Month: February 2014

Bicycle Accident at Mud Creek Follow-up

I just received this comment for approval, and I thought my readers would be interested in this follow-up. Nice to know how he is doing! And we are all happy it turned out so well. It is attached to the story I did in Sept. of 2012 about the bicycle accident at Mud Creek. Thanks for writing, David!

Big Sur Kate and all those involved,
I want to first say THANK YOU!!!!!! words don’t say enough to thank all those who have helped me.
My name is David Clark(dclark73@gmail.com) I am the Firefighter who was involved in the bicycle accident about 17 months ago in Sept 0f 2012 near mud creek outside of Gorda in Big Sur.
Im sorry its taken this long to find this site and write this thanks. I hope it finds all of those involved. Thanks To all of you amazing people who helped me I am doing much better. On the way to get back to work and full recovery! It was really close. Torn Spleen and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) all while using a helmet, thankfully! I dont want to be too long-winded on here, but there were and still are a lot of angels on my side!
If any of you have any questions, please feel free to email me. at above address.
And I’d love to hear from anyone who may have any and I mean ANY info about my accident. Still after all this time still trying to piece things together.
Thank you for this Site. It has been amazing for my friends, Family, and myself!
JUst remember the little things we do, can change lives forever, They changed mine!!!
Thank you!
David M Clark (dclark73@gmail.com)

Great News! Rain on the way!

Maybe fire season will finally end?

From NOAA’s forecast discussion:

DISCUSSION…AS OF 09:05 AM PST SUNDAY…THE MARINE LAYER LITTLE TO NO CHANGE IN THE WEATHER PATTERN TODAY INTO TUESDAY…AS HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS THE DOMINATING WEATHER FEATURE. EXPECT TEMPERATURES IN THE 60S TO LOW 70S WITH MORE DRY WEATHER.

BIG CHANGES IN STORE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK AS A SERIES OF STORM SYSTEMS MOVE TOWARD THE REGION. BOTH WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY PROMISE TO BRING SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL (ESPECIALLY FROM WHAT WE HAVE SEEN THIS YEAR) AND GUSTY SOUTH WINDS. PLEASE CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FORECAST FOR DETAILS ON THESE UPCOMING STORMS!

THE FORECAST MODELS REMAIN PERSISTENT … THE FIRST IMPULSE WILL ARRIVE WEDNESDAY AND BRING
WIDESPREAD LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE RAINFALL TO THE REGION. THE BULK OF THE PRECIPITATION FROM THIS FIRST SYSTEM IS SET TO OCCUR WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS GENERALLY BETWEEN 1/2 TO 1 INCH. GREATER AMOUNTS UPWARDS OF 2 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE COASTAL MOUNTAINS BY THURSDAY MORNING. A BRIEF BREAK IN RAIN WILL OCCUR ON THURSDAY AS THE FIRST SYSTEM MOVES TO THE EAST. MEANWHILE, THE MID/UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN ACROSS THE PACIFIC AND SEND A SECOND IMPULSE TOWARD THE CALIFORNIA COAST ON FRIDAY. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL TAP INTO MUCH DEEPER MOISTURE AND WILL TRIGGER MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE REGION FRIDAY THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY. AS THE CENTER OF THE MID/UPPER LOW MOVES INLAND…GUSTY WINDS FROM THE SOUTH WILL ALSO DEVELOP AND MAY CAUSE POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS AS THE SOILS BECOME SATURATED.

RAINFALL TOTALS THROUGH SATURDAY ARE CURRENTLY PROJECTED TO RANGE BETWEEN 1 TO 2 INCHES IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS WITH 2 TO 5 INCHES IN THE COASTAL MOUNTAINS. WE WILL CONTINUE TO FINE TUNE THE FORECAST IN THE COMING DAYS AND FOCUS OUR ATTENTION ON THE PROJECTED RAINFALL AMOUNTS AS WELL AS THE POTENTIAL FOR DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES ON FRIDAY WHEN WIND SPEEDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE STRONGEST. LOCALIZED URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE LATE IN THE WEEK WHERE THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL OCCURS.
STAY TUNED!

Don Harlan ( the original road warrior)’s theory of Big Sur’s rain patterns may be proving itself once again. He always said if we got little rain in December, watch out in March!

Here is NOAA’s graph of the rain we can expect.

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And here is the radar pic sent to me by Dave Allen.

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Quite the series headed our way. Be prepared and be safe!

By the way, there is a new weather station at Pacific Valley School. The link is PV weather station I’ll be adding this to my weather links to the right. It is quite detailed.

Canine Distemper & Vacinations

PET VACCINATIONS IN BIG SUR?

Dr. Kocher, of Oceanview Pet Hospital, has generously offered to come to Big Sur
(see below) to vaccinate pets who may be exposed to canine distemper.
Please contact me if you’re interest.
Dick Whittington
831-667-0337
whittington@bigsur88.net

From Dr. Kocher of Oceanview:

Thanks for the information. Where you live, I highly recommend vaccinations against distemper parvo lepto lymes disease rattlesnake hepatitis . Furthermore, I recommend annual blood testing and preventative medicine for heartworms. Vaccination and preventative medicine in general are the least expensive, least uncomfortable form of medicine. If you wish, I could arrange to come to a place like the grange and hold a vaccination clinic. There would be a charge for this service but it would be far more convenient that traveling to town.

From: Heidi

Friends, we’re noting dead foxes up here on the ridge, and the Monterey SPCA is reporting some too, which they believe are killed by canine distemper (still being tested), so I hope your loved ones have their distemper shots!
Heidi

NWS Drought Monitor

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Here is the link drought monitor

Likely chance of rain on the 27th and 28th, but there are also early indications that early March may hold substantial rain. If so, maybe we can go from exceptional drought back down to extreme!

I am having trouble deciding whether to keep my links as-is (recently changed from fire to my winter weather watch links), go back to fire, or change to a combination, but pared down version of each. Think I’ll wait until mid-March and then decide.

BSMAAC Meeting 2/28 at 10 am – Highway One projects

When the agenda comes out, I will post it here, but I have a heads up about yet other Cal-Trans projects which will be leave the highway with one lane for both directions for a year or longer. Two of the 3 projects overlap and will have an impact on the South Coast – Elephants Trunk (down by Ragged Point) in October of this year, and Cow Cliffs (just north of Big Creek) starting in March of 2015. For 7 months or more, those of us on the South Coast between those points will have to deal with the lengthy lines that occur from the stoppage of traffic, no matter which direction we go. The third project is scheduled to impact the area between Hurricane Point and the new Rocky Creek Viaduct, but won’t start until July of 2018. That project and the Cow Cliffs project are scheduled to be added to the agenda for the 28th. The Elephant’s Trunk project was previously presented. Here is some information on the projects to be presented on the 28th.

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Boat on Beach

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This boat was found on Garrapata Beach Saturday. Law Enforcement are on board checking it out. Capt. Lingcod drove by and posted below: “Next, at Garrapata beach, there were various enforcement personnel, from NOAA, to DFG, to the CHP, parked along the road responding to what appeared to be something down at the beach.”

In January, panga boats smuggling marijuana were found in Ventura and Santa Barbara, and in December, one was found north of Piedras Blanca. In 2013, 16,000 pounds of mj were found smuggled into California on panga boats, according to KCOY news in SLO.

Photo by Lisa Kleissner

Here is a link to Sunday evening’s Herald article: Hearld

Saturday Among the Tourists

So, today, I’m braving the tourists and traveling down to Cambria to have lunch with a friend and do a bit of Cookie Crocking. It is President’s weekend. (Isn’t it early? Or is it just me?) There are high clouds and little sun. Yesterday was gorgeous up here, so I postponed this trip in order to catch a few rays on the deck. Today is a good day to wander on down. I’ll take pics, and if anything worthwhile finds its way into my camera, I’ll upload later.

Upcoming Week

While I completely LOVED the rain, and like everyone, I am praying for more, today was a nice change from the last four days. Sunny, gorgeous, summer-like – including looking down at fog on the coast. Our drought is the lead story on the CBS Evening News tonight, while the East and South are preparing for another horrific snow storm. Here, this week is expected to be warm and sunny. I’d like to get away from my computer, away from the Internet, and start working in a dreadfully, woefully neglected garden. So, if you don’t hear from me, check outside in the dirt!

And just for grins … Something I found on FB. 😉

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