is how I decide....been watching it for 15 years....
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/dml/west/nhem/nepac/wv.html
Watch it enough, and you won't need a weatherman......

I'll let you know if we have of a change....

Jim



ROUND 2!! Can't wait for this weekend when some of these 2 week totals start pouring in. I would not be surprised if most of the sierra is 200+% of normal. What a difference a storm window makes.

Be safe if you have to go on the roads. Hopefully people stay home.

[bigfly]

Up to a foot now....

Jim

[John Sv]

Jim, where are you-G-shire?
24 on top of old in the yard in Prosser.
Last Saturday I went up to Auburn Ski Club/ Boreal. Insta-winter. It went from having to climb 9 steps to get to the entrance to walking down to it. That was before this storm. 7200.

Wooohhhooooo!

[bigfly]

Sierra meadows....it may have rained more here.
It's part of the banana belt. I foot of fresh, and 6" old.
3-4 hours of shoveling and then we go fish....

Jim

[John Sv]

Word.
We got a blower about a decade ago. I do not miss shoveling! Skied around Prosser and everyone is working hard but with big smiles!!
Good luck fishing

[cdevine]

Word.
We got a blower about a decade ago. I do not miss shoveling! Skied around Prosser and everyone is working hard but with big smiles!!
Good luck fishing

Just read "rare" blizzard warning for greater Tahoe region. First one in almost a decade. Crazy.
Be good and take it easy.