About This Weather Station: (Chester/Lake Almanor Weather Center)

The station is powered by a Davis Vantage Pro Weather Station with Datalogger and is located in Chester, California. The Data is collected every 5 seconds and the site is updated every 10 seconds. This site and its data is collected using Weather Display Software. The station is comprised of an anemometer, a rain gauge and a thermo-hydro sensor situated in optimal positions for highest accuracy possible.

About This City: (Chester/Lake Almanor)

The city of Chester is located in North Eastern California. Chester is positioned 40.30 degrees North of the equator and 121.23 degrees West of the prime meridian. Chester's elevation is 4,528 feet above sea level with a population of approximately 2,316. The name for the town was chosen by Burwell Johnson and Oscar Martin. Johnson had been born in Chester, Missouri and Martin in Chester, Vermont. They decided to "keep the name for the town," when the post office was established in 1894 at a local stage stop and ranch. But, the town was not really started until December of 1909 when some of the land was subdivided and offered for sale. Chester is also located on the Northern shores of Lake Almanor. Lake Almanor lays almost directly on the east-west boundary between the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. The basin itself trends from northwest to southeast with Mt. Lassen towering above the landscape to the north. You know that you are nearing Almanor country when you spot Mount Lassen, (named after the Danish explorer and pioneer, Peter Lassen) which used to be the only active volcano in the United States until Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980. It's last official "tantrum" was in 1917 and, since then, it has become a National Park. It's a good place to spend a day seeing the sulfur hot springs, or climbing to the top of the 10,448 foot volcano to look out over Chester/Lake Almanor, which lies near the volcano's base.

Lake Almanor currently is one of the largest man-made lakes in the State of California and sometimes is referred to as the "Gateway to the Lassen Volcanic National Park". Located in Plumas County, where 1,000 of the 1,600 acres in the county are unspoiled national forest land, Lake Almanor sits against a backdrop of gorgeous mountain scenery. The lake itself offers swimming and boating, water skiing, hiking, biking and camping. Fishing in Lake Almanor is available year-round and is excellent, especially in the spring for salmon and trout. The wetlands at the north end of the lake serves as breeding grounds for a variety of migratory waterfowl, mostly prominently Canadian Geese and various species of ducks including mallard, teal, and wigeon. Other large birds to be viewed around the lake are pelicans, heron, osprey and bald eagles, which nest in the area. There are several other streams and rivers in the Lake Almanor area, including the Middle Fork of the Feather River, which has been named a National Wild & Scenic River. Before there was a Lake Almanor, the Maidu Indians called the area "oy-ding-koyo", or Big Meadows - the lush, bountiful land at the foot of the volcano where evil spirits dwelled. For a number of centuries the Maidu took from and repaid the land for their living, surviving the Sierra winters by migrating to lower elevations.

Spanish explorer Luis Arguillo was the first European to enter Feather River - named for the feathers floating on the waters. He was followed by a scattering of trappers and lone mountain men until 1848, when Peter Lassen led a party bound for California via a "short cut" from the Oregon trail that wound through Big Meadows. These parties were shortly thereafter followed by other seekers of the "new land out west": ranchers, dairymen, farmers and miners, who recognized the varied riches of the area and saw no need to travel futher. Mountain streams, abundant hunting and fishing and the "cool summer climate" brought vacationers from the Sacramento Valley long before there was a lake. Since the 1860's, travelers came to Big Meadows from the hot valleys and busy cities to spend weeks or months. Julius Howells, a geology student from Harvard University, visited the area in the early 1880's. When he returned again in 1901, he envisioned the hydro-electric potential of the Feather River and convinced Edwin Earl and Guy C. Earl, of the Great Western Power Company, to finance the building of a dam. In 1914, the first dam was completed, flooding 14,000 acres and thus creating Lake Almanor and Big Meadows became the bed of Lake Almanor, named after Guy Earl's three daughters, ALice; MArtha; and EleaNOR. (ALMANOR)

The Great Western Power Company later became part of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). PG&E, along with the U.S. Forest Service, developed Lake Almanor into a beautiful recreation area. The lake is approximately 52 square miles of shoreline, rests at an elevation of 4,500 feet, is 13 miles long and 6 miles wide, and is approximately 90 feet deep at it's deepest point (when the lake is full). The present dam was constructed in 1926/1927 and more than doubled the size of the lake. It stores 1,308,000 acre-feet of water which covers over 28,000 acres of land. Golf is a popular sport at Lake Almanor, since there are several courses laid out in beautiful, lush, natural settings. Wintertime brings skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and other outdoors sports to the lake. Autumn in Chester/Lake Almanor is dazzling when the mountains are set ablaze with color and is a jewel in the northern California wilderness and is a wonderful place to live and a great place to spend a vacation. Chester/Lake Almanor is where the Sierra Nevada Mountains meet the Cascades and form a four-season recreation paradise as well as the northern gateway to Lassen National Park and Forests!

About This Website:

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