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After a meager 2 inches of rain a couple of weeks ago, we are being teased today with a heavy mist. Only .12 inches fell at Monticello Dam in the last 2 days bringing total rainfall at the dam to 2.36 inches. It will take several more inches of rain to produce any runoff.

The Solano Irrigation District dam keepers have kept the dam output at an average of 150 cubic feet per second during the last week (100 million gallons per day or 300 acre-feet per day), down from 230 cfs last week. The photo of the dam output below barely shows any ripple from a flow of 180 cfs because the large main output flow is from large pipes well below the surface.

The lake level has only dropped 2 inches during that week. Evaporation accounted for less than .1 inches per day of that. As reported previously, Glory Hole Watch 2026 will start after the lake begins rising again.

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Track the real-time Lake Berryessa weather at:
 
Berryessa Highlands (Somewhere in the Berryessa Highlands)
Berryessa Highlands - KCANAPA20
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCANAPA20
 
Skiers Cove (Below the Berryessa Highlands)
Skier Cove - KCANAPA228
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCANAPA228
 
East Side Road (Across from Big Island)
East Side Road, Lake Berryessa - KCALAKEB2
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCALAKEB2
 
Spanish Flat (Near the Spanish Flat Recreation Area)
Roger - KCASPANI1
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCASPANI1
 
Berryessa Pines
KCANAPA461
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCANAPA461
 

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Meteorological Quick Study from the Lake Berryessa News

 
Before the term "atmospheric river" came into vogue a few years ago, we used to call the phenomenon a "pineapple express" because it usually originated near the Hawaiian Islands. Since I love pineapple, especially while sipping a pina colada on a beach on Maui, I will continue to call that type of atmospheric river a pineapple express.

 
Here is a breakdown of some common weather terms and their definitions, based on material from the National Weather Service. Luckily, most of these don't affect Lake Berryessa.
 
Atmospheric river (Pineapple Express): Long and wide plumes of moisture that form over an ocean and flow through the sky over land,
 
Blizzard: Wind speeds of 35 mph or more and considerable falling and/or blowing of snow with visibility of less than one-quarter mile for three or more hours.
 
Cyclone: A storm with strong winds rotating around a moving center of low atmospheric pressure. The word is sometimes used in the United States to mean tornado and in the Indian Ocean area to mean a tropical cyclone, like a hurricane.
 
Derecho: A widespread and usually fast-moving straight-line windstorm. It is usually more than hundreds of miles long and more than 100 miles across.
 
El Nino, La Nina: El Nino is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that starts with unusually warm water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and then changes weather worldwide. The flip side of El Nino is La Nina, which is an occasional but natural cooling of the equatorial Pacific that also changes weather worldwide.
 
Heat index: What the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature.
 
Hurricane or typhoon: A warm core tropical cyclone in which the minimum sustained surface wind is 74 mph or more. Hurricanes are spawned in the North Atlantic and central and eastern North Pacific oceans. Typhoons develop in the northwest Pacific. They are known as cyclones in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific.
 
Microburst: Occurs when a mass of cooled air rushes downward out of a thunderstorm, hits the ground and rushes outward in all directions.
 
Polar vortex: Usually refers to the gigantic circular upper air weather pattern in the Arctic region, enveloping the North Pole (but it can apply to the South Pole, too). It is a normal pattern that is stronger in the winter and keeps some of the coldest weather bottled up near the North Pole. The jet stream usually pens the polar vortex in and keeps it north. But at times some of the vortex can break off or move south, bringing unusually cold weather south and allowing warmer weather to creep north.
 
Snow squall: An intense but short-lived period of moderate to heavy snowfall, with strong winds and possible lightning.
 
Storm surge: An abnormal increase in water depth above the normal tide, generated by a storm.
 
Tornado: A violent rotating column of air forming a pendant, usually from a cumulonimbus cloud, and touching the ground. On a local scale, it is the most destructive of all atmospheric phenomena. Tornadoes can appear from any direction, but in the U.S. most move from southwest to northeast. Measured on an EF-scale from EF0 to EF5, which considers 28 types of damage to structures and trees. An EF2 or higher is considered a significant tornado.
 
Tropical depression: A tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface wind is 38 mph or less.
Tropical storm: A warm-core tropical cyclone in which the maximum sustained surface winds range from 39 to 73 mph.
 
Tsunami: A great sea wave or seismic sea wave caused by an underwater disturbance such as an earthquake, landslide or volcano.
 
Nor'easter: The term used by the National Weather Service for storms that either exit or move north along the East Coast, producing winds blowing from the northeast.
Waterspout: A tornado over water.
 
Wind chill factor: A calculation that describes the combined effect of the wind and cold temperatures on exposed skin.
 
Wind shear: A sudden shift in wind direction and/or speed.

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A Uniquely "unique" Opportunity in the Berryessa Highlands
1061 Rimrock Drive, Napa
$250,000

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Lake Berryessa Fire Watch Cameras

This site covers the whole Lake Berryessa Region.

http://www.rntl.net/lake-berryessa-cams/

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Free Book Chapters Available For Download

My sincere thanks to those of you who contributed to the future of the Lake Berryessa News. I challenge you to find any Lake Berryessa news anywhere. Hopefully, the many years of our intensive reporting about the latest Lake Berryessa issues will convince you of the truth of our motto, "Without The Lake Berryessa News there would be no Lake Berryessa news".

Here's a gift from The Lake Berryessa News to my readers - Free downloadable chapters from my books:


Lake Berryessa Technical Manual: The Science, Engineering, History, and Humor of a Major Unnatural Resource:

The Death of a Valley

Why Does Lake Berryessa Exist?

The Lake Berryessa Watershed

Rainfall and Lake Level History

How High Is Lake Berryessa?

How Deep is Lake Berryessa?

How Much Water Does Lake Berryessa Hold?

Mean Sea Level: Is There Such A Thing As Accurate Height?

Water In, Water Out, But From Where?

Does the WALROS Like Lake Berryessa?

Why is Lake Berryessa Not a Part of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument?

East Side Story

Hiking and Wildlife Viewing

Are There Quail on Quail Ridge?

Why Does A Hiker Cross The Road? To Get To Stebbins Cold Canyon!

Private Houseboats - Yes; Private RVs & Trailers - No: Why?

Motorized Boats Banned From Big Island Lagoon! Why!

Archeologists Can't Dunk But Can Dig

What Can't You Do At Lake Berryessa?

Napa Opposes Building the Monticello Dam

Monticello Dam Construction
Raise Monticello Dam

Power Generation at Monticello Dam

Monticello Dam Failure Analysis

Predicting the Future & Glory Hole Drone Videos

As Lake Berryessa Turns!

The Ins and Outs & Ups and Downs of Lake Berryessa

Does Lake Berryessa Sweat in the Summer?

Glory Hole Introduction

How Does Glory Hole Work?

Glory Hole: Awesome, Frightening, But Dangerous?

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Lake Berryessa Political History (Free Downloads of Book Chapters)

Policy And Politics Betray The People: The Lake Berryessa Saga: 1958 - 2020, By Peter Kilkus

 
I. The Five Tragedies Of The Berryessa Valley: A History Of Heartbreak
 
II. Lake Berryessa Political History Timeline
 
III. The “Big Lie”: How It All Began
 
IV. The “Big Fail”: Napa Abandons Lake Berryessa (1975)
 
V. The “Big Picture”: Lake Berryessa Issues: 1957 - 2012
 
VI. The “Big Illusion”: Notice Of Intent
 
VII. The “Big Fight”: Facts Do Matter
 
VIII. The “Big Betrayal”: Perversion Of Public Law 96-375
 
IX. The “Big Mistake”: Pensus - The Beginning Was The End!
 
X. The “Big Hole In History”: Post-Pensus Blues
 
XI. The “Big Boondoggle”: Creation Of A Phony National Monument
 
Addendum 1. Dueling Napa Register Letters To The Editor
 
Addendum 2. The Napa Register View
 
Index Of  Primary Documents

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Lake Berryessa Technical Manual: The Science, Engineering, History, and Humor of a Major Unnatural Resource

 https://www.amazon.com/Lake-Berryessa-Technical-Manual-Engineering-ebook/dp/B0C21DZ9M9/ref=sr_1_3?

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Policy and Politics Betray the People: The Lake Berryessa Saga: 1958 - 2020
https://www.amazon.com/Policy-Politics-Betray-People-Berryessa-ebook/dp/B08MFSQDBR/ref=sr_1_1?
 
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Conspiracy Theory or Automatic Pilot: The Economic Roots of Environmental Destruction

 https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Theory-Automatic-Pilot-Environmental/dp/1676368302/ref=sr_1_3?


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The KPIX Eye on the Bay interview below is one I did in 2010 and a relevant introduction to the substance of the book. I did it after Pensus had been given the contract for 5 resorts. As we all know Pensus was subsequently kicked out in 2012. 

https://youtu.be/nP9K8Ai0Lkc

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Lake Berryessa Data Sources

There are many sources of Lake Berryessa water and weather conditions available. The Solano County Water Agency site is good for real-time graphs of level, capacity, and water temperature. The California Data Exchange Center has data going back decades for level, capacity, capacity change, dam outflow, dam inflow, and rainfall. Anyone can research their own data and create custom charts. This is the source of many of the charts on the Lake Berryessa News website.

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An upgraded wildfire alert camera system will be keeping watch on Napa County day and night and notifying Cal Fire crews of potential fires. Twenty cameras will be part of a system that will use artificial intelligence and other technologies to identify fire and smoke. If they detect something, an alert will sound in the Cal Fire emergency command center near St. Helena.

Cal Fire has made a large investment into the ALERTCalifornia system, partnering with UC San Diego. There are 1,000 cameras across the state and Napa County is one of the test models. Cameras can see 60 miles during the day, and this can increase to 120 miles on clear nights, with the changes in the air. The system can differentiate among smoke, clouds and dust. A link to this camera system and other relevant weather data is available on the Lake Berryessa News website at: http://www.rntl.net/lake-berryessa-cams/

This website was created by Doug Kunst. It is an amazing resource for Lake Berryessa fire cameras and weather. His business website is http://www.rntl.net/

Lake Berryessa Fire Alert Cameras

http://www.rntl.net/lake-berryessa-cams/

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 Real-Time Lake Level, Lake Capacity, Water Temperature
 
Solano County Water Agency
 
https://www.scwamonitoring.com/LakeBerryessa/
 
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Lake Detailed Historical Data
 
California Data Exchange Center
 
https://cdec.water.ca.gov/
 
Research historical data and create custom plots
 
Lake Berryessa Code: BER
 
https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/sensorplots?staid=ber&dur_code=D
 
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Local Weather Stations (Weather Underground Network)
 
Berryessa Highlands (Somewhere in the Berryessa Highlands)
Berryessa Highlands - KCANAPA20
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCANAPA20
 
Skiers Cove (Below the Berryessa Highlands)
Skier Cove - KCANAPA228
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCANAPA228
 
East Side Road (Across from Big Island)
East Side Road, Lake Berryessa - KCALAKEB2
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCALAKEB2
 
Spanish Flat (Near the Spanish Flat Recreation Area)
Roger - KCASPANI1
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCASPANI1