Presidents Day storm could be biggest one yet
Officials released some impressive facts Saturday as Mother Nature took a respite from the stormy conditions that roared through the area Friday:
The city of Modesto’s Forestry Department responded to 450 calls, finding 177 trees down and 129 broken limbs.
The Turlock Fire Department reported 11 calls for downed power lines, as well as calls for a tree that had fallen into a house, smoke in a building and a natural gas leak.
The Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services has closed parts of nearly a dozen roads for flooding.
But the scariest fact may have come from forecaster Brooke Bingaman at the National Weather Service in Sacramento: It’s likely the worst is still ahead of us.
Another storm system is expected to move into the Northern San Joaquin Valley on Sunday evening, and it well could be more powerful than the last one, with sustained winds Monday of 20 to 30 mph and gusts of up to 50 mph. And still more rain, anywhere from 1 to 2 inches in the Modesto area, Bingaman said.
With creeks and rivers full to the brim and soil already saturated, “There’s nowhere for the water to go,” she said. “We’re trying to send out a much stronger message that pretty much anyone in Northern California should be prepared for flood impacts.”
Bingaman said the rain will move in Sunday evening, but the brunt of the storm isn’t expected to arrive until Monday. “It’s going to be one of those days,” she said. Wind and rain are expected throughout the day, with showers continuing until Tuesday. And a secondary surge is possible Tuesday into Wednesday, though it’s expected to be lighter than Monday’s storm.
“The thing is, even though the brunt of the storm is hitting Monday, we will see continued storm impacts,” she said.
Patty Guerra: 209-578-2343, @PattyGuerra
Erin Tracy: 209-578-2366, @ModestoBeeCrime
Road closures
There are a handful of road closures throughout the county due to flooding, and a bridge that serves as the southern exit to Waterford will close Tuesday in anticipation of heavy rain and the potential for rising levels and increased flows on the Tuolumne River.
The Waterford/Hickman bridge will close Tuesday with traffic being routed to Geer Road, according to a post on the Waterford Police Services Facebook page. The flow of the river is expected to increase from 11,000 cubic feet per second to 15,000 cubic feet per second.
The following roads also were closed recently:
- In Grayson: Grayson Road from Cox Road to Shiloh Road. This is the portion of the road that crosses the San Joaquin River.
- South of Patterson: Oak Flat Road in the area between where it crosses the California Aqueduct and passes under Interstate 5 between Ward Avenue and Diablo Grande Parkway
- East of Vernalis near Ingram Creek: Pelican Road between River Road and Center Road
- Along the San Joaquin River north of Newman: River Road from Hills Ferry Road to Crows Landing Road
- West of Turlock: Vivian Road between Keyes Road and Monte Vista Avenue
- Bonds Flat between Highways 59 and 132 will be closed by 9 a.m. Monday.
- Eastin Road, Jorgenson Road and Orestimba Road at Bell Road in the Newman area have been closed since January.
This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Presidents Day storm could be biggest one yet."