Folsom Lake Water Level Rises Above Historical Average
FOLSOM (CBS13) - Folsom Lake has crossed an important drought milestone: lake levels are now above the historical average for this date.
El Nino-driven storms in our region have filled the lake up above the historical level of 507,878 acre feet for this date, to over 528,563 acre feet -- 54 percent of capacity, or 104 percent of average.
Folsom Lake hit its historic low on December 5, 2015 when it dropped to 135,000 acre feet.
Thomas Husey remembers how quickly things changed during the drought in the 1970s.
"Happens every so many years. It gets dry and then it gets wet so it's all good," he said. "That happened in November 1977 and right after that deluge and the water level came up."
Rain is expected to arrive in our area on Tuesday morning, and although totals will be light, temperatures could be cold enough for snowflakes down as low as 2,000 in the foothills. By the afternoon, valley rain/foothills flurries should be done, with continued snow showers higher in the Sierra.
A fast-moving system is expected to move through our region on Wednesday, bringing plenty of clouds and a chance or rain – although heaviest action could stay just to our north. Snow levels in this system could be around 4,000 feet.