Fresno breaks daily rain total as winter storm moves through central California

Fresno broke a daily record for precipitation on Monday as a promised storm blew through the area, flooding streets and causing power outages for thousands of PG&E customers.

By mid morning, .53 inches of rain was reported at Fresno Yosemite International airport — the most rain the city has seen on Oct. 25 since 1927, when .33 inches was reported, according to the National Weather Service. The number increased throughout the day, though the bulk to steady rain had dissipated by noon.

PG&E reported outages, including Clovis Unified schools

Just under 5,000 PG&E customers were without power in the Fresno region on Monday morning.

The bulk of the outages were minor, affecting less than 50 customers, with a larger outage near Friant and Nees affecting just over 1,000.

Some of the outages were caused by downed power lines, others were transformers related. All were weather related, according to PG&E. The company said it could continue to see additional outages throughout the city as the storms passed though. The utility company had a full complement of crews working.

Several of those outages were reported by Clovis Unified School District at some of its campuses, though classes continued while PG&E crews worked to restore power. Tarpey Elementary and CART experienced short outages that were restored quickly.

Longer outages were reported at Kastner Intermediate, Clark Intermediate and Sierra Vista Elementary. The schools remained open and classrooms without sufficient daylight were relocated, the district said. Restrooms and support facilities remained in working order, according to the district.

Power was restored at Kastner by 10:30 a.m. Sierra Vista and Clark had generators on site at that time. All schools had power restored by noon.

The district said its phone system operated at reduced capacity and asked that calls to the district be limited to those with “utmost urgency.”

Fresno wakes to heavy rain, flood warnings

National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Warning on Monday morning for parts of Madera and Fresno counties, including Minarets Raws station where three and a half inches have been measured before 8 a.m.

Flash flooding and debris flows was expected over much of the Creek Fire burn area and flooding was likely at Lake Thomas Edison, Peckinpah, Shaver Lake, Minarets, Huntington Lake, North Fork and other spots, according to the Weather Service, which said the warning would be in place until 4 p.m.

A Flood Warning was also in place for the northeastern parts of Mariposa and Madera counties and Fresno County until 8:45 a.m., where rainfall rates of .5 to .7 inches per hour were measured had been measured at Wawona and Shaver Lake, respectably.

Two to four inches fell around the Yosemite area early Monday, where a video posted by Twitter user @TerraNovaSierra showed Yosemite Falls as it roared “back to life,” thanks to the storm.

Levels on the Merced River rose rapidly and were flowing strong, but flood concerns were minimal, Yosemite National Park spokesman Scott Gediman said. That’s mostly because the river had been so low because of the drought.

There was some rocks and other debris that came down across roadways, which crews quickly worked to clear.

“Our road crews have been going since dawn this morning,” Gediman said.

Tioga and Glacier Point roads both remain closed. Those closures could remain in effect for the rest of the season. That decision was expected to come by Tuesday, Gediman said.

In the Sierra Nevada high country, the CHP put a chain control in place at Highway 168 and Balsam Sno-Park between Shaver and Huntington lakes in eastern Fresno County.

Roadways in and around Fresno were also affected by the storm Monday morning.

Between 7 and 8 a.m. the California Highway Patrol reported numerous flooding issues, including spots at Highway 41 at Shields Avenue and Highway 99 at Belmont Avenue. Fresno police warned motorists of slick and flooded roads, including the intersection of Cedar and Alluvial avenues where water was visibly pushing up over the sidewalks.

This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 8:02 AM with the headline "Fresno breaks daily rain total as winter storm moves through central California."