The County of Monterey’s Department of Emergency Management is urging residents and businesses of Big Sur to begin stocking up with at least 2 weeks of essential supplies in anticipation of an atmospheric river weather event. The National Weather Service is predicting that a strong weather system, stronger than recent systems, may arrive late Thursday of this week lasting several days.
Current hydrographic estimates have all rivers rising, with the Big Sur River reaching “action stage” and other Monterey County rivers getting close to “action stage” by the weekend.
This is a preliminary notice in an effort to provide Monterey County residents and Big Sur residents in particular ample time to prepare. Weather conditions are subject to change and the Department of Emergency Management will provide regular updates as information becomes available from the National Weather Service (NWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The County also recommends residents who have not already done so to sign up for Alert Monterey County, a free service that pushes out emergency information to subscribers as soon as it becomes available. More information is available at https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-a-h/administrative-office/office-of-emergency-services/ready-monterey-county/sign-up-for-alerts.
Maia CarrollCommunications CoordinatorCounty of Montereycarrollm@co.monterey.ca.us(831) 796-3092 |
“While all coastal mountain regions in our CWA will see higher rain totals, the focus remains across the Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia Mountains of the Big Sur coast. For Santa Cruz Mtns, peak rain totals Thursday through Friday had ranged 4.5-6.3″ but have now increased to a range of 5-7.5″. For Santa Lucia Mtns, peak rain totals had ranged 5-7.5″ but increased to a range of 8-10.5”.
“One thing contributing to the higher rain totals for Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia terrain will be the strengthening southerly winds. We have issued a Wind Advisory for Thursday 1 pm through Friday at 4 pm as we expect gusts up to 50 mph during the AR. Similar to the storms we experienced in January…soils are fairly saturated already so the combination of heavy rain with gusty winds means it will be easier for downed trees and power outages.”
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=MTR&issuedby=MTR&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&fbclid=IwAR0Nv16I9fH5uo_oMSl7S6-GpmRtIQUpZPWYRcoo-KZgyMhW24MJCtDvojI