Day: January 11, 2019

48 hour notice on Mud Creek & Paul’s Slide

48-HOUR TRAFFIC ADVISORY**

POTENTIAL TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF HIGHWAY 1 AT MUD CREEK/PAUL’S SLIDE

MONTEREY COUNTY — Caltrans has received notification from National Weather Service (NOAA) data that there is a significant storm arriving in approximately 48-hours for the areas of Mud Creek (PM 8.9) and Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6) on State Route 1 in the Big Sur area.

This advisory is for travelers to be ready in the event the roadway needs to be closed due to a predicted significant storm and allow time for them to prepare for the closure including stocking up on necessary supplies and making plans.

NOTE: At the 24-hour mark, an updated traffic advisory will be sent, either confirming the full closure or providing additional information. These advisories apply only to the Mud Creek and Paul’s Slide areas with each closure being treated separately.

 

Storm Watch #2, 1/11/19

10:30 pm – and it just won’t quit. Day one of ten…Mining Ridge, Chalk Peak, and Three Peaks are the ones you want to keep an eye on relative to Paul’s Slide and Mud Creek.

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Drops started here 12:21 pm, and it was pouring by 12:39 pm. John Lindsey of SLO just sent out his new predictions, and it is looking pretty grim. Rather than the storms ending by next Friday, they are now extended into the MLK weekend. So, rain pretty much for the next 10 days, with a couple short breaks, like tomorrow afternoon through Sunday morning.

Another cold front brings strong to gale-force (25 to 38 mph) southerly winds and moderate to heavy rain this evening into Saturday morning. Total rainfall amounts with this system are expected to range between 0.75 and 1.75 inches. Snow levels remain generally above 6,000 feet as this system is not expected to bring a cold air mass.

A break in the rain is forecast on Saturday afternoon  into Sunday morning. A 538 dm upper-level trough of low-pressure along the California coastline will direct a series of surface lows and frontal systems into the Central Coast  starting Sunday evening into Thursday. These vigorous surface lows, fronts and troughs will produce a prolonged period of moderate gale-force to fresh gale-force (34 to 46 mph with gust 55 mph) southerly winds along our coastline and heavy rain throughout the Central Coast,  especially along the southerly facing slopes.

Both the ECMWF & GFS model runs have increased cumulative rainfall totals. If these models verify, between 4 and 8 inches of rain is forecast this evening through next Thursday with Big Sur receiving as much as 1 foot of rain over this period. The heaviest rain is expected  on Wednesday. Please see https://twitter.com/pge_john for rainfall graphics.

Unsettled and wet weather is now forecast for much of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend with generally above average daily temperatures. (Here is the graphic he mentions.)

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Mud Creek Photos

Before I get to the Mud Creek photos, I ran across these photos of Paul’s Slide taken by Rock Knocker on 11/25/18 and I thought the comparison to the ones Brendon took earlier this week were enlightening.

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It has been a couple weeks since I showed you what is going on at Mud Creek, so I thought I would bring you up-to-date with photos before we are hit with a week of rain. These were taken by Rock Knocker on Wednesday.

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