HEADS UP, EVERYONE!

jack is reporting: Posted by Jack

Mud is flowing onto Hwy 1 between Fernwood and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.
Redwood Creek is flowing over the culvert bridge/driveway inside the park.

9 PM Highway One reported closed 4 miles south of Lucia. Cal-Trans reports:   [IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA] 

    IS CLOSED FROM 7.9 MI NORTH OF GORDA TO 6.2 MI NORTH OF PFEIFFER BURNS
STATE PARK (MONTEREY CO) AT 2053 HRS ON 11/1/08 – DUE TO ROCKS IN THE ROADWAY – 
MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE 

 I am on back-up power, so won’t be reporting until tomorrow am, but Dave Allen reports that the rains are significant in Carmel, about an hour ago, which means it will be arriving here shortly. PLEASE, stay safe, everyone!

6:30 PM – we are just over 1/2 an inch at the moment, around .6. So far, so good. However, I note roadway flooding is being reported in the NB lane of Highway 17 up in Santa Cruz County at the moment. Hope that is not indicative of what is coming our way. According to the NOAA precipitation map (see 2008 Winter Conditions link) Ben Lomand has received 3.4 inches in the last 24 hours. Mining Ridge (closest to me of the permanent reporting gauges) is showing .67, consistent with what I am reporting.

1/2 inch by 4:30 PM

Only 1/4 inch by 2 PM.

11:15 AM – Rain has begun, a little early. What better way to spend a Saturday than watching the rain gauge? Oh, and you might note, I added a new link category, “2008 Winter Conditions” to the blog roll, and turned off some of the fire-related ones. Here you will find links to Cal-Trans, CHP, Weather, and surfire2008. While I will post important information from all sites here, you may also want to check yourself. The fire-related links be back next fire season. For the next four months or so, 2008 Winter Conditions will be much more important for us to stay abreast. I will add more helpful links, as I find them.

9:30 AM – Winds picking up. Everything is either covered, closed, and/or battened down. Rain gauge emptied. I am ready. Here’s the national weather report:

DAY ONE...SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT 
A MUCH STRONGER COLD FRONT WILL AFFECT THE REGION WITH 1-3 INCHES
OF RAIN POSSIBLE IN THE WETTER LOCATIONS AS WELL AS A CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS. LOCALLY STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE
LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE RECENTLY BURNED
AREAS OF MONTEREY AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES WILL NEED TO BE
MONITORED CLOSELY AS HEAVY RAINFALL APPEARS IMMINENT.

7:30 AM – No rain overnight. Season total = .50 inches. Will report throughout the day.