These Fresno County areas are under evacuation warnings as strong storm heads toward region

Much of the foothill and mountainous areas of Fresno County were under an evacuation warning Tuesday night with another major storm set to hit the area later this week.

Evacuation warnings were in effect for these areas:

• Millerton Lake

• Pine Flat Reservoir

• Shaver Lake

• Huntington Lake

• Courtright Reservoir

• Wishon Reservoir

• Squaw Valley

• Hume Lake

The evacuation warning went into effect at 1 p.m. Tuesday, said Fresno County Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Pursell. He added that the warning is not an order for people to leave their homes, but to prepare to leave if necessary.

Rain forecast for Fresno area this week

The upcoming storm is expected to arrive Thursday and drop as much as 6 to 8 inches of rain over the coming week.

While that amount of rain might not sound like too much, the atmospheric river storm is expected to be warmer than previous systems that have recently passed through. This means the new rainfall could cause lower-elevation snow to melt away, creating the potential for flooded and washed-out roads in the mountains area.

Kristian Mattarochia of the National Weather Service office in Hanford said the coming storm “will be unlike any other weather event so far this season.”

“We just want everyone to be prepared for impacts that have never been experienced before,” Mattarochia said. “What has happened over the past week is we’ve seen heavy snow at low-elevation foothills around 3,000 feet. And in less than a week, we’re going to put 6 to 8 inches of rain on top of that.”

“The amount of rain we’re receiving, considering what’s already fallen, is unprecedented,” he added. “It doesn’t matter if you’re in the mountains, if you’re in the city of Fresno, if you’re in the western half of the county near Coalinga; we are expecting water problems to really affect everyone’s life.”

There is concern for some communities near the rivers, said Pursell, and Tuesday’s evacuation warning includes the areas of Piedra and Centerville near the Kings River downstream from Pine Flat Dam.

How evacuations are determined; find information

Pursell said evacuations are typically based on how much water is flowing in a river channel. “The Kings River has a certain capacity, and if we start reaching above that capacity with uncontrolled flows, that’s when we start to worry more,” he said. “It’s not because Pine Flat is dumping water out of the dam, but because we have the uncontrolled flows coming in” from creeks and streams downriver from the dam.

No evacuation warnings are in place along the San Joaquin River, but Pursell said “we are incredibly concerned” because of the potential for roadway washouts and possible rescue situations in the western part of Fresno County in the areas of Mendota, Firebaugh and Tranquillity.

The county has set up a website, fresnocountyemergency.org, where residents can find information about emergency preparations and warnings, sandbag locations, and an interactive map of road closures and areas under evacuation warnings.