Modesto area will have sunny weekend before another storm adds to flood watch
The Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers remained below flood stage Friday morning, one of a few dry days before the next storm arrives.
The Tuolumne was at 54 feet above sea level at the Ninth Street Bridge as of 8 a.m., the California Department of Water Resources reported. That’s just 1 foot below flood stage, which the managers of Don Pedro Reservoir upstream plan to avoid.
The San Joaquin was 5 feet short of flooding Friday and projected to remain there for a few days. As a precaution, the Catfish Camp trailer park along Crows Landing Road has been evacuated.
Both rivers are expected to run high for several months as the huge snowpack in the central Sierra Nevada melts. They are unsafe for recreation even if they stay within their banks.
The National Weather Service forecast sunny but chilly days through Monday. The next storm could bring up to an inch of rain to Modesto through Wednesday, and up to 48 inches of snow in the Sierra watershed.
DWR said the snowpack was at 230% of average for March 24. It could break the record set in 1983 if April and May are wet, too. Normally, the storm season is about over around April 1, and the pack starts to shrink in the springtime sun.
