At press time on Wednesday, Clear Lake was quickly rising to flood stage, with forecasts predicting a crest during the night. No wonder after heavy rains earlier this week and another 6 inches of estimated rain to come in the coming days, the National Weather Service declared an official flood warning for Lake County and 22 others in California.
That rainfall will hit Lake County especially hard, causing Clear Lake to rise farther, threatening lakeside property and infrastructure.
It’s estimated that for every inch of rainfall, Clear Lake collects five inches of height.
As of Yesterday afternoon, Clear Lake sat just over 8.9 feet on the Rumsey gauge, nearly 1.4 feet above “full.” At roughly nine feet the lake is considered flooded.
The last time Clear Lake breached the 9.0 mark came in March of 2011, when it peaked at 9.37 on the Rumsey Gauge. In 1998 a reading of 11.44 marked major flooding.
According to the NWS, winds will churn the lake, causing it to fluctuate anywhere from it’s current level to nearly 9.5 feet on the Rumsey Gauge, a level that will flood some homes and lakeside roads.
Kory Reynolds, Lake County’s Highway Patrol Information Officer, said high lake levels will add to concerns for public safety. He said the rains have kept the CHP busy.
“We’re getting a lot of downed trees, a few crashes here and there,” Reynolds said.
He said up until now, the CHP’s main concern in Lake County has been keeping the major traffic veins, highways 29 and 175 clear of debris and wreckage.
Reynolds also said accidents have been relatively minor, especially compared to ones in the latter half of January. Residents and passersby have likely become used to the slick conditions and poor visibility accompanying recent storms.
But now the CHP will struggle to keep the lake from rising to unsafe levels.
“Once it goes onto Lakesore Drive, it becomes an issue,” he said, mentioning that vehicles often drive through flooded sections quickly, causing more waves and subsequent damage to lakeside property.
“Driving through it makes it worse for the people who’ve already got it bad,” he said.
Roads closed yesterday due to flooding and damages will remain closed until further notice. Such roads include Argonaut Road, Bell Hill Road and Clark Drive in Kelseyville. Lakeport also took on flooding in the usual places, including Hill Road, Scotts Valley Road and South Main Street.
Nice’s stretch of Lakeshore Boulevard closed from Hammond Avenue to Stokes Avenue, and other areas of Upper Lake experienced flooding and washouts on Elk Mountain Road, Scotts Valley Road and Bartlett Springs Road. Waters completely washed out Elk Mountain Road near mile marker 29.6, and the sheriff’s office has no estimate of when that road will reopen.
More closures may be announced as the waters rise.
Pacific Gas & Electric only shows three respective power outages in Lucerne, which affected under ten people.
Other outages have occurred or remained unfixed to the South of Lake County, near Santa Rosa and to the west, near Fort Bragg.
