I had to leave this morning at 6 am – in the dark, in the rain with clouds sitting on top of me. The drive down was a nightmare, but I had to get Gideon to the vet for surgery.
By the time I hit the highway, the rain had stopped, and dawn was arriving. I’d also come out from under the clouds. I slid in the mud at least 1/2 a dozen times, but I made it.
The road from Jade Cove to Ragged Point had rocks in the north bound lane, many, many places. Cal-Trans was out on dawn patrol. Hit a major squall south of Cambria. I have to spend the day here in Morro Bay until he’s ready to pick up and Dakota gets her check up.
I couldn’t check my own gauge in the dark, while handling two dogs, but reports have come in of 1/2 inch in Big Sur Valley and an inch and a half at Esalen. Based on that, I probably got two inches.
Big Sur Kate got caught. I should have changed my links over from fire watch to storm watch. Will do that this evening. I did get the top 10 photos chosen, so I’ll start uploading them tonight to a draft so that they will be ready for voting sometime tomorrow.
Stay safe, out there, and let us know how you faired in the comments below.
Dear Kate, so glad you got down the mountain safely. You have guardian angels! I hope surgery goes well for Gideon. Stay dry and safe!
Wow Kate! That sounds like mid winter traveling with skids and rocks. Hope your doggies give you a lot of love for your adventuring care. Here at The Hawks Perch we got hit late in the day and not much. Spring kind of sprinkles that increased late night, but very on and off. Everything’s shiny and sweet and the sun’s trying to win out now and appears to be. All the highway barricades were removed yesterday, local talk about a lease ending, but seems silly with storms starting. Suddenly the highway dust, rocks, and potentially out of control vehicles seem a lot closer and hikers lose the little protected lane. But the view improved. Hope your drive back home is fabulous. Doesn’t sound like it could possibly be worse than the pre-dawn run. Take care out there.
Kate – I measured .62 inches in the rain gauge at Big Sur Station. Hope you have a safe trip back and the dogs are all good!
You are such a warrior woman Kate trekking out into the world as you do, battling whatever your road and homestead bring your way. Best wishes to you and your dogs so that his surgery goes well and you get back home safely.
Love, Pam
Stay safe on the road, Kate, and looks like the same for me. Here is a part of the text from my weather communique I sent to you with a NWS satellite photo of a huge, wild-looking cyclone poised right off the entire West Coast…
he big one is a’ comin’! And I gotta do a town-run through it!
This discussion went with a Special Hazardous Weather Statement…,
And check out the attached cyclone…it is a classic lu-lu! There is a 150+mph jet stream, delivering a lot of “protein” to the cold front, and an additional upper-level jet that will enhance rain rates. In other words, all hell will break loose! From late tonight to Thursday, we will be blasted. Then, Friday morning, we may wake up to sunshine as the violent mess rumbles east into the Rockies. A “flat” high pressure zone, with stable, cool air will hold off further storm systems through the weekend. Be mindful that things could change, such as the cyclone stalling over us for an extra day or two, but NWS is sticking to their forecast that the weekend will be fair.
My interpretation from the satellite photo, agrees with their predictions. Note the powerful stream of cold Arctic air running like a river down the backside (left) side of the vortex, and colliding with that tropical monsoon air streaming from the Gulf of Mexico (that thick line of storm clouds from Mexico to Texas up tp Montana and Alberta). The center of the storm has a hurricane-like “eye”. The leading (right) edge of the cyclone packs the extremely powerful cold front, and the whole thing is riding in the flow of the Jet Stream. Translated, this is the image of a “perfect storm”.
For Big Sur, drive slow and watch for all those tire-slashing rocks, and boulders on the road. And Coast Ridge Road will become a cascade of mud!
Wish me luck in safely returning with my truckload of supplies for the PTO Jade Festival booth!! I’ll find a way…