[pct-l] Sierra snowmelt

[goslowgofar at yahoo.com (goslowgofar)]

This was sent to the Yosemite employees from the
Wilderness Manager - thought some of you may be
interested.
Katy 


"What a spectacular year!!  This is the day or weekend
to get out and check it out!

Per  the hydrologists at the California Department of 
Water Resources, the snowpack generally is melting at
a rate of 1" or more a day (Tuolumne staff says they
are losing up to 1.5 inches/day).  Although more than
1/2 of the April 1 average pack is gone, the remaining
central Sierra snowpacks are still well above average
for this time of year. Snowmelt run-off has peaked in
Northern California and the Tahoe/Truckee river
basins, and is peaking in the Central and Southern
Sierra rivers in the next few days  (I think USGS is
predicting today or tomorrow). 

  At Happy Isles, the gage depth at 8:00  this morning
was 7.66', and the prediction for today at the Happy
Isles gaging station  is for the water to peak at 2
a.m. at 4,460 CFS (cubic feet second!) with a low at
4:00 pm at about 2,600 CFS.   To put the year into
perspective, at 8:00 this morning, the flow was 4,110
CSF, and the 85 year mean is 1,413 CFS .  Water at
Pohono Bridge, with the addition of Bridalveil Creek,
was running at 6,390 CSF this morning, with a gage
depth of 9.84'."   


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