MOUNTAIN AREA — The foothills are under a continual threat of flooding through Wednesday afternoon, says the National Weather Service, with the high country facing the possibility of more flooding as the winter storm warning remains in effect. The next storm is expected to bring heavy rain locally, with the chance of significant rises along small streams and rivers for Tuesday ...

EL PORTAL — The El Portal Road (Highway 140) into Yosemite National Park has reopened to all traffic following a rockfall that occurred during early Sunday morning. The road is anticipated to stay open, with controlled traffic, throughout the day. However, the road will close this evening at 6 p.m. to all vehicular traffic based on weather and rockfall concerns. ...

BASS LAKE — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is cautioning that flows from the Crane Valley Dam spillway will continue and likely increase as unusual amounts of rain fall in the area. The dam is functioning as designed, says PG&E, who notes they are carefully monitoring Crane Valley to ensure safe operation of the hydro facility. “Due to the ...

YOSEMITE — Yosemite Valley will reopen for day-use visitors tomorrow morning, Jan.10, at 8 a.m., say park officials. There is no access to Yosemite Valley via the El Portal Road (Highway 140) due to a rockfall that occurred early this morning. There is no estimated day or time for the road to reopen. The Hetch Hetchy Road is also closed ...

NORTH FORK — The Sierra National Forest has announced that due to public and employee safety concerns as weather conditions intensify, the Bass Lake Office has been closed temporarily. Over the weekend the Sierra National Forest received a significant amount of rainfall and with the snow levels above 9000 ft., a large amount of snow from recent storms has melted ...

MADERA COUNTY – Following are details from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office of reports taken locally from Monday, Jan. 2 to Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017: Oakhurst robbery and carjacking On Monday, Jan. 2 at 1:46 a.m. a deputy was dispatched to the Best Western Hotel located in Oakhurst on CA-41, regarding a report of a robbery and a carjacking. During ...

NORTH FORK — A torrential downpour this morning kept residents on edge as more rain created dangerous conditions for those traveling the roadways in a town that has already had some residents evacuated. County Roads and CHP officers were busy responding to reports of mudslides and flooded roadways, as Sheriff’s deputies continue to monitor water levels and notify residents in ...

NORTH FORK — Residents are now being evacuated from the lower-lying areas of North Fork as water levels continue to rise in both the north and south forks of Willow Creek. The north fork of Willow Creek runs through the concentrated, low-lying residential areas of North Fork, and is fed by Manzanita Lake, just below Bass Lake Dam. The south ...

NORTH FORK — The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is elevating the pre-evacuation advisory issued earlier this evening, and is now issuing an Evacuation Warning for the following areas: -Road 222 between Railroad Grade Road and Road 200 -Road 226 between Keller Road and Road 222 -Manzanita Lake Drive -Old Central Camp Road between Road 222 and ½-mile west of Road ...

NORTH FORK — The Madera County Sheriff’s Office has issued a per-evacuation advisory for the town of North Fork due to rising water levels in Bass Lake. There has been an increased discharge of water from the lake, which lies just above the town of North Fork, and with this information, the Sheriff’s Office is issuing a Pre-Evacuation Advisory for ...