I admit, I must be one of the most blessed people on this planet. This is what I am seeing tonight out my back door. When the world is in turmoil, wars are being waged, the economy is in the tanks, our road is closed, and we feel isolated, Mother Nature gives us this:

No new updates from Cal-Trans on the road conditions, no new weather reports of significance, and while I see if I can put together a series of links for the Rachael Short benefit last night (I could not attend), I will share more visions from the road from Salinas to Soledad.

Many of you were blessed with the sight of a rainbow yesterday afternoon.

And here is another from the yard, yesterday. I also understand that Nacimiento-Fergusson, which is almost as high as I am at the summit, created challenges for some drivers due to the snow. It is a difficult, and at times dangerous road, so be careful.

It was such a sparkling day, once the sun came out. Cold, but sparkling.

I’ve decided that Spring is not bipolar, this year, she is schizophrenic and has delusions about being winter.

Today is a case in point. This was taken before 2 pm.

By 2:15, I had a couple inches of snow. It has continued ever since. I am trying to upload photos, but, the internet is apparently cold, as it is acting sluggish. Either that, or my provider is slowing me down! When I can, I will upload more.

At 4;30, it continues to snow, and is getting quite thick in areas. At least 3-4 inches now. I’m being lazy this afternoon – I don’t want to get dressed up to go out in it, and I don’t want to get wet and cold, so photos from the inside looking out are all I am taking.

This one was taken at 3:30 pm. Note all the dog tracks in the snow.

And this one was taken just a few minutes before 5. Note all the dog tracks are buried in snow. Also note the progression in the photos as the green of spring slowly dissolves into the white of winter. Like I said, Schizophrenic.

For a moment in time, the clouds lifted, the sun came out, and the snow covered Santa Lucias were revealed. My iPhone and I were ready. She is so beautiful when she is dressed up like this!

I have a few more shots I’d like to share, perhaps tomorrow, as the I must feed the dogs and fix dinner for myself. It is a high 35 degrees, at the moment.

1:45 pm – Cal-Trans update just released includes the usual, but also this language: “• After closer analysis, completion time for providing limited vehicle access with traffic signal control on the existing northbound lane is now estimated to be early May.” It is the same as yesterday, but it seems to me it has gone from April 16th, the last week in April, to end of April, to first week in May, to early May. It is a fluid situation, and the weather has not been ideal for this work.

12:30 pm – my SLO forecaster just reported:

” A cold upper-level low pressure system, currently over the
Central Coast, will continue to produce widely scattered rain
showers, at times heavy and well below seasonal temperatures.
Today’s rainfall totals will be highly variable, with some
locations not receiving any rainfall while other areas getting
up to a half of an inch.

The cold and unstable air combined with this afternoon heating
will produce possible thunderstorms this afternoon through
tonight with hail and periods of strong and gusty winds.

Note: Chris of SLOweather.com reported hail the size of
garbanzo beans at his home in western San Luis Obispo.
It hailed at his home for 15 minutes, with accumulations
of one half to three quarters of an inch on the ground.”

11:30 am – Whoa!! Serious snowing going on up here, AND it is sticking!!

10:00 am – Cold, it is very cold. My fingers can’t type until I warm them up. Another cup of coffee in my morning. Currently, it is 34 degrees. I stepped outside and was surprised to see these little tiny white balls floating down – not snowflakes, more like tiny little balls of hail. I wasn’t even under a cloud? Now, they are covering the deck. They are “floating” rather than hailing down.

Also, a number of people here in Big Sur have asked how to find my blog more regularly. It provides a type of anecdote to other types of communication, sometimes. The easiest way is to scroll to the bottom of the sidebar to the right, and sign up for an email subscription. Then, whenever I put up a new post, you will receive an email with ia portion of that article, and you can click on a link to read the rest. Easy? AND if you don’t want to subscribe, google, bigsurkate or big sur kate or big sur blog or any combination thereof. I am always at the top.

Back when fingers thawed.

Sent to me today by a friend from Big Sur Valley, who picked up a friend coming home to Clear Ridge for a few days.

1:30 pm – had snow flurries today, but nothing stuck. The is as advertised – sunshine, then quickly it clouds up.

9:00 am – Frankly, I expected to have the morning to get things “ready” for this afternoon’s storm, but that was not to be. I only had a few things out in the rain, which I took care of immediately, and so far, it has not been a hard driving rain. Still, it is not really welcome with our highway being so fragile.

Fortunately, this is what NOAA has to say: “SHOWER ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALL DAY…WITH COVERAGE INCREASING SIGNIFICANTLY BY THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER…EVEN WITH COVERAGE INCREASING…THE RFC 24 HOUR QPF FORECAST FOR TODAY IS BETWEEN A HUNDREDTH OF AN INCH FOR MUCH OF THE NORTH BAY…TO NEAR TWO TENTHS THROUGH THE SANTA CRUZ AND SAN LUCIA MOUNTAINS.”

CHP is listing no closures except Rocky Creek (MPM 60)

Big Sur Chamber of Commerce and the CPOA (Coast Property Owner’s Association) both put out emails reporting on today’s meeting. The bottom line is that currently the Rocky Creek closure is hoped to be opened the first week in May. Of course, this is highly weather dependent, and we have two weather events coming our way this week and next, so look for the possibility of further delays. Everyone is working hard to open the road back up as expeditiously and safely as possible.

Received from Dave Potter’s Office this afternoon:

“Due to the Highway 1 road closure, the April 15th BSMAAC meeting has been cancelled. The next meeting is scheduled to take place on July 15, 2011.”

Also, this weather warning was attached: “ON THURSDAY NUMEROUS SHOWERS WITH SMALL HAIL AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE
FORECAST THROUGH THE DAY. THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE CONVECTIVE MEANING PERIODS OF SUNSHINE COULD QUICKLY TURN TO HEAVIER DOWNPOURS WHICH CAN OFTEN LEAD TO TRAFFIC PROBLEMS ON BAY AREA ROADWAYS. DAYTIME HIGHS WILL BE MUCH COOLER WITH HIGH ONLY IN THE 50S. THIS WILL BRING SNOW LEVELS DOWN TO AROUND 3000 FEET AND POSSIBLY AS LOW AS 2500 FEET IN THE HEAVIER SHOWERS. ANYONE WITH PLANS TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO AND MONTEREY BAY REGION SHOULD EXPECT WINTER LIKE WEATHER CONDITIONS ON THURSDAY.”

This Spring is turning out to be bipolar, isn’t she?

A friend and neighbor introduced me to this route to Salinas over 16 years ago. It is the least “painful” route I have found from here to there, and it is so enjoyable this time of year. Of course I took photographs. But I also found myself starting a photo essay called, “The Colors of Green.” I will post some of those photos at a later time, but for now enjoy the road less traveled.

Those are the first 1/2 of the photos of the road less traveled. The second will follow in a few days, after I catch up with weather and road reports. The weather looks wet Thursday into Friday, with the possibility of thunderstorms, hail, and even a bit of snow on our higher peaks, but the latter half of next week might be interesting.

Lopez Point, to be exact, which is just barely north of Lucia. Woke our friend Avis up at 5 am this morning!

Here is the link: earthquake at Lopez Point
Magnitude
3.9
Date-Time
Tuesday, April 05, 2011 at 11:56:50 UTC
Tuesday, April 05, 2011 at 04:56:50 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location
36.071°N, 121.624°W
Depth
9.7 km (6.0 miles)
Region
OFFSHORE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
Distances
8 km (5 miles) NW (318°) from Lopez Point, CA

Lucia has enough slide problems without the stress of added earthquakes!