Modesto braces for more weekend rain and gusting winds that could topple trees
An evacuation warning remained in place Saturday for a rural area east of Patterson along the San Joaquin River.
The warning zone is on both sides of the river between Grayson and Marshall roads. The zone is as far west as Cox Road and Elm Avenue and as far east as Carpenter Road.
Officials issued the warning Friday.
The National Weather Service has the Northern San Joaquin Valley under a flood watch through Sunday morning as the rain continues.
“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” according to the flood watch. “Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.”
The weather service also has the area under a wind advisory through 7 p.m. Saturday. The advisory states the winds will be from the south at 15 to 30 mph with gusts of 40 to 50 mph expected. With the ground saturated from previous storms, that could mean more downed trees.
The weather service forecast calls for six-tenths to an inch of rain for Modesto on Saturday and as much as three-tenths on Sunday. Showers are in the forecast for Monday and a chance of showers for Tuesday.
The Modesto Irrigation District reported 0.16 inches of rain fell at its downtown gauge Friday, bringing the total for the current rain season to 10.98 inches. The MID rain season is July 1 through June 30. Nearly all of this season’s rain has fallen since December.
The MID’s downtown gauge records 12.2 inches in a typical entire season.
The Tuolumne River was at 43.76 feet at Ninth Street in Modesto as of Saturday morning, according to the situational status report from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department’s Threat Assessment Center. Flood stage is 55 feet.
The San Joaquin River was at 63.95 feet in Newman (flood stage is 69.4 feet) and at 46.42 feet in Patterson (flood stage is 54.7 feet). The status report states the trend is for the Stanislaus to continue to rise and the Tuolumne to recede. Dry Creek in Modesto also is expected to recede.
The report states 165 people have been evacuated. That includes 54 from the San Luis skilled nursing facility in Newman. They were evacuated Tuesday as a precaution.
Authorities also are monitoring waste-water treatment plants near the county’s rivers, but their focus is on Newman’s near the San Joaquin River.
The plant is expected to be impacted by the river, said Raj Singh, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department’s Office of Emergency Services. Singh said the county’s Department of Environmental Resources is working with Newman to mitigate potential impacts. He said that could include bringing in state and federal resources.
Singh said based on the current and expected river conditions, the other treatment plants — including Modesto’s, Riverbank’s and Patterson’s — are not expected to be affected.
This story was originally published January 14, 2023 at 12:09 PM.
