March 7th, 2023 – The County of Fresno held a special media briefing in which they had participants speak about the incoming weather this weekend.
At the media briefing, Emergency Services Manager Terri Mejorado spoke to the media stating that the upcoming storm looks to have a warmer impact than previous storms, this time not necessarily bringing snow below 3000 feet.
However, with the warmer storm means more rain that will melt snow quickly and produce possibly even more dangerous conditions than before. Mejorado emphasized an awareness of one’s surroundings, especially with as many trees that have fallen in the past, due to oversaturation of the grounds and heavy winds.
Mejorado stated that Emergency Services are meeting up to three times a day with multiple branch directors and their agencies, trying to plan ahead for this incoming storm. They in turn are then working with emergency managers in local communities to properly plan ahead.
Most importantly, from the words of multiple speakers during the media briefing was the mention of the website and resource fresnocountyemergency.org.
This link will take viewers to the Fresno County Emergency website in which they will be able to view updates as well as register for emergency alerts on the red banner at the top of the page. Multiple speakers insisted that all register for these alerts ahead of the winter storm that will take place this weekend.
Kristian Mattarochia from the National Weather Service warned that the impacts of this storm have never been experienced before in this region of California and he predicts that 6-8 inches of rain will melt the heavy snow that sits at the lower elevations of around 2000 feet.
Mattarochia then stated that this storm, unprecedented county wide, will be “unlike any weather event” and it is of the utmost importance to communicate the severity of this situation.
Fresno County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Brandon Pursell stated that the Fresno County Sheriff’s office is staffing 24 hours a day with rescue personnel, and that effective today at 1 PM an evacuation warning was made to “let people know that they may need to evacuate” at some point within the next week. Lieutenant Pursell too mentioned that people should prepare for a shelter in place order.
Just as the Kings River Water Association mentioned, the “biggest and most immediate uneasiness [is] with foothill streams over which there is no way to regulate high flows entering the Kings River’s valley reaches.” With the incoming rain, this uneasiness will not seem to go away.
Register for emergency alerts at fresnocountyemergency.org.