CA - ‘Uncharted territory’ as Lake Oroville rises toward damaged dam

[SophieRose]

I just realized why this was not a huge national story -- the election

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUdx_UNqT8k#t=190.941553

And that video was taken in January, think of what it must look like after the Feb storms.

ETA: Yosemite Valley flooded in January 2017.

 

[SophieRose]

Here's your guy!!!!

[video=youtube;XebiEZG2mck]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XebiEZG2mck[/video]

Sophie-

Native Floridian, does all of this melt or does a lot of it stay at high altitudes all year??

,Maybe that is why this is blowing my brain out!!

Most of it is going to melt, remember California not only depends on rain but the snow for water, authorities always checking both. In the higher elevations it will remain snow and you will see patches of snow all over the Sierra.

We have glaciers in California.
http://glaciers.us/glaciers-california

 

[DeDee]

Happy birthday!

[video=twitter;831744875896803328]https://twitter.com/GMA/status/831744875896803328[/video]

 

[Hatfield]

....snipped for focus.....

I had to do a facepalm every time I heard the reporters say, that a "decision" was made to use the auxiliary spillway. They didn't decide to use it. The water went over the top of it. .

I am just tuning into the thread and have seen some news reports about this.

Re BBM
As I watched some of the news that is what I thought too and the news people made it seem like they were flipping a switch to use that overflow dam part and Im like Wait a minute here. If that lake gets too full there is no switch involved there. LOL Its going to go over that emergency overflow dam part because it is lower height.

A simple design of man made lakes is to have the emergency overflow part at a lower height than the top of the main concrete dam. Aint no switches involved with that. LOL

Thanks Kaboom for confirming what I was thinking too.

And thanks Cariis for all the good articles.

Prayers for people in the affected area.

 

[CARIIS]

Good video of what it looks like now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLeod6x87Tu6eVFnSyEtQeOVbxvSWywPlx&v=VBP-4ah3U6s#t=24.882975

Most Snow Measured in a Month: 390 Inches
Extreme snowfall in Mammoth Lakes, California, after feet of snow fell in the Sierra Nevada during January 2017.


Read more at https://thewatchtowers.com/20-feet-...l-records-in-u-s-history/#vKThW7DyjOgweV2D.99



[h=2]1,200 tons of rock an hour dumped[/h]
One quarry worked around the clock to mine boulders as heavy as 6 tons. An army of workers mixed concrete slurry to help seal the rocks in place.



http://www.latimes.com/local/califo...ville-dam-a-30-foot-1486999579-htmlstory.html
It all goes into this system of the dams

 

[SophieRose]

Here's your guy!!!!

Sophie-

Native Floridian, does all of this melt or does a lot of it stay at high altitudes all year??

,Maybe that is why this is blowing my brain out!!

Most of the minor roads through the Sierra are closed throughout the winter. Tioga Pass, through Yosemite, is at the highest elevation at nearly 10,000 ft, Sonora Pass not much lower. Here is a list of opening and closings for Tioga Pass and the snowpack throughout the years. You can see how below average the snowpack was during the drought. 1995 was 178% of average and 2015 was only 7% of average. I remember only maybe 10 days of rain during that season.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm

Clearing of the Tioga Road normally begins on or about April 15 each year and usually takes between one and two months. Predicting when these roads will open is not possible, even in late spring, because April and May weather significantly affects plowing progress. (April 1 snowpack (water content of the snowpack as a percent of average) for the Tuolumne drainage is listed as a reference.)

Here's a video of someone driving 108 in June 2011, probably right after the road opened. They are coming from the east (high desert) to the west. Notice all the starting around 1:00, that's probably near the top, Sonora Pass. 2011 snowpack was 178% of normal.

[video=youtube;4TsMy0fUtFY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TsMy0fUtFY[/video]

 

[pandamonium]

Pic to compare lake in 2015 vs now.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[MIKAYOYO]

Pic to compare lake in 2015 vs now.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Wow! Thanks for this pic. That's amazing.

 

[tarabull]

FOCUS: How the Lake Oroville Dam is just the beginning of California's flood fears
February 15, 2017

Snipped...

...With more rain coming and a massive snow pack piling up, the state’s reservoirs and dams are being pushed to their limits

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s National Inventory of Dams, there are 1,585 dams in California.

...California Department of Water Resources calculations show the snow pack is near - and in some places exceeds -its highest level, recorded in 1983. Several major floods occurred in the spring of 1983 after the water levels in reservoirs, rivers and levees overflowed.

Read more: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/infographic-744118-california-reservoirs.html

 

[tarabull]

LA County Orders Inspection of Dams After Oroville Emergency
February 15, 2017

http://www.usnews.com/news/californ...s-inspection-of-dams-after-oroville-emergency

 

[tarabull]

State may reduce water releases at troubled Northern California dam, even as new storm looms
February 15, 2017

Snipped...

State officials say they may slow down the spigot at the troubled Oroville Dam, even as they face approaching storms.

"This next storm won't pose a risk to the emergency spillway or the work we're doing," William Croyle, acting director of the California Department of Water Resources said at a noon press briefing in Oroville, California.

...Speaking to reporters Wednesday, the sheriff said preparation still is important for residents in the downstream communities. "This is an opportunity for them to get things together…if the risk level increases and there's a need for us to issue an evacuation order," he said.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/15/oroville-dam-repairs-continue-as-trump-approves-relief-for-state.html

 

[CARIIS]

FOCUS: How the Lake Oroville Dam is just the beginning of California's flood fears
February 15, 2017

Snipped...

Read more: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/infographic-744118-california-reservoirs.html

Hey guys

lets just be honest --ha- since 1983 have we all not gotten more pooped? Just in our lives?

This is just like metal fatigue in jetliners IMO -

Just how OUR joints work, and from what I have learned the last week this entire system has been under so much strain and snowmelt has not even started.

In my head visually this is like dominos. Maybe this one can make it - but during snowmelt any one of them downstream has to cause a cascade effect??

They are all I think, interconnected. That Don Pedro one is full. I aint that smart -- but it seems to me that like this one, when they get full they overtop-

What else can happen? Shasta outflow / inflow rates suc@. Then I say to myself - you know nothing- they know what they are doing and then I see this post (TY my dear) which translates to they are lying.

"The spillway is fine, we plan to keep up at 100, 000 and now they are saying humm maybe we better turn it off and take a look.


We have all played with sand at the beach ....................................................

I did it a lot - and with hoses- and moved stuff around to see what happened- it was like if I put more sand here where would the water go? Or made this "trench " deeper what would the water do ?

Water means business and has its own mind

fun when not dealing with .....................

 

[CARIIS]

Dam operators are expecting the coming storms to deliver inflows of 40,000 to 50,000 cubic feet per second; outflows over the main spillway will be kept at 100,000 cfs, assuming the structure holds.
By comparison, during last week’s storm – which came in unusually warm and wet – inflow peaked at 197,000 cfs.


At some point, he said, DWR will look to reduce the massive releases coursing down the dam’s damaged main spillway, but no timeline for those reductions has been set.
“We don’t want to tear up our flood-control structure anymore than it already has been,” he said. “We are feeling very good about the reservoir conditions.”

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article132905779.html





Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article132905779.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article132905779.html#storylink=cpy

 

[CARIIS]

Latest:

Shooting for 60 instead of 50 feet lower. They will be reudcing outflow at the spillway starting friday (one third lower than present 100000).

Bewlow 840 feet

The largest inflows are expected on Tues

Htoel that has housed contracters has told them to leave tomm so they can start making some $$.

They want em to go live in some dump over the weekend, however fine dining will provided by states felons (not a joke)

http://www.latimes.com/local/califo...-hope-to-lower-lake-1487180622-htmlstory.html

Ahhh humanity.......

 

[tarabull]

California Officials Rush to Drain Lake Oroville as Another Storm Gathers
February 15, 2017

http://time.com/4672864/california-lake-oroville-dam-spillway-new-storm/?xid=homepage

 

[SophieRose]

http://temblor.net/earthquake-insights/oroville-dam-is-also-at-seismic-risk-2538/

On August 1, 1975, a M=5.8 earthquake struck 8 km (5 mi) southeast of the town of Oroville (the USGS lists two events, a M=5.7 and M=5.8 within 8 seconds of one another. We assume this is actually a single event with two possible magnitudes, locations and depths). From July 1974 to January 1975, the Lake’s water level was lowered by approximately 40 m (130 ft), and then quickly raised again (Lahr et al., 1976). Such rapid fluctuations in water level are believed to have triggered the second largest induced earthquake ever recorded.

snip

An interesting question is whether after 5 years of drought, the large and rapid refilling of the Lake this winter—from 1/3 full to brim full—could set the stage for future induced earthquakes at the Lake. It should be noted that the dam has been regularly subject to rigorous site specific seismic hazard analysis. Nonetheless, both the spillway integrity and seismic resilience point to the same need for safety, strength, and vigilance.

 

[Karinna]

Foothills Fault System.
This fault system, which roughly defines the boundary between the
Central Valley and the Sierra Neva
da, lies approximately 4 miles ea
st of the site. The Foothills
Fault System, between Folsom and Oroville, is bo
und on the east by the northward trending
Melones fault zone and on the west by the northwestward trending Bear Mountain fault zone
(Bulletin of the Seismological Society of Amer
ica, February 1978). The magnitude 5.7 Oroville
earthquake occurred on this system in Augus
t 1975 on the Cleveland Hill Fault near Lake
Oroville Reservoir, approximately 4.3 miles to the
southeast of the Specific Plan area, producing a
rupture length of 3.4 miles.
https://www.buttecounty.net/Portals/10/Docs/Planning/Projects/SP08-0001/4 6 Geology Soils.pdf

Wonder how the faults running through California impacts the Lake Oroville and surrounds?

 

[CARIIS]

http://temblor.net/earthquake-insights/oroville-dam-is-also-at-seismic-risk-2538/

On August 1, 1975, a M=5.8 earthquake struck 8 km (5 mi) southeast of the town of Oroville (the USGS lists two events, a M=5.7 and M=5.8 within 8 seconds of one another. We assume this is actually a single event with two possible magnitudes, locations and depths). From July 1974 to January 1975, the Lake’s water level was lowered by approximately 40 m (130 ft), and then quickly raised again (Lahr et al., 1976). Such rapid fluctuations in water level are believed to have triggered the second largest induced earthquake ever recorded.

snip

An interesting question is whether after 5 years of drought, the large and rapid refilling of the Lake this winter—from 1/3 full to brim full—could set the stage for future induced earthquakes at the Lake. It should be noted that the dam has been regularly subject to rigorous site specific seismic hazard analysis. Nonetheless, both the spillway integrity and seismic resilience point to the same need for safety, strength, and vigilance.

I read that the other day - the pressure of being full smashes down moving stuff underneath.

 

[CARIIS]

Update:

Now it is gonna be the biggest storm thus far.

10 Inches of Rain Headed for Oroville Dam Area, Revised Storm Forecast Warns

Storm headed to Oroville Dam area carries 10 inches of rain, revised forecast warns

then

The rain has started to return in Northern California and will continue over the next few days, but officials aren't as concerned about the upcoming weather so much as the damage already done to the Oroville Dam's already compromised main spillway.
The risk of flooding has dropped substantially, but Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea warned residents Wednesday that they remain in "an emergency situation."

Just turned on local amazing how everything changed in the last 10 hours .

Now it is a huge storm - could be worse than the last one --snowfall 14 feet .

Channel 5.

Gonna be warmer than they said bad news more snow melt

http://www.latimes.com/local/califo...ng-for-oroville-dam-1487297661-htmlstory.html

http://ktla.com/2017/02/16/10-inche...oville-dam-area-revised-storm-forecast-warns/

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/category/news/


OUtflow is down to 80000 inflow 26000

then

[FONT=&amp]Director Bill Croyle said Thursday that officials identified three areas where erosion caused the most concern about potential flooding.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]He says one area has been 100 percent repaired, while the others were 25 percent and 69 percent fixed.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Croyle says officials are reducing the amount of water released from the lake, but he still expects the level to continue falling through the duration of storms forecast in the coming days.

With less water flowing down the dam’s spillway, officials hope to clear debris that threatens a hydroelectric power plant at the base of the dam.[/FONT]
https://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?ORO

then

Duarte Orders Evacuations In Burn Area Ahead Of Storm

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video/category/news/3623788-duarte-orders-evacuations-in-burn-area-ahead-of-storm/

Then

You pick

Its a cat 2

Its a cat 5

Its a cat 4

Its a tropical depression

Its a drizzle



They do have it down to 88%. THAT i beleive !!

YES, I am pisse@ and I am on the other side of the nation - this is nonsense.imo



Get a canoe or sun block

I am trying to update - and its all over the place

I so feel for those people

thank god they do not do hurricanes like this

jjeeezzzzzzzzzzz

 

[CARIIS]

Most of the minor roads through the Sierra are closed throughout the winter. Tioga Pass, through Yosemite, is at the highest elevation at nearly 10,000 ft, Sonora Pass not much lower. Here is a list of opening and closings for Tioga Pass and the snowpack throughout the years. You can see how below average the snowpack was during the drought. 1995 was 178% of average and 2015 was only 7% of average. I remember only maybe 10 days of rain during that season.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm

Clearing of the Tioga Road normally begins on or about April 15 each year and usually takes between one and two months. Predicting when these roads will open is not possible, even in late spring, because April and May weather significantly affects plowing progress. (April 1 snowpack (water content of the snowpack as a percent of average) for the Tuolumne drainage is listed as a reference.)

Here's a video of someone driving 108 in June 2011, probably right after the road opened. They are coming from the east (high desert) to the west. Notice all the starting around 1:00, that's probably near the top, Sonora Pass. 2011 snowpack was 178% of normal.

[video=youtube;4TsMy0fUtFY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TsMy0fUtFY[/video]

Two words

Good Lord

The snow scares me more than the rain - I am used to rain