Atmospheric River

[John Morrow]

According to Newsweek, the system coming in from the coast tomorrow could bring 1.5 inches of rain to DV and recharge Lake Manly.  I wonder if it will come in a strong enough pulse to erase some of the significant road work that has been happening.

[TacoLand]

Yeah, I'm a bit apprehensive about what's going to happen down in DV. Up north in the Sierra we're staring down the barrel of a pineapple cannon right now.

Beardilocks had expressed concerns before about some of the latest roadwork done in DV, and after seeing last week how those roads handled 24 hours of light-to-moderate rain I'm ... well, actually more than a bit apprehensive.

Beardilocks – any chance of you doing some live weather casts from Lake Manly for us viewers back home?!

[MojaveGeek]

It is my understanding that the main source of road damage is perhaps relatively short periods of intense rainfall. I am hoping this one is pretty well spread out over a couple of days - that is what the precip forecast shows. That won't prevent mud, standing water, and temporary road closures but hopefully does not really kill roadbeds or wash out asphalt. Hopefully being the operative word. You guys out there better get to some good place where you can batten down the hatches and sit out some nasty weather starting late Sunday.

[Brice]

I'll probably look to reenter the park on Wednesday when the forecast says most of the rain will be over.  I usually avoid rainy hikes if at all possible. Dealing with the wet gear and clothes afterwards is a pain.  Shoes especially never dry out in the 100% humidity and cool temps.  I'll be climbing the walls until then.

[Beardilocks]

The walls we climb inside these trucks for days make it more of a dizzying loop…

I can say that the very mild .25” we got on Thursday FLOODED the valley. Crazy how much more water there was on the salt pan. Which just shows how saturated it is still below the surface. Lake Manly will be around for quite a while.

NPS almost refused me a permit for Greenwater tonight because of their flooding concerns. I had to count to 10 and breathe. I understand… anyway. If Greenwater isn’t safe for lifted 4wd then this is biblical. 😂

But it’s looking like 1.5” in FC and 2” in SPW by my latest report for this storm. 3-4” in Big Pine. That’s just the rain. 2-6ft of snow over 6000ft. I guess Saline Valley is out for a few months.