I got another 1/2 inch after reporting the last inch. At a bit before midnight, it snowed. I know, I was out in it, filling the gennie so I could work for a few more hours. Now, at 1 pm – the wind continues to howl, as it has all morning long. There is a bit of rain, on and off, but nothing heavy.
BTW, power line went down north of Andrew Molera, and power is expected to be out in Big Sur Valley most, if not all, of the day.
11:45 pm – I had to go outside to take care of the generator, and son-of-a-gun, if there weren’t big ol’ snow flakes covering my black sweater. Amazing. Let you know if it sticks before I got to bed.
7 pm – significant amounts of hail, although not too large. Lasted only long enough to cover everything and make the deck slippery.
6 pm – it has started to rain, again. Let’s see if it keeps up. Didn’t at 2 pm.
It rained pretty hard in the wee hours this morning, and I woke to another inch, bringing the season total to 63.75 inches. Debbie reported 3/4 of an inch in Big Sur Valley (Thank you, Debbie!) It has not rained here during the daylight hours, but there is considerable wind. I take it back, it has started to rain again at 2 pm.
11 pm – NOAA discussion, in part:
.DISCUSSION…AS OF 9:05 PM…SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A FAST
APPROACHING FRONTAL BAND SITUATED OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST. ALTHOUGH THE FRONT ITSELF IS NOT FORECAST TO REACH THE COAST UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT LIGHT RAIN IS ANTICIPATED TO BEING FALLING OVER THE NORTH BAY IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING ARE SHAPING UP TO BE QUITE INTERESTING … WIDESPREAD SHOWER ACTIVITY AS WELL AS SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED BY SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. TEMPS ARE FORECAST TO DROP TO BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION AS WELL AS THE POSSIBILITY OF A LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION ON PEAKS OVER 3000 FT.
IRONICALLY THIS COLD SNAP THAT WE WILL EXPERIENCE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FALLS EXACTLY ONE YEAR TO THE DAY THAT THE REGION EXPERIENCED A RECORD BREAKING HEAT WAVE. APRIL 20TH AND 21ST OF 2009 SAW TEMPERATURES WELL INTO THE 90S ACROSS THE BOARD WITH A FEW LOCATIONS REACHING INTO THE LOW 100S.
6:45 pm – I am sitting watching the storm come in from the west. Only 1/2 an hour ago, it was warm, sunny, and beautiful. I looked around at the completely clear skies and thought, yeah, right a storm is coming. Sure. Now, I watch it come in.
I don’t have the quote, and will add one later, but this afternoon’s report indicated that the storm would be coming in to the Monterey area late tonight or early tomorrow morning, bringing a cold front with it that could bring snow levels down to 3,000 ft., along with hail on Tuesday.
Also, don’t forget to make your plans to stay off Highway One on Sunday for the Big Sur International Marathon. Highway One will be closed, except for Caravans from 4 am to 1 pm, from the MAF facility north to Rio Rd. Caravan schedule and additional info later.
Looking at another storm approaching late Monday evening through Tuesday. NOAA says: “UNSEASONABLY STRONG LATE SEASON COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE DISTRICT LATER MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING WITH PERIODS OF RAIN AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE DAY TUESDAY.”
This afternoon, NOAA added this: “MAIN THREAT WOULD APPEAR TO BE SMALL HAIL. SNOW LEVELS DOWN TO 3500-4000 FEET ON TUESDAY.”
And while most of you have probably seen photos of the eruption in Iceland, some of you may not, and this one is spectacular. It was sent to me by “Z” I don’t know the original photographer, unfortunately. (As my constant readers know, I really hate to post photographs without giving credit, but this is one of those rare exceptions.)
And if you would like to see more, there is a gallery of them on flickr.
Iceland Eruption Gallery
11:00 am – chilly but sunny this morning. Condensation clouds are forming at this hour, so I expect to be socked in this afternoon. This is a typical pattern for ridge tops, after a storm. While the rest of the week looks clear (weekend is till undecided) NOAA has this to say about next Monday-Tuesday:
“INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH THERE IS BETTER AGREEMENT FOR ANOTHER PRETTY STRONG LATE SEASON STORM BY NEXT MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY TUESDAY. THIS WOULD GIVE US ABOUT 3 STRAIGHT WEEKS OF SEEING A ROBUST LATE WINTER STORM…HAVING SEEN 1-2 INCH RAINS EASTER SUNDAY/LAST SUNDAY-MONDAY AND NOW POTENTIALLY THIS UPCOMING MONDAY. SO WERE LOCKED INTO ABOUT A ONE WEEK CYCLE WITH THESE TROUGHS.”
11:00 pm – we ended the day up here with slightly over 3 and 1/2 inches for the storm. (3.6″) Had a combination of rain, sleet, hail, at times – I didn’t really notice it, but at one point I had to go outside, and saw all the hail lining the bench on my deck. The rest of the work week is supposed to be clear. Gosh, I hope so.
12:30 am – again with the pouring rain. There are short breaks, a bit of drizzle, and then the pounding starts again. The good news is, none of those gusts up to 100 mph! I don’t know how Highway One is staying open. I’m sure there are small slides in several places that Cal-Trans is staying on top of, but I’ve had no reports of any major slides, thus far.
10:30 am – it is again pouring rain. I’ll take a look at the usual sources for information about when this will let up. Another unknown traffic hazard at Garrapata & Palo Colorado Rds reported on CHP a few moments ago. NOAA discussion has this to say:
“…SHOWERS SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY TODAY. WHAT WILL BE WORTH KEEPING AN EYE ON IS IF SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS OCCUR LATER THIS MORNING WHICH WOULD ALLOW FOR MORE HEATING AND THE POTENTIAL FOR STRONGER STORMS THIS AFTERNOON. THERE ARE PLENTY OF CLOUDS STILL OFF TO THE WEST…SO THIS SCENARIO IS FAR FROM A CERTAIN BET.”
9:30 am – Got another inch last night, for a total of 3 for the storm, and 62.75 for the season. Currently, it is raining and slushing. Very cold.
10:45 pm – it is absolutely POURING down rain at the moment, and has been for at least 15 minutes. And with that, I am taking this tired, cold body to bed with a book. Good night all.
7:30 pm – the wind died down around 3:30 this afternoon, thank goodness. They were pretty knarly. I estimate gusts up around 100 mph, as the rain was horizontal during gusts. I received 2 inches for the storm, bringing the season total to 61.75 inches for the season. Respectable, but no where close to a record.
2:30 pm – heavy hail, heavy winds. Have received 1 inch, thus far. Rocking and rolling up here. The traffic hazard at Palo Colorado and Garrapata is a wire down, and PG&E is on their way.
1:20 pm – unknown traffic hazard at Palo Colorado and Garrapata
CHP reports:
Incident: 0345 Type: Traffic Hazard Location: PALO COLORADO AT GARRAPATOS info as of: 4/11/2010 1:17:30 PM
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
1:05PM NOW FIRE AND SO ENRT
RESPONDING OFFICERS STATUS
1:10PM CHP Unit Enroute
12:30 pm – rain picking up, and winds are gusting pretty high. Going outside is a bit dicey. Rain is almost but not quite, horizontal. Glad I filled up the gennie when I did! Of course, that didn’t prevent the wind from knocking over the shed AND the generator! Can’t run when it’s laying on its side!
10:00 am – High, gusty winds this morning, only 1/4 of an inch of rain, thus far. Winds woke me up at 4 am. NB lane, JSO of Ventana has a branch down, closed the one lane, and directing traffic, alternating SB/NB through the SB lane.
9:49AM DIVERTING TRFC ONE LANE AT A TIME
9:49AM NB LANE SHUT DOWN
9:48AM 1039 VERN SWEENEY W/CT – ENRT – ETA 15-20
9:46AM IF BRANCH SNAPS IT WILL BE 1125
9:43AM 1039 FIRE
9:42AM BRANCH HANGING/ NEG 1125
9:42AM REQ START FIRE
9:32AM REQ CT OR FIRE TO CUT DOWN TREE
9:16AM TREE BRANCH DOWN, HALFWAY INTO NB LANE
The rain prediction map for Monday has increased precipitation amounts by almost double. We’ll be riding this one out for two days, it looks like.
2:00 pm – NOAA update: “MAXIMUM LIFT STILL IS FOCUSED ON COASTAL MONTEREY COUNTY RANGE SO THAT AREA COULD EASILY PICK UP MORE THAN 2″ OUT OF THIS PIECE.”
Here is a predictive map of the storm that will arrive tomorrow. NOAA indicates there could be hail tomorrow night, as well as the possibility of snow down to 3500 ft.
Here is NOAA’s projected rain map for Sunday:
Here is the projected rain map for Monday:
We have a new storm progged to hit us Sunday, bringing high winds and significant rain. This is NOAA discussion had to say this morning about it: A “DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WHICH IS EXPECTED BY ARRIVE AT THE COAST BY SUNDAY MORNING. IT LOOKS LIKE THIS SYSTEM WILL BE UNSEASONABLY STRONG AND WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION AND WIND SUNDAY.”
Noon – patchy sunshine/clouds, but very cold, only 40 degrees.
10:00 am – rain and hail failing at the moment – heavily! Oh, my, must get out soon to start gennie and empty rain gauge!
Nothing regarding the rock and mud slide this am, and no reader reports, so assuming the highway is open. Received .25 inches yesterday afternoon, and 2 inches last night, for a season total of 61.75 inches.
