Up here, heavy hail, sleet, rain, slush, whatever it is, it is nasty. I’ll insert a photo of my window here:
but first, here is an announcement from the Office of Emergency Services!
From the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR MONTEREY COUNTY
MARCH 23, 2011
1. Over the past few days Monterey County has experienced periods of heavy rain, high winds and high surf. As a result the upcoming weather system, expected to arrive in Monterey County early Thursday, March 24, 2011 will result in the issuance of several weather statements. A High Wind Advisory will be in effect from 1100 hours until 2200 hours and will be in effect for the entire coast, moving inland to the ridgelines as the day progresses. Sustained winds will reach 25-35 MPH with gusts 45 MPH, and may be even stronger over the hills. Due to the already saturated ground conditions, hazards such as downed trees and power lines may be expected. An Urban Small Stream Flooding Advisory will be in effect from daybreak, approximately 0700 hours with 2” – 2 ½” of intense rainfall expected with this weather system. Flooding in low lying areas, small streams and creeks is possible.
2. The major rivers within Monterey County are being monitored by the Monterey County Water Resources Agency and public safety agencies and are currently below flood monitoring stage at this time with the exception of the Salinas River in Soledad at the Highway 101 Bridge area, where it is expected to crest at 20’ at midnight tonight. If you are in the area you are advised to follow the advice of public safety officials, and if at all possible, stay out of the area all together.
3. The weather system will have periods of heavy downpours and there is a chance of thunderstorms throughout the day. Due to the ground saturation and strong winds in the Santa Lucia Mountains mud/debris slides are also possible.
4. Stay aware of your local conditions, drive with extreme caution and follow the instructions of your local public safety officials. Be prepared should power outages occur. Watch for weather updates.
DAVID L. KRAUSS
INTERIM EMERGENCY SERVICES MANAGER
I have a photo of the funnel out over the ocean today that Kirsty Sullivan sent me to share (THANK YOU KITSTY!), but I haven’t been able to download the whole thing. I’ve asked for smaller copies.
Tks Kate. Lots of good advice there, and I’m sure appreciating your commitment to keeping us all informed a lot over these last few days particularly….
Stay safe and dry, Kate – and everybody!
Yoiks. It should be better to be informed but a little blissful ignorance might be in keeping. Sounds like a great mess, thanks as always for the heads up. We’re seeing visitors and campers in the Hawks Perch environs. If the weather ever settles down we may see more. The River Inn grocery may not restock til the road’s fixed, so get it while you can. Report of a genuine tornado over the ocean late afternoon here by a local who saw it from Post Ranch. Big, she said, and dark and serious, gaining in size until it got sucker punched by a wall of hail and rain and vanished. No, not a water spout. Interested if anyone else caught this view….The rain’s heavy, hatches being battened. We’ve had sustained power all through this last bout and hope it lasts. I’m loving electricity. God bless us one all, the
spirited folks and happy campers of Big Sur. We’ll manage.
T-shirts and books and paintings and jewelry will sell once more
and the regrettable collapse on the part of the marathon
committee…what are they thinking? We should make them eat
their detour maps.
Thanks Kate. Warm up the Geni. Going to get windy up on the peeks. Batten down the hatches everyone…Be safe and stay warm.
Here is the text of an analysis I did from the recent satellite photos at NWS…sorry, I can’t post the photos themselves, but the text gives the message:
As of 10pm, March 21, the approaching cyclone looked like this, spinning off the Northern Cali. Coast. Early morning of Mar 22, Wednesday, it moved southward and the leading cold front clobbered the coast, just as I was driving the “long way” to school. It rained steadily all the way down the Salinas Valley. But when I reached Cambria, all hell broke loose. Very heavy rain caused the highway from Cambria to San Carpoforo to have dangerous flooding and ponding…easy to hydroplane. Then north to Pacific Valley, the road was littered with rocks, mud, and the rain was joined by heavy southerly wind. Upon reaching school, I got soaked just walking up to the office.
Not fun!!!
Around 2pm, Keenan Harlan and I checked the satellite photo, and it showed this cyclone moving below us…obviously drenching Santa Barbara. A second cyclone was poised up the Jet Stream, off Oregon, ready to follow the first one and strike us around mid day Thursday.
Now, as of 8:45 pm, and in both the “water vapor” satellite photo (above), and the “infrared” photo, you can really see cyclone #1 hitting San Diego with its leading cold front, and pummeling the Sierras with snow! Meanwhile, cyclone #2 is still spinning off the Pacific Northwest. Projecting south from its vortex is a thick cloud-line of a powerful cold front….aimed at Northern Cali.. Tomorrow, as the first storm moves further east into the Rockies, the second storm will slide southeast with the Jet Stream right to us. Frontal passage looks like midday, Thursday, just as Keenan had calculated, using the knowledge he had learned…good job, Keenan!
My drive home was interesting. Left Pacific Valley with sunshine, drove up Nacimiento watching a heavy t-shower to the north, drove into the clouds and encountered graupel snow from the summit to FHL. Beyond that, it was a mix of bright sunshine and heavy rain, sometimes simultaneously!
here is a link to a picture of the funnel cloud
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42241480/ns/local_news-monterey_ca/
Just found out there is a slide South of Limekiln State Park the road will be closed for at least 2 hours .
Reports now say the slide to the south may have both lanes closed until at least 1.
ANOTHER CLOSURE FOR NOW. PER CAALTRANS
IS CLOSED 2.5 MI SOUTH OF LUCIA (MONTEREY CO) – DUE TO A MUD SLIDE
– MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE
and per CHP at MM 20
9:48AM PER WAYNE W/CALTRANS–HE SENT OUT SIGALERT
9:35AM 9-14 1184 AT NAC/FER RD
9:10AM 1039 MTY COMM
9:04AM 1039 S7
8:58AM PER CALTRANS–ETA FOR OPENING 1300HRS
8:30AM 12 CONTING F/BIG CREEK BRIDGE
8:29AM PER WAYNE, LARGE SLIDE AND RD NOT PASSABLE
8:29AM CT 1097
8:28AM CT NOT YET 1097
8:27AM WILL BE CLOSED MOST OF THE DAY
mileage markers are a mystery to some… here is a url. http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/mile_markers.html
I’ll also try to cut/paste them here so you can put them somewhere for everyone.. oops can’t do it neatly… maybe BigSurKate can get it off url and in a post somewhere
*BURRRRRRRRRRR*