ARkStorm@Tahoe
Addressing social and ecological impacts of extreme winter storm events in the Lake Tahoe region
What is an ARkStorm?
Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are large flows of water vapor that typically occur in fall and winter, bringing huge amounts of moisture over the Pacific to the U.S. West Coast. Landfalling ARs are storm events with the potential to deliver extreme amounts of precipitation to the West Coast, including California and Nevada, over a just a few days. The name “ARkStorm” was coined to describe large AR storm sequences, which, for instance, can produce precipitation in California that in places can exceed totals experienced only once every several hundred to 1,000 years. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Multi Hazards Demonstration Project (MHDP) designed a scientifically-plausible winter ARkStorm scenario for California emergency managers, stitching together historical AR storms from 1969 and 1986, separated by only 4 days. This hypothetical ARkStorm would rival but not exceed the intense California winter storms of 1861 and 1862 that left the Central Valley of California flooded and the state’s economy destroyed. It was designed to exceed any single storm in the 20th Century.
Download Final Report:
ARkStorm@Tahoe: Stakeholder perspectives on vulnerabilities and preparedness for an extreme storm event in the greater Lake Tahoe, Reno and Carson City Region
ARkStorm @ Tahoe Expert Panel Discussions (0900-1200)
12 Sep Incline Village General Improvement District (IVGID), Incline Village, NV
11 Oct Lake Tahoe Visitors’ Authority (LTVA), Stateline, NV
12 Nov Nevada Department of Emergency Management (NVDEM), Carson City, NV
05 Dec Regional Emergency Operations Center (REOC), Reno, NV
Tabletop Exercise (TTX) 14 March 2014 – REOC, Reno, NV