Bass Lake spillage levels steadily dropping, PG&E reports

Bass Lake reached its spillage levels Friday morning, but by Monday those levels began to steadily drop, according to PG&E officials.

On Monday, Denny Boyles, spokesperson for PG&E, the water was trickling into the spill channel at 214 cubic feet per second.

Rain poured down on Bass Lake on Friday and was followed by snow throughout the weekend.

The area was issued a winter storm warning that lasted the entire weekend, along with much of the higher Sierra Nevada from Yosemite to Kings Canyon.

PG&E kept the Madera County Sheriff’s Office and the National Forest Service updated on the lake’s conditions, but no pre-evacuation advisories were issued.

Boyles said PG&E has been able to restore power for many of its foothill customers impacted by the storm.

Monday morning, there were almost no mass outages left in its Yosemite Division remained, after over 2,000 customers were left without power last week.

But the winter weather will continue in the communities in the Mariposa, Madera, and Fresno counties foothills, even at lower elevations.

Communities in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills above 1,500 feet were issued a winter weather advisory that lasted until Sunday at 4 p.m.

A foot of snow fell in Oakhurst and more than 3 feet fell in Bass Lake, according to the National Weather Service. A reprieve from the cold weather came the morning of Feb. 12, with sunny skies and highs 47 degrees Fahrenheit.

Snow is forecast to return to the foothills Wednesday night, with snow levels expected to reach as low as 2,000 feet.

This story was originally published February 15, 2019 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Bass Lake spillage levels steadily dropping, PG&E reports."