The East Fork washes over the old Power Dam on Tuesday morning.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
While minor flooding was the rule around Carson Valley, the East Fork of the Carson River was expected to crest just below the action stage of 13 feet at around 4 p.m. today.
The river spiked as warm conditions and rain melted snow in the Pine Nuts on Tuesday.
Originally expected to crest at 10.6 feet by Tuesday night, it had reached 12.26 feet by 11 a.m. and was expected to continue to rise.
Most of that water was coming from the lower elevations, since it usually takes about 12 hours for a crest to arrive from Alpine County.
The East Fork was feisty downstream of the old power dam, but there wasn’t much sign it was threatening surrounding areas as of lunchtime Tuesday.
Upstream near Markleeville Creek, the East Fork crested 11:15 a.m. at 6.14 feet, well short of the 8 foot action stage and was already subsiding as cold temperatures turned rain to snow in the higher elevations.
The West Fork near Woodfords crested at 10:45 a.m. with 10.18 feet, far short of the 12.5-foot action stage.
The Sierra Foothills saw a little flooding, with ponding in downtown Genoa and a rivulet washing dirt onto Foothill Road near Walley’s Hot Springs.
In town, there were signs that the gutters along County Road had some issues keeping up with the rain, but there wasn’t much water on the road through downtown.
