The heavens opened up on Madera

For The Madera Tribune

The waters of the Fresno River smash against the D Street bridge in the storm of 1955.

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Nothing is permanent but change. That is particularly true of the weather. Maderans have always approached the winter season casting worried and frequent looks at the skies. Too often drought conditions have made them wonder if there would ever be enough water.  In 1955, however, it was a different story. They still looked toward the skies, but this time they wondered if the rain was ever going to stop.

A series of storms had lashed out at the Pacific Coast in December of 1955, and the Associated Press gave a rather sanguine weather report on December 21, asserting that the recent wave of rough weather had “brought water conditions to satisfaction levels north of Fresno....” The State Department of Water Resources was only sorry that water conditions to the south of Fresno remained “unsatisfactory.” Officials in Madera, however, were not so sure.

Robert C. Diltz, Madera Irrigation District secretary-manager, was leery. He knew that over the past 24 hours, North Fork had received 2.25 inches of rain, while 2.75 inches and 3.25 inches had fallen in Mariposa and Yosemite Valley respectively. Diltz and his colleagues at MID knew that serious problems could crop up at several points in Madera County. The Chowchilla River as well as the Ash and Berenda Sloughs were potential trouble spots; so was Cottonwood Creek. Above all, the threat on the Fresno River loomed large as the mountain streams, which fed it, swelled overnight.