At 3:48 pm, CHP reports rocks in the road at Hurricane Point on Highway One. Of course, this isn’t much, but it *could* be a sign or symptom. I can’t remember the year this slid before, but it cut us off to the north for MONTHS. Anyone remember the year?
1:00 pm – okay, our turn! I’ve been checking the CHP website regularly, and 90% of the problems – roadway flooding, mud/rock/dirt slides, and traffic hazards – have been in Santa Cruz County this morning. that might change. Since the heavy rain is upon us, keep safe, everyone, particularly if you have to be out and about. Here’s one CHP report I particularly like re Crg 12 and Strawberry Canyon Rd, which is out in Northern Monterey Co, near the Prundale area, I believe.
“12:56 PM 1 [1] HILL COMING DOWN INTO ROAD”
10:00 am – Santa Cruz is getting HAMMERED!
6:30 am – weather and road condition reports will be provided throughout the day, but to begin with, this report from NWS:
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
417 AM PST SUN DEC 23 2012
.DISCUSSION…AS OF 4:00 AM PST SUNDAY…ANOTHER WEATHER
SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE DISTRICT TODAY. THE LEADING EDGE OF
THE SYSTEM IS BRINGING LIGHT RAIN TO THE NORTH BAY THIS MORNING.
LIGHT RAIN WILL SPREAD OVER THE SFO AND MRY BAY [then picking up this afternoon] …. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE 1 TO 2 INCHES ACROSS THE AREA WITH LOCALLY 2 TO 4 INCHES IN THE HILLS.
RAIN WILL END TONIGHT IN THE NORTH AND EARLY MONDAY MORNING IN
THE SOUTH. DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED MONDAY. A FAST-MOVING FRONTAL
SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BRING RAIN TO THE NORTH BAY TUESDAY
AFTERNOON SPREADING INTO THE REST OF THE DISTRICT TUESDAY NIGHT.
THE MAIN IMPACT OF THIS STORM WILL BE NORTH OF THE CWA SO RAINFALL
AMOUNTS WILL BE MUCH LESS THAN THE CURRENT SYSTEM AFFECTING US.
THE EXTENDED FORECAST HAS A HIGH DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY AS WE MAY BE
DEALING WITH A CUTOFF LOW.
Thanks for the news, un-merry though it be. I’ll likely have the gallery open til Christmas anyway. And get some egg nog before it sells out.
Merry Christmas to Kate, to your wonderful hairy family, your children, et all, and including, of course, Rock Knocker. Here comes a brand new year and we are in it.
Hang in there Santa Cruz. They are a tough bunch like us here in Big Sur. It’s coming down steady, but things seem to be behaving. Let it flow.
I believe it was 1998. Hurricane Point slid after the road had already been closed due to wash outs. As I recall, we had 12 inches of non-stop rain over 3 or 4 days that caused the wash outs. It didn’t seem that unusual here in the Valley, the river wasn’t as high as we’d seen in 1995, so I was surprised when I found the road closed when I went to go shopping.
Gotta love those road workers! The road was repaired, and all the drainages were improved, which is why we’ve been able to have the huge storms (10 inches in 24 hours) we’ve had since 2008 without losing the roadway in the same way again. (That Rocky Creek washout was a fluke, seemingly unrelated to water building up behind culverts .) Fortunately, we’ve had enough breaks in this storm to keep the river in the banks – so far, so good!
Happy Holidays!
Barbara T