MSGID: 1:317/3 6470f3c6   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   May 26, 2023 - Tulare Lake Reappears   
      
      [image05262023_main.jpg] [image05262023_rollover.jpg]   
      
      May 24, 2023 June 6, 2022   
       Tweet   
       Share   
      
      A record-breaking snowpack accumulation in the Sierra Nevada in the   
      winter of 2022-2023 along with unusually heavy spring precipitation has   
      brought Tulare Lake back to life. On May 24, 2023, the Moderate   
      Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra   
      satellite acquired a false-color image of Lake Tulare filled with an   
      abundance of water.   
      
      In this type of image, water appears deep blue, open land looks tan,   
      vegetation is green, and cloud can be white or tinted light blue, while   
      snow appears bright electric blue. The deep blue Tulare Lake is the   
      largest lake in the image, filling the lowest point of the San Joaquin   
      Valley Basin. Several rivers and other lakes are visible, including   
      Kern Lake (south of Tulare). All are filled by the recent rains as well   
      as the “big melt” frees water from snowpack. Meanwhile, the mountain   
      peaks remain covered with snow. A cloud bank covers the lower left   
      (southwest) portion of the image.   
      
      To truly appreciate the change brought about by the big melt, click the   
      dates to reveal a second Terra MODIS image of the same area acquired on   
      June 6, 2022. Here Tulare Lake is essentially non-existent, and the   
      lakebed is covered by agricultural fields. Kern Lake is visible, but   
      very small compared to the May 2023 image.   
      
      Tulare Lake was once the largest freshwater lake west of the   
      Mississippi River, covering about 1,800 square miles of the Valley   
      floor and stretching about 60 miles from north to south. In the 1870s,   
      Tulare Lake was a productive fishery as well as providing as many as   
      300 dozen terrapins (a type of turtle) to market each year. Even at   
      that time, the lake waters rose and fell seasonally— sometimes leaving   
      barely any water in the heat of summer— and strong winds could move the   
      shorelines several miles over just a few hours.   
      
      Since the 1920s, the rivers that fed the lake have been dammed and   
      diverted for agriculture and other uses. The lakebed has since been   
      covered with farms that produce a variety of crops and livestock. Since   
      that time, cities have sprung up on the edges of the historic lakebed,   
      including Corcoran, the largest city in the vicinity. The revival of   
      Tulare Lake has brought floodwaters into Corcoran, and they began to   
      arrive as early as March. The town responded by shoring up its levees,   
      which had protected the town from previous wet years but may not be   
      tall enough by the time this year’s big melt delivers all the snowpack   
      into Tulare Lake.   
      
      According to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), as of   
      May 25 the statewide snowpack was 310 percent of average for this date,   
      among the largest ever recorded. The snowpack in the Southern Sierras   
      was an even more impressive 407 percent of average for this date. The   
      size and distribution of this year’s snowpack is posing severe flood   
      risk to some areas of the state, according to DWR, especially in the   
      San Joaquin Valley.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Terra   
      Date Acquired: 5/24/2023   
      Resolutions:  1km ( B),  500m (356.6 KB),  250m (200.7 KB)   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-05-26   
       
   --- up 1 year, 12 weeks, 4 days, 20 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 218/700 226/30 227/114   
   SEEN-BY: 229/110 112 113 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 291/111 292/854   
   SEEN-BY: 298/25 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426