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
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   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
 
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