From ABC:
We are watching Monday closely as another atmospheric river wants to take aim at California. This AR will not be as strong as our last AR and the exact point of landfall is still up in the air. We will fine tune the details in the coming days.”

I asked Daniel Swain (Weather West) about this and he wrote: ”It’s possible, though not as much of a “slam dunk” as the last one (and would be much weaker in relative terms–much more squarely in the “beneficial” column, in any case).”

Los Padres National Forest

announces new interim forest supervisor

SOLVANG, Calif.— Los Padres National Forest officials today announced that Deputy Forest Supervisor Chris Stubbs will serve as interim forest supervisor until a permanent replacement is selected for Kevin Elliott, who retired Oct. 30 following a 43-year career with the Agency.

Stubbs was offered and accepted the position of Los Padres Deputy Forest Supervisor in October 2019.

A native of Virginia, Stubbs holds a B.A. in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a Master of Science in Forestry with a concentration in outdoor recreation planning from Virginia Tech. He began his federal land management career in 1992 with the Bureau of Land Management and later worked for the National Park Service prior to his arrival on the Forest.

“I am thrilled to serve in this interim role and work alongside the dedicated Los Padres employees who work each day on behalf of the American people,” Stubbs said.

Chris and his wife live in Santa Barbara and can often be found hiking and camping in the Forest during their spare time.

A new permanent forest supervisor will likely be announced early next year.

For more information on Los Padres National Forest, please visit the Forest website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf. 

The eye surgery was a success, the gas bubble is still with me, but getting smaller each day, and recovery is coming along. I got home despite the craziness of the slide on Wednesday, and having to go to Cambria to pick up my dogs’s meds from the vet there. I am going to take time off from the Monday coffee reads for a while as I am not doing well at keeping them in focus.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 ON BIG SUR COAST FULLY REOPENED

ROCKSLIDE CLEARED JUST NORTH OF MON/SLO COUNTY LINE

MONTEREY COUNTY – Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast is fully reopened.

Caltrans contractors and maintenance teams have cleared a rockslide on Highway 1 at Post Mile 0.25 in southern Monterey County. 

Highway 1 is fully open to travelers who may now travel without interruption from Monterey/Carmel area to Cambria/Morro Bay along the Big Sur Coast.

Crews were able to dislodge an undermined rock outcrop the afternoon of Friday October 30. Crews took advantage of the remaining daylight hours on Friday and worked through Saturday October 30 to clear over 20 truckloads of dirt and rocks.

I am getting a LOT of inquiries about this road with the closure between Gorda and Ragged Point of Highway One. N-F is NOT open to the public at this time, and looks like it will be not be until Dec. of 2023. Here is the information I received from Mary Adams’s office:

“We recently made an inquiry with USFS about the status and received this information from Bradley King, Forest Engineer:

Federal Highways sent their surveyors and project engineers out to Nac-Ferg Rd to conduct preliminary assessments and collect additional detailed survey information on the damages. Currently, the estimated project schedule they have provided us is as follows:

Dec 2021: Project Start (funding dependent, begin design/planning work)
Aug 2022: 70% Design complete / Environmental Compliance complete
Nov 2022: 95% Design complete
Jan 2023: Final Design complete / prepare final contract documents
Mar 2023: Contract Award
May 2023: Construction Start (Notice to Proceed)
Nov 2023: Construction Complete

This schedule is dependent on funding.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 ON BIG SUR COAST CLOSED DUE TO ROCKSLIDE

JUST NORTH OF MON/SLO COUNTY LINE

MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans contractors and maintenance teams continue to respond to a rockslide incident on Highway 1 that was identified the morning of October 27. The location of the rockslide is just north of the county line, at Post Mile 0.25 in southern Monterey County, approximately two miles north of Ragged Point.

Maintenance and geotechnical teams have identified a large, undermined rock outcrop above the roadway that needs to be removed from the hillside, brought down to the roadway, and transported off site.

Soil has been transported to the site to build up an access ramp on the southern side of the rock outcrop. This will allow excavators to safely access and remove the rock outcrop from the side.

Once the rock is removed, crews will need to assess the slope to determine if any protective features need to be installed on or below the slope.

Work is taking place across both lanes of the roadway. Highway 1 is still not expected to reopen before Wednesday November 3.

Crews and equipment will continue to work 7-days a week during daylight hours as long as site conditions are safe for crews.

This rockslide has resulted in full closure of Highway 1 at Ragged Point, just north of the Ragged Point Inn, which remains open.

A full closure of southbound Highway 1 has been put in place at Gorda (PM 10).

Highway 1 remains open for local travel from Carmel to Gorda. Notification of the closure is in place at several locations along Highway 1.

Updates will be provided as details about progress on the project become available.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when

driving through highway work zones.

For traffic updates on other state highways in Monterey County, travelers may contact Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-5

Excavator constructing access ramp to side of rock outcrop 10.28.21

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Kevin Drabinski

Public Information Officer

Caltrans District 5

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 CLOSED ON BIG SUR COAST JUST NORTH OF RAGGED POINT

MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans maintenance teams responded to a report of rockfall on Highway 1 this morning at Post Mile 0.25 in southern Monterey County, approximately two miles north of Ragged Point.

This rockfall has resulted in full closure of Highway 1 at Ragged Point, just north of the Ragged Point Inn, which remains open.

A full closure of southbound Highway 1 has been put in place at Gorda (PM 10).

Highway 1 remains open for local travel from Carmel to Gorda. Notification of the closure is being put in place at several locations along southbound Highway 1. 

Maintenance and geotechnical teams are on site and continue with their assessments of the area. In addition to rockfall on the road, there is concern about unsupported rock on the slopes immediately above the roadway. It is expected that the work area for machinery and equipment to address these conditions will need to cover the entire roadway.

This morning, Caltrans entered into a new emergency contract for $500,000 with Papich Construction of Arroyo Grande to make necessary repairs. Crews and equipment have already been mobilized and work will occur 7-days a week during daylight hours as long as site conditions are safe for crews.

Early assessments indicate that Highway 1 may be closed for up to one week. Updates will be provided by close of business on Thursday, October 28, as more information becomes available.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when

driving through highway work zones.

For traffic updates on other state highways in Monterey County, travelers may contact Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-5

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Kevin Drabinski

Public Information Officer