- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Final leg of storms expected to start Wednesday; south county schools to resume classes
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The rainy conditions that have lasted over the past four days are expected to begin tapering off on Wednesday and Thursday, giving way to clearer skies into next week.
Tuesday was another day of heavy rain, which led to roadway flooding and slipouts, a flooding advisory for parts of Hidden Valley Lake and a series of road closures, including one on Highway 175 between Cobb and Middletown.
For the 24-hour period ending at 12 a.m. Wednesday, National Weather Service's observation stations reported the following rainfall totals, in inches.
– Bear Canyon (Middletown): 6.47.
– Boggs Mountain: 3.81.
– Cache Creek (near Lower Lake): 1.39.
– Cobb: 5.07.
– Hidden Valley Lake: 2.44.
– High Glade Lookout (above Upper Lake): 3.27.
– Indian Valley Reservoir: 1.39.
– Jerusalem Grade (Middletown): 3.51.
– Kelseyville: 2.69.
– Putah Creek (Middletown): 2.81.
– Soda Creek at Lake Pillsbury): 3.70.
– Upper Lake: 1.80.
– Whispering Pines: 5.88.
The National Weather Service extended its flood warning for the southern two-thirds of Lake County through 2:45 p.m. Thursday, with the high wind warning expiring at midnight Wednesday.
Wednesday's specific forecast for Lake County calls for a 40-percent chance of showers, with rainfall amounts for the day and night estimated at about half an inch. There also is the potential for winds, with gusts into the low 20s.
During the day Thursday, there is a lesser chance of showers, with a mix of sunny and partly cloudy conditions anticipated through next Tuesday.
Tuesday's storm led the Middletown Unified School District to close schools for the day, but district officials reported on Tuesday night that they were planning to reopen schools on Wednesday, although those plans could change depending on weather conditions.
Schools in the district will begin classes one hour later than usual in order to allow buses to get on the roads in the daylight in case there are roadway hazards. Students will be released at their regular time.
A closure on a portion of Highway 175 between Middletown and Cobb was reported on Tuesday, and Middletown Unified said students would be bused in the long way around through Kelseyville if necessary, school officials said.
Late Tuesday, the rest of the county's school districts had not indicated potential closures for Wednesday.
Lake County's creeks continued to run to run high, based on data from the US Geological Survey's many stream gauges.
Those creeks helped to increase Clear Lake's depth, which at around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday was at 6.28 feet Rumsey, having risen from just under 4 feet Rumsey before the storms hit.
Indian Valley Reservoir also is filling up, with 97,034 acre feet of water in storage on Tuesday, compared to 23,458 acre feet on Jan. 10, 2016, according to Yolo County Flood and Water Conservation District, which owns and operates the reservoir.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.