Snowmelt in California is still worsening in mid-July after a record winter
Updated: 11:40 am PDT July 17, 2023
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THE GREEN BACK TO YOU. OK, THANK YOU SO MUCH, ERIN. IT MAY BE MID-JULY, BUT THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF REASONS TO TALK ABOUT SNOW IN THE SIERRA. THIS IS BECAUSE THE SNOW MELT IS NOT YET OVER AFTER A RECALL IN WINTER. KCRA 3. MIKE TESELLE IS LIVE AT FOLSOM LAKE WITH A VIDEO OF THE SNOW MELTING THAT CREATED IT THIS MORNING. SO THE BOTTOM OF THAT MOUNTAIN IS STILL DOWN. MIKE. YOU KNOW, IN LAST YEARS, STANDING HERE ON THE SHORE OF FOLSOM LAKE AND LOOKING AT THE WATER USED TO BE A DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW LOW THE LAKE WAS. AND HOW LITTLE WATER IS IN THIS LAKE. BUT LEARN HOW THIS LAKE LOOKS NOW. ALSO, THE VIDEO I JUST SAW POSTED FROM A KCRA 3 VIEWER THIS WEEK. XEN, WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WINTER MUTING MAKES. TAKE A LOOK. THIS IS VIDEO ALONG A SECTION OF THE PALMER FALLS TRACK IN YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK. THIS LAST WEEK DID. AND THIS IS A KCRA 3 VIEWER HAVING TO NAVIGATE THROUGH ANKLE-DEEP WATER, RUNNING AROUND THE TRACK JUST TO GET TO THE FALLS. NOW FOR PERSPECTIVE, I DID THIS SAME JOURNEY ABOUT A YEAR AGO, AND THERE WAS ALMOST NO WATER ON THAT STRAIGHT STRAIGHT. BUT THIS IS NOT THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THE CONTINUING SNOW IN THE SIERRA IS SHOWING AN IMPACT. ACTUALLY TAKE A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS FOR LAKE FOLSOM WITH THE WATER STILL COMING INTO THAT LAKE. AT 131% OF ITS HISTORICAL AVERAGE, LAKE OROVILLE AT 136%, AND EVEN LAKE SHASTA, THE STATE’S LARGEST, IS AT 123% OF AVERAGE. BUT AGAIN, ANOTHER LOOK AT LAKE FOLSOM FROM THE LAST READING, STILL ABOUT 30,500 CUBIC FEET PER SECOND OF WATER GOING INTO THAT LAKE AND THE LAKE LEVEL CURRENTLY. At 459 feet, that’s about two feet short of its high point for the season. BYE NOW. SO IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY, INSTEAD OF DROUGHT AND LOW WATER LEVELS, YOU CAN SEE BEHIND ME A LOT OF WATER HERE AT FOLSOM LAKE, ALL BECAUSE THE SNOW IS STILL DEEP. THIS END OF SUMMER
Snowmelt in California is still worsening in mid-July after a record winter
Updated: 11:40 am PDT July 17, 2023
A record snowfall winter in California, coupled with a triple-digit heat wave, continues to flood Sierra trails and fill valley reservoirs with snow runoff. In a video posted to social media by a KCRA 3 viewer, water up to his ankles. could be seen running over the railroad toward Wapama Falls in Yosemite National Park last week. “Tueeulala and Wapama Falls were roaring even in July,” read @drkoz23’s post. Closer to Lake Tahoe, streams of water continue to flow in trails above 7,000 feet. The impact of snowmelt is also seen in the state’s reservoir. With nearly 3,500 cubic feet per second of water still flowing into Folsom Lake this week, the lake’s storage stood at 131 percent of its historical average for this time of year. Lake Oroville was at 136% and Lake Shasta at 123%. The water level in Folsom Lake was recorded at 459 feet. That’s just two feet below its season high. “I counted six steps to the water on the pier. Last year, I think I counted 70,” KCRA3’s Teo Torres said during the KCRA 3 Morning News Monday.
A record snowfall winter in California, coupled with a triple-digit heat wave, continues to flood Sierra trails and fill valley reservoirs with snow runoff.
In a video posted to social media by a KCRA 3 viewer, ankle-deep water could be seen running over the railroad toward Wapama Falls in Yosemite National Park last week.
“Tueeulala and Wapama Falls were roaring even in July,” read @drkoz23’s post.
Closer to Lake Tahoe, streams of water continue to flow on trails above 7,000 feet.
The impact of snowmelt is also seen in the state’s reservoir.
With nearly 3,500 cubic feet per second of water still flowing into Folsom Lake this week, the lake’s storage stood at 131 percent of its historical average for this time of year. Lake Oroville was at 136% and Lake Shasta at 123%.
The water level in Folsom Lake was recorded at 459 feet. That’s just two feet below its season high.
“I counted six steps to the water on the pier. Last year, I think I counted 70,” KCRA3’s Teo Torres said during Monday’s KCRA 3 Morning News.
