This looks like it could be fun. From Daniel Swain of Weather West:

On Tue, a slow-moving low will drift toward Central Coast. By this point, it will have entrained copious tropical moisture on its eastern flank. The airmass will be convectively quite unstable by CA standards, & mid-level ascent will provide trigger for t-storm development.

This time of year I let the dogs out at 7 am — mountain lions usually hunt between dusk and dawn, so I want dawn to be over before I let them out. This morning at exactly 7 am, Lady came and put her chin on the foot of my bed. Who says dogs can’t tell time?

Last night’s wasn’t much, but it was some. Today looks like we might get a bit more.

BTW, I emailed Caltrans yesterday to remind them it was the middle of the month and when would the new timeline for opening be released. Their reply was soon, we hope.

News Release

Date:	Monday, September 15, 2025
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Celeste Morales or Kevin Drabinski
Phone:	(805) 549-3237

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FULL OVERNIGHT CLOSURE OF HIGHWAY 1 AT

ROCKY CREEK BRIDGE FOR EMERGENCY SEAWALL REPAIRS

SUNDAY, September 21 | 10:00 PM

MONTEREY COUNTY — Caltrans will implement a full overnight closure of Highway 1 at Rocky Creek, located approximately 12 miles south of Carmel, on Sunday, September 21, to accommodate emergency repairs to a seawall beneath the highway.

Closure Details:

The full closure will begin Sunday, September 21 at 10:00 pm, with the highway scheduled to reopen by Monday, September 22 at 6:00 am.

This work is part of an ongoing emergency project aimed at reinforcing the seawall that protects the south end of the Rocky Creek Bridge and the slope beneath the recently constructed viaduct. The repairs will enhance the seawall’s resilience against wave action and prevent further erosion, ensuring the long-term stability of this vital coastal route.

During the closure, crews will use a crane that spans both lanes, meaning no through traffic will be allowed during the work window. Travelers are advised to plan accordingly.

As Caltrans continues the emergency project in the coming months, additional lane and road closures will also be expected along Highway 1 in the Rocky Creek area. These closures are necessary to ensure that the work is completed safely and effectively. Advance notice will be provided to the public prior to each closure.

Caltrans appreciates the patience of the traveling public and local community as crews work to maintain the integrity of Highway 1.

Big Sur Remains Accessible and Open:

Travelers are reminded that over 100 miles of Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast remain open and accessible. Travelers from northern California will find easy access to historic bridges, waterfalls, restaurants, and lodging amenities.

Travelers from southern California will find that the highway brings them directly within reach of the unparalleled views, lodging amenities, and natural wonders of Lucia, the Camaldoli Hermitage, Gorda, Ragged Point, San Simeon, and Cambria.

Road information and updates can also be found on Caltrans District 5 Social Media platforms: X/Twitter at: @CaltransD5, Facebook at: Caltrans Central Coast (District 5) and Instagram at: Caltrans_D5.

Our crews deserve to get home safely too.

Drive slowly and carefully in work zones.

CHP Traffic Incident Information Page: http://cad.chp.ca.gov

Traveler information at: https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/

This is my favorite tree. It is a Quercus lobata (valley oak). According to the Oak Foundation, these don’t grow above 2K feet in elevation. This one is at 3200’. I did not plant it. It planted itself…right there. When the USFS et al were fighting the Wildfire of 1996, they decided to use my property as the last line of defense…with a dozer line a hundred feet wide, and fire retardant on the line. The fire did not reach this far, thankfully, but the ground was laid bare and Mother Nature told the native trees and shrubs to repopulate this bare earth and they did. This oak planted itself. I found it the next year a few inches tall, and so I took care of it that first year. Once it was clearly established, I left it alone…other than to talk to it and encourage its choice of home. I have many other Quercus lobatas, and Q agrifolias (coast live oak) and Q chrysolepis (canyon live oak). This oak has reached probably 40-50’. Next year, she will be 30 years old. I think I will get a plaque with her birth year on it for her birthday.

This is a story I first published two years ago. It is a feel-good story of hope, and lord knows we need that right now. May it bring you hope for the fight we have ahead of us.

I like to imagine the planes as the tyrant. The rubble is the damage he has inflicted on our democracy. The tree that fought to survive is We, the People who are also fighting to survive. We will survive and eventually will flourish as this fighter did.

One can only imagine the grim job that 9/11 workers had at Ground Zero, working day in and day out to clean up the wreckage of such devastation. And one can only imagine the surprise they must have felt when, a month into the job, they discovered a bit of life sticking out from the rubble—the charred remains of a Callery pear tree.

The tree was originally planted in the 1970s at the World Trade Center site and had been humming along for decades, providing shade to humans and habitat to wildlife both local and passing through.

But upon its discovery in the ruins, it had little more than a few leaves issuing from a single branch, with snapped roots and burned and broken boughs. Yet the battered tree was sent to Van Cortlandt Park for convalescence under the care of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Park workers say they weren’t sure the tree would make it, but the little tree that could, did. In the spring of 2002, she sprouted a riot of leaves; a dove made a nest in her boughs.

When Ronaldo Vega was hired as a special project manager in 2007, he remembered the story of the tree and went to the Bronx to find it. “I fell in love with her the second I saw her,” he recounts in the video below. “She was a fighter. We knew she was going to come back here.”

For the rest of the story, please click here and be sure to watch the video https://www.treehugger.com/meet-beautiful-remarkable-tree-survived-4856725

One of the comments two years ago by Jane Hirsch was: “Cuttings were made from that tree and sent around the country to various fire departments who came from around the country to help fight the fire and did rescue work. There is one such tree planted in Prescott, AZ as a memorial to the thousands who lost their lives, including many firefighters. It too is thriving nicely.”

If one is on Facebook, Micah Gammons, who was part of the crew who blew that rock up, posted photos and a video of the operation on his page 2 days ago.

Taken Friday.

I’ve started a new series discussing Newsom v. Trump and the Posse Comitatus Act on my Substack, as I know many of you did not subscribe to this blog to hear about politics. I understand. Occasionally I will still talk about it here, but for the most part, I am moving it to my Substack.com/bigsurkate. You can find the first post in this series here, I hope: https://open.substack.com/pub/bigsurkate/p/newsom-v-trump?r=f01sg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

I am new to Substack and trying to learn how to navigate. Took me a few months to figure out I couldn’t post from the app, but had to go into a browser to do that. Join me there and subscribe. As here, it is free.