Rain Predictions

PM Report: NWS reported this afternoon that it looks like the bulk of this storm will hit Santa Barbara, south:

BOTH OF THESE MODELS HAVE THIS LOW STILL WEST OF THE SOUTHERN
 CALIFORNIA COAST WITH PRECIP CHANCES JUST GLANCING OUR COASTLINE AT
 THIS TIME. BOTH MODELS BRING THE BULK OF THE RAINFALL TO SOUTHERN
 CALIFORNIA FROM ABOUT SAN DIEGO TO SANTA BARBARA DURING THE
 TUESDAY NIGHT/WEDNESDAY TIME FRAME WITH PRECIP AMOUNTS ON THE
 ORDER OF 1-2 INCHES FOR THIS AREA.

The above quote was taken from the link provided below. However, the precipitation forecasts, and general forecasts for this same time-frame (Tuesday through Wednesday) remain the same, with just over 1/2 inch expected for Big Sur. Weather forecasting is not exact, as we all know, so a watchful eye should continue.

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Afternoon Report: The NWS predictions in the last few hours have increased *slightly* the rain expectations for the South Coast, and decreased slightly the rain expectations for the North Coast. Right now, the expected storm is very disorganized, and hard to predict. It will be necessary to keep a close eye on it for the next two or three days.

Several people have reported that rock slides are becoming quite active in the Limekiln to Kirk Creek area. As Firefox points out, the warm days and cool nights, provide ideal conditions for expanding and contracting — thereby loosening rocks.

Also, I remind everyone that the Limekiln, J-P Burns, and Pheiffer State Parks as well as Ventana Wilderness are closed to hikers. As rain events increase and temperatures become more extreme, more and more damaged and dead trees are going to be falling, as well as rock falls, and debris flows.

I recognize that many people refuse to believe the danger, and feel that the agencies are unjustly keeping them from hiking their favorite spots, and are willing to take the chance that they won’t be caught, but if you do get caught or injured, you will be putting others at risk, including our Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade, in effectuating your rescue. Please, our responders have been so overtaxed this summer. Don’t add to their already considerable burden. We will have our hands full with communications, debris flows, highway closures, and every thing Mother Nature can throw at us. We don’t need you adding to that burden.

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AM Report:

From the NWS:

...WET WEATHER ON THE WAY FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...

...PERSONS NEAR THE BURN AREAS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THIS UPCOMING
EVENT...

A DEVELOPING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING INCREASING RAIN
CHANCES BEGINNING TUESDAY...ESPECIALLY FOR COASTAL AREAS SOUTH OF SAN
FRANCISCO. IN ADDITION...THUNDERSTORMS COULD OCCUR WITH THIS STORM
SYSTEM TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...AND RESULT IN BRIEF HEAVY RAIN.
THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE RECENT BURN AREAS MIGHT RECEIVE
ENOUGH RAINFALL FOR DEBRIS FLOWS TO BE TRIGGERED. AS THIS EVENT IS
STILL AT LEAST A COUPLE OF DAYS AWAY...PERSONS NEAR THE BURN AREAS IN
MONTEREY AND SANTA CRUZ COUNTIES SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE LATEST
FORECASTS.
Also, slight chances of rain as early as Monday evening through Saturday, although Tuesday and Wednesday rain is predicted as “likely.”

There is an interesting discussion about the various predictor models being used, their variants, and the “compromise” predictions being issued as a result of the variants in the differing models. For those of you interested in a more in-depth discussion, you can review it here: (Thanks, Charles Bell!)


And remember, the Harvest Fair for Saturday and Sunday, 10-4, of Thanksgiving weekend has been moved to MAF aka Big Sur Station.

Potential Hot Weather, High Winds

Beginning today, we have a POTENTIAL critical fire weather situation in the making this week. From the NWS:

WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN. HIGHS WILL WARM
INTO THE 80S ACROSS MONTEREY...SAN BENITO...AND SANTA CRUZ
COUNTIES WHICH WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR RECORD BREAKING
TEMPERATURES. OTHER AREAS IN THE DISTRICT WILL WARM INTO THE MID
70S TO MID 80S. WINDS WILL ALSO BECOME OFFSHORE DURING THIS TIME
AND BE LOCALLY GUSTY WHICH WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR A
CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER SITUATION.
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And on another note, those of you who are Garrison Keillor fans 
can find an article today on the Obama win at Salon.com : 
http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2008/11/12/obama_victory/

Earlier Preparations

Here is a shot I took on October 27, 2008, which shows the work Cal-Trans was doing on the slide at Torre Canyon to prevent future slides. I think we are all very pleased with the quick and pro-active stance that Cal-Trans has been taking in its preparations for Winter.

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Limekiln is leakin’ …

… rocks and mud. The road has been impacted on and off all morning, as I am sure it will be throughout the winter.  Cal-Trans has been on scene since 6 AM and will continue to monitor every hour. This information obtained from the CHP website. Expect delays! I checked both CHP and Cal-Trans earlier this morning, and neither were reporting problems.

Now, this afternoon, no problems reported.

Storm Watch, 11/9/08

Even though it may be gray and dismal, the colors of the forest are always so vivid after a storm.

dsc_97891

7 AM – I received .20 inches last night. The first “real” rain hit me at 10:40 PM, last night – a quick, but loud and rigorous cloud burst, fortunately, very short, and then I woke at 4 AM to more rain. 

Still checking data. Seems Chew’s Ridge got .48 inches. Mining Ridge data is missing. Highland’s Peak, behind Big Creek is only reporting .08 inches, and the Big Sur River flow did not increase significantly, so this one is past. 4-5 months left to go, and counting. No rain predicted for this week.

The Grange Committee has decided to close the Grange for the winter due to potential flood problems. They will be working to protect the Grange during winter storms.

10:00 AM – the sun gave up. It is just gray, cold, and windy up here, and it looks to remain that way throughout the day. Sometimes, during the winter though, I get a condensation cloud that sits up here, and it could be sunny on the coast, and I would not know it, unless I drove down the mountain, which I do not plan to do.

NOON – Slight additional rain is being reported in the Carmel/Northern Big Sur regions in the last hour, so we may NOT be quite done, yet.

Shoring up the homefront

After the elections, and after the floods, I looked back, and realized I had not posted any photos. Debbie sent me these. They were taken yesterday.

After the flood – clean-up and preparation at Debbie’s house. More great work by Blaze!

dscn0354These sandbags go all around the front and side of the house. I don’t know about the back.

dscn03551Sandbagging the house

dscn0349Setting up the berms

Free weed-free straw bales

11/4/08 11 AM

Hi Kate,

Can you post this on your list serve? [blog]

Thanks!

The Monterey Fire Safe Council and the Big Sur Land Trust have rounded up about 500 FREE weed-free rice straw bales. They are currently staged at Elkhorn Slough Foundation’s barn.  They are available to anyone who wants them but the logistics need to be worked out. I am trying to get the word out to people to see who needs them and also who can help get them down into Big Sur.

We need people with large trucks to bring a load of them down here.

We need somewhere where people who need them can pick them up and where they will stay out of the rain.

Please contact me if you need straw bales and/or can help organize storing or getting the straw bales down to Big Sur.

 

Kerri Frangioso

831-620-1098

Cell 831.402-7825

Flash Flood Warning!

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
622 PM PST MON NOV 3 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS
ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR FLASH FLOODING AND POSSIBLE MUD AND DEBRIS
FLOWS FOR PART OF THE BASINS BURN AREA IN MONTEREY COUNTY. LOCATIONS
INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO BIG SUR VILLAGE AND THE VENTANA CREEK
AREA.

* UNTIL 645 PM PST

* AT 607 PM PST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
RAINFALL RATES IN EXCESS OF USGS MUD AND DEBRIS FLOW THRESHOLDS WERE
MOVING THROUGH THE WARNED AREA. 

RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS IN AND BELOW RECENTLY BURNED AREAS SHOULD BE
ALERT TO HEAVY MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS WHICH MAY BLOCK ROADS AND
CULVERTS.

TIME...MOT...LOC 0219Z 180DEG 0KT 3629 12172


Flooding Photos

TODAY”S FORECAST: NOAA is predicting .38 inch of rain between 4 pm and 10 pm today for the Big Sur area. See 2008 Winter Conditions to the right for the new NOAA forecast map, just sent by Charles Bell of NWS in Monterey.

These photos of the Grange and Debbie’s house and yard were sent to me this morning. What a mess, huh?

Read Debbie’s Story under Storm Watch, 11/2/08, below, or click on post to the right.

The Grange and Parking Lot

Debbie’s Yard. This was a garden that was on the Hidden Valley Garden Tour. Under all that mud is a lawn, now buried.

Debbie’s Porch and Front Door

This is what Debbie came home to, after fleeing to Glen Oaks Saturday night. Sunday morning, Don Case brought her the Sunday paper, and offered his help. This, the man in the photo with Buddha, who lost everything in the Basin Fire. Don, if you read this, you epitomize the Big Sur Spirit!

Oh, Debbie! Thank you so much for sharing your story and your photographs. They are both just so heart-wrenching. I look at these, and remember all the wonderful 4th of July parties we had out here in this garden, in the sun belt! I’ll have to locate one of my photos from then (on the other computer?) and post so people can see how beautiful it is, when not covered in mud!

And here is later in the day: “Blaze to the Rescue!”

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Real-time links & Monday’s Storm

Weather reports are indicating that the Monday night storm will be much weaker than Saturday night’s storm, bringing us only between 1/10 and 1/4 of an inch of rain, probably after about 10 PM and the rest of the week is predicted to be dry. Good news, both.

Thanks to Tom Hopkins, President of the VWA, I added two new links under “2008 Winter Conditions.” One is from the automatic weather reports at the MIRA Observatory on Chews Ridge, and the next one is the NOAA river discharge rates for the Big Sur River. These are “real-time” computerized reports, and should be very valuable as we keep an eye on things this winter. Thanks, Tom!

Also, I added a “real time” link to the automatic rain gauge on the Big Creek Reserve, up by Highlands Peak, thanks to Dr. Mark Readdie!

We are getting a good collection of sources of information so we can be aware and prepare this winter!