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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The rainy conditions that have lasted over the past four days are expected to begin tapering off on Wednesday and Thursday, giving way to clearer skies into next week.
Tuesday was another day of heavy rain, which led to roadway flooding and slipouts, a flooding advisory for parts of Hidden Valley Lake and a series of road closures, including one on Highway 175 between Cobb and Middletown.
For the 24-hour period ending at 12 a.m. Wednesday, National Weather Service's observation stations reported the following rainfall totals, in inches.
– Bear Canyon (Middletown): 6.47.
– Boggs Mountain: 3.81.
– Cache Creek (near Lower Lake): 1.39.
– Cobb: 5.07.
– Hidden Valley Lake: 2.44.
– High Glade Lookout (above Upper Lake): 3.27.
– Indian Valley Reservoir: 1.39.
– Jerusalem Grade (Middletown): 3.51.
– Kelseyville: 2.69.
– Putah Creek (Middletown): 2.81.
– Soda Creek at Lake Pillsbury): 3.70.
– Upper Lake: 1.80.
– Whispering Pines: 5.88.
The National Weather Service extended its flood warning for the southern two-thirds of Lake County through 2:45 p.m. Thursday, with the high wind warning expiring at midnight Wednesday.
Wednesday's specific forecast for Lake County calls for a 40-percent chance of showers, with rainfall amounts for the day and night estimated at about half an inch. There also is the potential for winds, with gusts into the low 20s.
During the day Thursday, there is a lesser chance of showers, with a mix of sunny and partly cloudy conditions anticipated through next Tuesday.
Tuesday's storm led the Middletown Unified School District to close schools for the day, but district officials reported on Tuesday night that they were planning to reopen schools on Wednesday, although those plans could change depending on weather conditions.
Schools in the district will begin classes one hour later than usual in order to allow buses to get on the roads in the daylight in case there are roadway hazards. Students will be released at their regular time.
A closure on a portion of Highway 175 between Middletown and Cobb was reported on Tuesday, and Middletown Unified said students would be bused in the long way around through Kelseyville if necessary, school officials said.
Late Tuesday, the rest of the county's school districts had not indicated potential closures for Wednesday.
Lake County's creeks continued to run to run high, based on data from the US Geological Survey's many stream gauges.
Those creeks helped to increase Clear Lake's depth, which at around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday was at 6.28 feet Rumsey, having risen from just under 4 feet Rumsey before the storms hit.
Indian Valley Reservoir also is filling up, with 97,034 acre feet of water in storage on Tuesday, compared to 23,458 acre feet on Jan. 10, 2016, according to Yolo County Flood and Water Conservation District, which owns and operates the reservoir.
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CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – A boy continues to recover in the hospital after being hit and seriously injured by a vehicle last week.
The California Highway Patrol said the collision that injured the 13-year-old boy, whose name the agency did not release, occurred on Thursday, Jan. 5, on Keys Boulevard in Clearlake Oaks.
The CHP said at 4 p.m. that day that the juvenile was walking eastbound in the roadway when he was hit by a 1994 Jeep traveling north on Keys Boulevard near Second Street.
The Jeep's driver was a 45-year-old Clearlake Oaks woman whose name the CHP also did not release in its initial report. The CHP said the woman immediately stopped at the scene after hitting the boy.
In addition to the CHP, Northshore Fire Protection District responded to the scene, as did the Lake County Sheriff's Office, which was requested to send deputies due to a large crowd forming in the area, according to radio reports.
Drugs and alcohol are not believed to be contributing factors in the collision, the CHP said.
The juvenile suffered major injuries and was transported to Sutter Lakeside Hospital, where law enforcement said an air ambulance from Enloe Hospital in Chico was reported to have responded to transport him out of county.
A Go Fund Me account has been set up for the boy, https://www.gofundme.com/37gbcdc , whose family identified him as Angell Aguirre Jr., a resident of Clearlake Oaks and a seventh grader at Lower Lake Elementary School.
Updates on the fundraiser page said he is recovering, and enjoyed reading numerous get well cards from classmates on Tuesday. He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Thursday.
The fundraiser account has a goal of $5,000 to help his family with expenses while he remains hospitalized. As of early Wednesday, the account had raised $1,100.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
FORT BRAGG, Calif. – Tucked away on the edge of town in Fort Bragg, the wood shop at the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program has been humming with the sounds of this year’s cohort of talented and ambitious students.
Applying several months of exemplary instruction at the hands of a dedicated staff, the 23 makers-in-training are hard at work on the goal of sharing their creations at the Annual Mid-Winter Fine Furniture Exhibition, on view from Jan. 14 to 22 at the Town Hall, 363 Main St.
During the reception, from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 20, you will have the opportunity to meet the artisans responsible for these beautiful pieces of form and function.
Founded over 35 years ago by master cabinetmaker James Krenov, the Fine Woodworking Program at the College of the Redwoods is world-renowned and synonymous with quality in the craft of fine furniture.
Students come from near and far with diverse backgrounds and experience to learn not only tools and techniques, but also to gain respect for the craft and a reverence for wood in which they work.
Under the expert guidance of instructors Laura Mays, Jim Budlong, Greg Smith, Ejler Hjorth-Westh and shop specialist Todd Sorenson, each themselves graduates, students learn the basic tenets of the Krenov method while being encouraged to seek and design their own paths.
The work resulting from this immersion for six days a week over nine months is truly impressive in its beauty and attention to detail.
The Fine Woodworking Program at the College of the Redwoods is both regarded internationally and cherished locally.
From July 2017 the program will be transferred to the auspices of Mendocino College.
Join them in celebrating this year’s group of dedicated artisans and their commendable achievements.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lalene Jo Hayes was born on Sept. 7, 1938, and went home to be with the Lord Jan. 7, 2017.
She was a great blessing and much loved. Her passion in life was serving the Lord and her family. We will see her again one day, but until then we will miss her everyday.
She is predeceased by her mother, Dortha (Gentry) Santos; daughter, Dana Walker and nephew, Mike Boggs.
She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Glenn Hayes; daughter, Lanette Fields (Cliff); sister, Shirley Boggs; niece, Kristin Gilsdorf (Mike); great-nephews, Justin, Jonathan and Joshua Gilsdorf; grandchildren, ChrisFields (Erin), Brandi Noonkester, Josh Fields (Angela), Jeremy Walker; and great-grandchildren, Samantha and Jordyn Fields and Parker and Dylan Noonkester.
Visitation will be held at First Baptist Church on Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville on Saturday, Jan. 14, from 9 to 11 a.m., with a funeral service at 11 a.m.
Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary at 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .
Jessie Louise (Black) Ford
May 26, 1929 – Jan. 5, 2017
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Jessie was born in Pasadena, but spent many years in Redwood Valley and Hopland raising a family with her beloved husband of 62 years, Hank. In 2000 they moved to Upper Lake.
She is predeceased by Hank and sons Wayne and Charles, and leaves behind children, John, Steve, Wyatt, Aaron, Rebecca, Cynthia and Melanie; 17 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandson.
A graveside funeral service will be held at Russian River Cemetery in Ukiah on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 1 p.m.
Arrangements by Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary at 707-263-0357 or 707-994-5611, or visit www.chapelofthelakes.com .
Motorists may get some sticker shock in 2017 and will shell out $52 billion more over the course of the year compared to 2016 as the national yearly average rises to $2.49 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s 2017 Fuel Price Outlook.
Aside from gasoline prices that are forecast to be higher than 2016, highlights include:
• $355 billion will be spent on gasoline in the U.S. over the course of the year, $52 billion more than last year. That’s a considerable jump given that motorists saved $39 billion on gasoline in 2016 versus 2015.
• The seasonal switch from ‘winter-blend’ to ‘summer-blend’ as mandated by EPA and the Clean Air Act will bring a spike at the pump later this winter and spring, with the national average gas price rising between 35-60 cents between mid-February and a peak, likely to occur in May.
• $3 a gallon gasoline will be seen in at least the nation’s largest cities: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Seattle, with a strong possibility of such prices also appearing in a majority of the nation’s twenty largest metros.
“The list of factors being mixed into the yearly forecast has never been larger. This year will see a new administration take over, perhaps the most oil-friendly in some time, and with so many unknowns in regards to policy changes, we’ll be keeping a keen eye on such along with taxation changes. But forecasting fuel prices, especially this year, remains a challenging balance of science and art,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.
Additional components that have the potential to weigh on retail gasoline prices include federal and/or state tax changes, Middle East volatility, currency fluctuations, refinery maintenance and/or unscheduled outages, weather events, and shipping / transportation snafus.
“In recent years the 'price at the pump' continues to garner more media attention serving as an economic barometer on Main Street that stirs opinions from a broad swath of consumers from coast to coast,” said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst. “Forecasting the direction of that 'barometer', the potential trouble-spots and how the trends are likely to translate into dollars and cents affords us the opportunity to share insights that help everyone save money, even when prices are climbing.”
For more information visit www.gasbuddy.com .