6:00 pm ish – ROAD HAZARDS -CHP reports: Traffic Hazard reported at Palo Colorado Cyn., a large truck and trailer in road around 5 pm with no cones or emergency flashers. At 6:08 pm, a 100 lb limb is reported “hanging” over the road near Soberanes Point. And then there is the one below.
Sycamore Canyon Rd. blocked by tree. Photo by Belinda Shoemaker:
Here are two more “storm photos” — both sent in by Mike Gilson. The first is last night’s sunset:
This Big Sur river shot is from Wednesday (today) at 10:00 a.m. just after the storm cell passed…and the photo is looking upriver from the Hwy 1 bridge at Pfeiffer State Park
Nexrad is showing two more storms to hit our coast this afternoon. Others may be (and probably are) out of range of Nexrad.
Today’s Big Sur River Photos, courtesy of Debbie Reed:
She had this to say: “All well, river wise. Lots of redwood branches down. Good thing my car wasn’t there this a.m. during the gale wind. Would have damage. My power is out with limbs on lines. River doesn’t want to go down yet. Lucky we have theses breaks in the rain.”
11:00 am – it has become very quiet up here. Little wind, no rain … ah peaceful!
9:30 am – THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR…
MONTEREY COUNTY IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA…
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF BIG SUR VILLAGE…
* UNTIL 1000 AM PST
* AT 924 AM PST…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR BIG SUR VILLAGE…AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
Here is that cell on Nexrad:
* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO ANDREW MOLERA STATE PARK…PICO BLANCO CAMPGROUND AND CACHAGUA NEAR THE LOS PADRES DAM
9:30 am – rain totals: 2 inches overnight and this morning until 9:30 am; 10 inches for the week; and 36.6 inches for the season.
8:30 am – current Rextad – I claim lack of sleep — that’s Nexrad!!
5:30 am – thunder and lightning are WICKED right now! Thunder starts rolling the moment I see the flashes, and cracks a mere second later. If it wasn’t for the panicking dogs, this would be fun! Hmmm…almost.
4:15 am – Ommpf!! My sensitive canine kid jumped into the middle of my belly. No way was she going to go through this AGAIN, with me asleep. As soon as there is a break in the weather, I am getting some of that Rescue Remedy.
So, wind (not too bad), thunder & lightning (also not too bad) and moments of rain at this gawd-awful time of the morning.
Excepts from this morning’s NOAA forecast discussion:
AS OF 2:50 AM PST WEDNESDAY…SHORT TERM ISSUE INVOLVES BRACING FOR THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM DUE TO SLAM ONTO THE COAST BEFORE DAWN. ANOTHER SYSTEM IS SLATED FOR THURSDAY WITH QUIETER WEATHER FOR THE WEEKEND.
… HEAVIER RAINS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FRONTAL BAND WILL LIKELY MOVE THROUGH DURING RUSH HOUR…SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY`S FRONTAL PASSAGE. IN ADDITION TO THE RAINS…STRONG WINDS ARE FORECAST TO ACCOMPANY THIS SYSTEM AND WIND ADVISORIES AND HIGH WIND WARNINGS HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR COASTAL AND MOUNTAIN AREAS AS WELL AS [SOME] INLAND VALLEYS…WIND SPEEDS ARE EXPECTED TO EASE AFTER NOON…AND IMPROVING CONDITIONS IN GENERAL CAN BE ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER…SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE IF NOT LIKELY IN THE UNSTABLE POST-FRONTAL AIRMASS. SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE SMALL HAIL.
… ADDITIONALLY…HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO ACCOMPANY THIS STORM SYSTEM WITH AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN ANTICIPATED THROUGH THE AFTERNOON WITH THE HIGHER AMOUNTS EXPECTED ACROSS HIGHER TERRAIN.
… ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO IMPACT THE STATE ON THURSDAY AS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW CENTER MOVES ACROSS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. RIGHT NOW THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO PARTICULARLY IMPACT AREAS FROM ABOUT BIG SUR SOUTHWARD WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINS THERE AND INTO THE LA BASIN BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. QPF ESTIMATES FOR OUR DISTRICT GIVE 1-3 INCHES IN THE SANTA LUCIAS…UP TO AN INCH OR SO IN THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS…AND A HALF INCH OR LESS ELSEWHERE THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.
Do you know Gary Snyder’s poem “True Night,” Kate?
I’m up at this God awe-full hour, too.
I do not think I do. But I do remember a night being wakened by a maurauding troop of raccoons — a mom, teaching her teenie boppers how to forage in my cupboards!! That was PC Cyn!!
Intense wind, rain, lightning, and thunder up on Clear Ridge at the moment.
Good morn Kate! Hang in there! And thanks for your reports…I can almost feel the storms for myself which is so great. I miss the coast greatly.
Well, you’ve either found a summary of the poem online, Kate — or are spoofing me in some other way. I tried, but could only find poem-summaries, not “True Night” itself, online. Which won’t do.
May all the right trees stay vertical.
I Like what Chris L , said ,,, we like trees to stay vertical ,,,, definately not horizontal and across the road ,,,,
My wife’s 3 cats , frequek out when thunder and lightning are out and about ,,,, my insurance increased their quote for a new premium ,,,, ie : Singapore is a lightning capital of the world ,,, yea ,,,right !!!! So is many more places !
Do you feed your Lads , yeast ? ,,, to ward off fleas and ticks ?
It’s the “B” vitamine , that is supposed to do the trick ,,, Ha Ha !
At least you don’t have the summer biting flys , this time of year !
Yeah, who needs an alarm clock when you have a home being rattled by thunder to wake up. Hope the fur kids are doing better. Be safe sweetie.
Hey you early morning poets!
Suddenly I wake
branches begin to break
the howling banshees
command the breeze
then the liquid downfall
sends out its call
announcing another
deja vu for us all
Anyway…it started right on schedule…heavy rain and some introductory gusts.
There is a severe t-storm WARNING out for Cambria to Santa Barbara with a band of rotating cells off the coast and a mention of possible tornadoes.
It was a wild and crazy morning over here in Atascadero. We woke up to lots of downpour and wild wind. It’s not quite so intense here at the moment but definitely still raining. We are grateful for the ongoing rain as Wise Acre Farm our community farm and garden east of Cambria and all our trees and plants here in Atascadero were soooo thirsty. Thank you Kate for your thoughtful service. As one who travels Highway 1 regularly it’s so good to know as much in advance as possible if there’s danger on the road.
After that latest severe t-storm this morning in BS, the blue sky came out and Captain Lingcod hit the road. Lots of signs of a big washout, running water across the road at many locations. And that same #$%*#@ half of a tree hanging on the power lines at Torre Cyn. Bridge…now it is hooked upside down by a snag! Pitkin’s curve is lookin’ good.CALTRANS is doin’ their usual miracles. Got word that the worst was in Cambria…which was said to be a total disaster…trees down and no power. More later.
And it is later now, so here is the pm road observation I promised…the highway was in good shape. That hanging 1/2 tree is still there. Pitkin’s Curve/Rainrocks area held up well with a lot of good scrapes from CALTRANS. A very odd large rock in the MIDDLE of the Mill Creek Bridge.
And as for that Big Sur River…Dang thing is too thick to drink/too thin to plow!