‘Strongest storm system’ in 2 years headed to Fresno area. What to expect

A Pacific weather front heading for the central San Joaquin Valley is likely to be the biggest rainfall producer in at least two years —prompting Fresno County officials to brace for problems, including mud slides where the Creek Fire burned in 2020.

The front is likely to bring one to two inches of rainfall to the Valley floor, and three to five feet of snow above 10,000 feet in the Sierra Nevada.

“The bottom line,” the National Weather Service forecast Wednesday, “is that this storm system could potentially be the strongest storm system to impact Central California in the past two years.”

Mountain mud slide caution

Also concerning is the possibility that the storm will drop three to five inches inches of rain in lower areas of the Sierra, including Shaver Lake.

Burn scars from the Creek Fire have left those areas at risk for mud and rock flows, according to David Spector, a meteorologist for the weather service in Hanford.

Public and private agencies are aware of that risk and are working with the weather service to pin down exactly when and where the front will hit, said Ken Austin, of Fresno County’s Office of Emergency Services.

Austin said his office is already meeting twice a day with Cal Fire, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, Caltrans and utility companies to identify problem areas and preposition resources.

“All the agencies are looking at what they can do to prepare,” he said.

Storm timing in central California

Spector said the weather front from the Pacific will move into a low pressure area in the central California region by Sunday night.

It will be preceded by gusts of wind up to 35 mph on Sunday and constant velocities of 20 mph. The wind could blow leaves off trees, which clog gutters on city streets, causing flooding.

The so-called atmospheric river will move from the southwest to the northeast. It is unusual for such a front to approach the region in mid-October, said Spector. Such fronts generally don’t move in until December or January.

Northern California braces for weather

The wet weather will be even stronger north of Fresno, where forecasters in Sacramento are predicting a massive storm front.

The wet weather does not by an means indicate that the drought is over, however. Spector said that by Tuesday, the region would be drying out and a long period of dry weather would follow.

In Yosemite National Park, Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road will both be closed in anticipation of the storm.

This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 12:28 PM.