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By Robyn White
Nature Reporter
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Rapidly melting snow amid high temperatures in California could see the Merced river flood.
The Merced River is 145 miles long and is a tributary of the San Joaquin River. It flows from the Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. The river also flows through the Yosemite National Park, and gets 85 percent of its flow—above the Happy Isles—from melting snow.
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An extremely wet winter and early spring period in California meant that there is now an extremely high amount of snowpack in the state. This was welcomed as a much needed source of replenishment for the state's reservoirs, which had been in a dire state thanks to the decade-long drought.
However, the Central California area is now experiencing "much warmer weather," the National Weather Service in Hanford reported, adding that this will "accelerate snowmelt."
"There is a 75 to 90 percent probability that the Merced River at Pohono Bridge will reach 12.5 feet next weekend or during the first full week of May," the National Weather Service said.
This brings an incredibly high chance of flooding.
The Merced River reaches a flooding level at 10 feet, and officials expect this to happen by April 27.
It is likely that the flooding will cause parts of Yosemite National Park to close. Forecasters estimate that roads towards the east of the park will become blocked.
The Yosemite National Park said in a Facebook post late last week that rafting and boating activities will be canceled as the river continues to rise. More closures could also happen depending on how high the river gets.
"In the meantime, be extremely cautious anywhere near the river," the park said in the post.
Snowpack in California has reached record levels this year. Towards the end of the wet weather at the end of March, the Southern Sierra Nevada, which stretch from San Joaquin and Mono counties to Kern County, had a snowpack level 257 percent greater than average for this time of year, according to data from the California Department of Water Resources.
The Central Sierra and Northern Sierras also accumulated much higher snowpack levels, at 218 percent and 168 percent of the average for this time of the year, respectively.
What experts hope for is a gradual melt throughout the spring season. But, now the warm weather is returning to the state, this is going to melt all of the snow very quickly.
This will not just cause problems in the Merced River.
Tulare Lake, a dry lake in the San Joaquin Valley, has flooded recently, causing devastation to farmlands that surround it.
Experts have said there is simply not enough infrastructure in place for the floods to be coped with.
Floods in areas that have seen drought for so long can often be incredibly difficult to manage. This is partly due to the ground being parched from years of dry conditions. This means that the water suddenly flowing down from the mountains can not saturate.
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