Turlock Lake
As of September 20, 2026, Turlock Lake is holding 26,044 acre-ft of water — 109% of normal storage for this date. Storage data refreshed throughout the day.
Turlock Lake
Turlock Lake is a man-made reservoir located in Stanislaus County, California. It was created in 1950 by the construction of the Turlock Dam on the Tuolumne River. The lake has a storage capacity of 195,000 acre-feet of water and serves as a source of water for irrigation and domestic use in the surrounding areas. The hydrology of the lake is mainly supplied by the Tuolumne River, which originates in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and flows down to the Central Valley. The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is an important source of surface flow for the Tuolumne River and ultimately for Turlock Lake. The lake is used for recreation, such as boating, fishing, camping, and hiking. The surrounding area is also known for its agricultural production, including dairy, almond, and walnut farms.
Daily levels at Turlock Lake
Storage volume, pool elevation, and total release plotted from the operating agency's daily observations.
Storage
acre-ft · code 2
Inside the reservoir
The real shoreline of this water body, with a depth model scaled so the basin holds exactly its recorded storage. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, and use the slider to drain and refill it. Click anywhere on the basin for the modelled depth there.
How this is built. The shoreline is the National Hydrography
Dataset polygon for this water body (“Turlock Lake”),
matched to the dam by proximity and confirmed by comparing its area with the
National Inventory of Dams surface area.
Depth is modelled, not surveyed: the basin is shaped by distance from
shore — deep in open water, shallow in the bays — and scaled so its
volume equals the recorded storage. No national bathymetric survey exists for
US reservoirs. Treat the shoreline, area and volume as measured, and the depth
distribution as an informed approximation.
Above normal pool, water is shown rising within the normal-pool
shoreline. Where it would actually spread depends on the surrounding
terrain, which is not modelled here — a reservoir in a steep canyon barely
widens, one on flat ground can spread a long way. This is a depth and volume
figure, not an inundation map. Official inundation mapping for a dam
comes from its Emergency Action Plan.
Plan around the weather
Same NOAA / yr.no feed Snoflo's iOS app uses. Watch the precipitation column on the meteogram -- rain on the basin upstream typically lifts inflow 24-72 hours later.
Next 5 days, hour by hour
Temperature line with weather symbols on top, snow + rain accumulation as columns, humidity as a dotted line.
5-day forecast table
Every 3 hours, broken out across temperature, snow, rain, humidity, and wind. Each cell is colour-coded relative to the column min/max.
| Time | Condition | Temp (°F) | Snow (in) | Rain (in) | Humidity (%) | Wind (mps) | Wind dir |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading detailed forecast… | |||||||
15-day temperature & precipitation
Daily temperatures, snow, and rain projected over the next two weeks.
Nearby streamflow gauges
USGS streamgauges around Turlock Lake -- inflows here typically show up in storage 24-72 hours later.
| Streamgauge | Discharge | View |
|---|---|---|
| Modesto Cn Nr La Grange Ca | 666 cfs | → |
| Tuolumne R Bl Lagrange Dam Nr Lagrange Ca | 179 cfs | → |
| Turlock Cn Nr La Grange Ca | 562 cfs | → |
| Tuolumne R A Modesto Ca | 236 cfs | → |
| Black C Nr Copperopolis Ca | · | → |
| San Joaquin R Nr Crows Landing Ca | 258 cfs | → |
Make a day of it
Boat launches, lakeside camping, fishing access, and other reservoirs near Turlock Lake.
Boat launches
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Campgrounds
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Fishing spots
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River runs
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About Turlock Lake
What is the water level at Turlock Lake right now?
As of September 20, 2026, Turlock Lake is holding 26,044 acre-ft, about 109% of normal for this date. Pool elevation and the year-over-year trend are shown above.
Is Turlock Lake high or low right now?
Compare the percent-of-normal figure on this page: above 100% means storage is higher than the historical average for the date (a wet year), below 100% means lower (a dry year or drought). The daily-levels chart shows the current trend.
Where does the data for Turlock Lake come from?
Daily storage, pool elevation, and release rates are sourced from USGS, USBR, and USACE monitoring stations. Weather forecast comes from NOAA / yr.no -- the same feed Snoflo's iOS app uses.
How often is the report updated?
Storage observations are updated daily by the operating agency. The 15-day weather forecast refreshes throughout the day. Snoflo caches and renders the most recent observation -- check the "as of" timestamp on the storage card.
What does the Hazard hazard rating mean?
The Corps of Engineers' hazard potential classification grades probable consequences if the dam fails: High = probable loss of human life; Significant = no probable loss of human life but possible economic loss / environmental damage; Low = no probable loss of human life, only minor economic / environmental losses. See the Dam Data Reference card below for the full definitions.
What's "% of normal"?
The current storage value compared to the historical average storage on this calendar day. 100% = right on average; values above 100% mean above-normal storage (wet year); values below mean below-normal (dry year or drought).
Can I get alerts when storage crosses a threshold?
Yes -- alerts are managed in the Snoflo iOS app. Favorite this reservoir, set a threshold, and you'll get a push the moment conditions cross.
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