Report from friend in town at 8:00 pm: “Hey Kate-
We just had the tv interrupted with a weather advisory/warning of severe thunderstorms, 60mph sustained winds and 1 inch diameter hail going thru Gorda and Lucia heading east…people were advised to take cover in a secure building and not near any windows.”
Frankly, I think this is late and exaggerated, and is probably the one posted at 7 pm, which suggested 1/2 inch, and which I got bb sized, which only lasted about 10 minutes. Granted, I have not checked nexrad in the last hour, and will do so, but unless I see another cell coming at us, I won’t be posting for a while
*MAKE SURE AND READ DAVE ALLEN’S REPORT ON CONDITIONS AS HE DROVE FROM CARMEL TO PACIFIC VALLEY SCHOOL AND HOME TODAY IN THE COMMENTS TO THIS POST.*
7:00 pm – Nexrad Radar shot. See that F-2?? That’s us, right here under it!
Here is what that means:
6:45 pm – the beginnings of rain, small hail, and a dog who hates lightning is panting with eyes dialated and wide open. My hearing-aid dog. Even though I can’t hear it. She can. Oh, now I can hear it, too!! Here it comes!
6:30 pm – from Dave Allen: “The alarm just went off on my weather radio. It was a Severe T-storm Warning about that cell I mentioned off the coast. They said that it is presently 5 miles off Cape San Martin, and warned about high winds, lightning, hail and such.”
5:30 pm, let me start rain totals for today over again. Yesterday afternoon’s .75 got counted twice, once in today’s total as well as in yesterday’s total, as it wasn’t dumped. (my bad) but not in the rest of the totals (week or season). In other words, today’s totals were still 2.75, but the two inches were this morning and the .75 came this afternoon, not last night and early morning. That brings this week’s total to an even 8 inches, and the season total to 34.6 inches. Thank goodness I write this stuff down on my calendar, huh?
3:20 pm – major lightning and thunder, just one, so far, but very bright, loud, close. Rain has begun again, and here’s the hail. Quick roll through, and gone in 10 minutes. Boy, our weather people called this one right on the money, didn’t they? There is a very long, detailed NOAA discussion issued at 3 pm today. Every interested party should read it. See links to the right.
3:00 pm – here it comes again. Here is current Nexrad:
2:30 pm – local went up to look at the slide on N-F Rd. and reports Cal-Trans has one piece of equipment there, but did not think it was big enough for the trees. She did not mention County one way or the other. Another local reported she came up the back side of N-F Rd. from 101 and was able to get through the few minor problems with her fully loaded low vehicle. Another local reports a tree down blocking Plaskett near the bottom. I’m guessing, with a relative degree of certainty, that there are a bunch more between it and me.
12:30 pm. I have confirmed with the USFS, PV Station that Nasty-Fergy is closed due to an “erosion problem.” I was informed that the County Road crews would get to it in the next “couple days.” Another Alm’s Ridge local was able to drive up Willow and all the way across the back side last night. Plaskett is probably impassable, but the USFS doesn’t have any information. Oh, and the good news is that at least some, if not all, of Big Sur Valley has power again.
It is dead quiet here, but the wind advisory remains in effect, with a high wind watch starting this evening. More of everything later tonight.
From the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services:
A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM PST THIS AFTERNOON. A HIGH WIND WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.
* TIMING: STRONG SOUTH TO SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE AFTERNOON TODAY. SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL ONCE AGAIN INCREASE EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS EXPECTED IN THE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON.
* WINDS: SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WILL CONTINUE TODAY WITH LOCAL GUSTS AS HIGH AS 50 MPH. ON WEDNESDAY SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 25 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.
* IMPACTS: WINDS THIS STRONG CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE. DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES MAY RESULT IN POWER OUTAGES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS OF 35 MPH ARE EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT…ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.
A HIGH WIND WATCH MEANS THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT. SUSTAINED WINDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH…OR GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR STRONGER MAY OCCUR. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.
11:00 am – a break in the weather, and nothing shows up on Nexrad for the next several hours. Hopefully, we won’t get any more until tonight.
10:00 am – power out in Big Sur Valley, per BSV source, and residents warned by PG&E that it is likely to be for an extended period of time.
9:30 am – live wires sparking in the middle of the road at Palo Colorado and Garapata Rd.
9:00 am – NOAA is warning of hail and thunderstorms possible today, wind, and the whole ball of wax. Santa Cruz is faring much worse than we are. Most of the roads in the San Lorenzo Valley are closed, including 9 by Ben Lomand.
8:30 am – either I misread it, or between first light and now we got another inch, for 2 inches overnight and this morning, 7.25 inches for the week, and 33.85 inches for the season.
Nexrad this morning. At least Big Sur is not in the red!
8:00 am – 1 inch overnight and this morning; 6.25 inches for the week (starting Sunday); and 32.85 inches for the season. Report from a friend in Pebble Beach at 6 am: “we are getting pounded…..terrific wind, massive thunder and wind like you wouldn’t believe.” And Dave Allen left Carmel for the difficult drive down the coast from Carmel to Pacific Valley School at 6 am and he will report when he arrives.
3:30 am – what am I doing awake? Listening to the rain, the wind, and what may be mixed hail, that’s what. I will get back to sleep, shortly, I hope, if the sounds of the storm allow. Metal roofs, necessary for living among the wildfires, amplifies the sounds of storms. Rain totals when it is light. Continued coverage through out the day. Be safe everyone!
6am-I am off to try to make it to the school. Wish me luck. I’ll send you a road report later
Thinking of you this am…hang in there Kate!!
Huge thunder and lightening around 5:00 a.m. Trembling animals. Another 1″ in my rain gauge at 8:00 a.m. Still coming down hard. Power is out and the PG&E message says to be prepared to be out of power for an extended period of time. Glad I topped off my generator Saturday. Nothing hugely goofy going on. I’ll keep in touch.
Kate,
Sycamore Canyon and Front Hill are still out of power due to a downed tree and some overzealous removal efforts. So if this was the “mild” storm, what is in store for Wednesday? I am nailing the front door shut!
buckle down, big stuff coming your way!!
Sorry I couldn’t report about the road earlier today…our internet at the school was completely down. I safely made it both ways. This morning: violent thunderstorm, 4am-7:30am. Heavy rain, and insane south wind driving to school. Worst wind was from Yankee Point to Hurricane Point and Point Sur. The coast south of Post Ranch was more protected and danger of being flipped by a gust was less, until I got to Big Creek. From there to Gamboa it was scary once again. The road was amazingly clear of boulders…in part, thanks to the CALTRANS guys…THANKS!!! The netting above Big Creek was filled with a new batch of boulders, and at Pitkin’s that sorry little fence was blown out by plenty of goo. Luckily some of those monster boulders up there on the cliff did not decide to roll. Again, CALTRANS was scraping away and keeping things clean. Richard Johnson joked to me that he had put polish on his blade to make that roadway shine! Pitkins was being flagged to allow workers to clear out the mess behind the k-rail and fix the fence back up. This afternoon, all was cleaned up and ready for tomorrow’s onslaught. The messiest part is the mile south of Limekiln. The burn there has exposed plenty of rocks to go for a long time…so watch out there…go slow! On the way home, another violent cell hit Carmel area around 4pm…including a sample of it for me above Hurricane Point. The school also had a lightning show about 3:30.
Now, as of 6pm, I just looked at NWS. There is the next cyclone #3 tightly would up off the coast…complete with an “eye”, ready for tomorrow’s performance. The radar now shows the big cells off to the east in Central Valley…except one…right out there smack dab off Lopez Point. The return colors are orange and red, so it will be intense where it hits the coast…keep an eye for that.
Finally, the surf is so immense, that I have seen reefs that rarely break going off the scale. The swell is projected to get even bigger…25-35 feet (I guess I’ll pass on launching at Mill Creek today!!!
Oh, one last item. There is a large top half of a fallen tree hanging suspended on top of the power lines at the south end of the Torre Canyon Bridge…another accident waiting to finish happening!
THANKS, DAVE for a great report about the conditions you saw today!! I also want to thank everyone who is sharing information with me, either by phone, or here. That’s what I had envisioned for this blog — a place where we could share experiences, knowledge, and alerts. Everyone is doing that during this series of storm events, and I thank you all and am proud of our wee community.