A loyal reader sent me this on December 11, 2012. When I first saw it, I thought, “Wow, this won’t last! Some tourist will think it would make a great souvenir, or some local will think street signs have no place in Big Sur, or both.” I don’t think it was even legal. I say “was” because it did not even last a week. Bad idea, ill conceived, IMHO.
Hello Big Sur!
To ring in the holidays Lisa Goettel brings us the traditional Christmas caroling throughout Big Sur and the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade will be bringing special treats for all of the children of Big Sur. Read details below.
The Big Sur Fire Brigade has volunteered to escort Santa on his visit to Big Sur!
This year Santa is bringing special treats for all of the children of Big Sur!!
If you would like Santa to deliver a personal gift he would be honored to do so!!
Here are the Instructions-
· Wrap a gift for your child and label with name, pick up location and phone number
· Deliver the gift to the Big Sur Library no later than December 19 during normal open hours.
· Meet Santa at River Inn (5:45), Fernwood (6:10) Post Ranch Housing ( 6:30) or Nepenthe (6:50) and he will deliver your gift personally!!!
· Questions? Call Meredith 667-2156
Big Sur Caroling
All are welcome to join us on Wednesday, Dec. 19th in Big Sur as we get in the spirit of the holidays and carol through the local restaurants.
Supported by a core group of Big Sur singers who have been singing with Lisa every week – some for several years – we will share our voices through Big Sur. No experience or practice is required! If you would like to learn some of our special harmonies and practice some of the lesser-known carols, we encourage you to join us at some or all of the free Wednesday evening classes at the Big Sur Charter School in December, from 5:30-7pm http://thebirdsings.com/classes.html
This year we are inviting kids to join us for caroling at the River Inn. Kids are invited to meet at 4:30pm at the River Inn on the 19th to practice, then sing with us there at 5:30.
Schedule:
4:30pm – Kids meet for practice at the Big Sur River Inn.
5:00pm – Adults meet promptly at 5pm at the Big Sur River Inn. We will warm up in the administrative offices.
5:30pm – River Inn – with kids caroling!
6:15pm – Fernwood Resort
6:45pm – Big Sur Bakery
7:15pm – Nepenthe
7:45pm – Deetjens Big Sur Inn (core group of regular Big Sur Singers only)
If you are going to join the caroling you can print your own holiday songbook here:
http://thebirdsings.com/caroling.html
Spread the joy and have a safe and happy holiday!
From the Big Sur Fire Brigade and the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce
The Big Sur Singers on Wednesday December 19th at 5:30 pm as they carol for us building the Christmas spirit. This year the children of the Big Sur Charter School will also be joining the caroling.
Then return to welcome the Big Sur Fire Brigade and Santa Claus on Thursday December 20th at 5:45 pm as the children of Big Sur receive a special holiday gift from Santa. Milk and cookies will be offered next to a roaring fire.
2:30 pm – It started hailing here about 2:00 and it has continued for almost 1/2 an hour and continues. The sun is shining. It is significant. Pics to follow, a bit at a time because 1. I am still taking them, and 2. The Internet has become persnickety. There are sparkles of mother natures diamonds everywhere! At 3:00 pm, the hail continues, and I continue to try to add photos as I can. Still hailing 1 and 1/4 hours later. I’ve never seen it hail this much for this long up here!
I stopped posting all the standard ones that offer no new information, but this one does. There are no closures from 12/23 through New Year’s. Yeah!
** UPDATE #9 **
HIGHWAY 1/ROCKY CREEK VIADUCT PROJECT IS UNDERWAY—
DAYTIME ROADWORK AND OVERNIGHT CLOSURES CONTINUE
MONTEREY COUNTY – Daytime roadwork continues next week from 7 am to 5 pm Monday, Dec. 17 through Friday, Dec. 21. Overnight closures of Highway 1 at Rocky Creek (Mile Marker 59.5), between Big Sur and Carmel are scheduled for five nights starting from Sunday, Dec. 16 through Thursday, Dec. 20 (finishing Friday am) from 9 pm to 7 am each night. There will be NO overnight closures from Sunday, Dec. 23 through Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013.
Up here, at 10:00am, it is 33 degrees. No snow yet, but I’m watching. I have a USFS announcement to post on that page, photos of the fuel mitigation project to post on that page, and a review of Big Sur’s newest radio station to post, but sluggish or non-existent Internet has made it all impossible, for now. If any of the information were critical, I would drive somewhere to get them posted, as I would with road closures or fires, but baby it is COLD outside. I’m not going anywhere, right now! UPDATE – USFS press release up on its page and photos up on the Fuel Mitigation page. That leaves only the radio review!
This is what happened to a private road in Big Sur
Been trying to post this on and off all day! grrrr…The rest of the day, I took off from blogging. Cal Trans announcement, Highway One officially opened again at 6:45 am. (But you will note from a post at 10:45 pm, it was unofficial ly open much earlier!)
Tomorrow, I’ll be braving Mud Creek, which has been moving a bit lately.
4:00 pm – it is eerily quiet up here now, after days and days of wind and rain. The sun is trying to break through, but I have my usual condensation cloud trying to form, so I might not see the sun until tomorrow. I am going to take the evening off, unless something major happens tonight. Will check in with y’all tomorrow.
2:29 PM 13 [27] CLOSED – VINEHILL BWTWN 2101 VINEHILL AND CAMINO VISTSA/SINK HOLE/CLOSED TIL FURTHER NOTICE – NB LANE IS GONE (Due to road being undermined) this is Santa Cruz Co.
1:00pm- just over 2″ in my gauge since this storm started.,Winds gusting over 40 mph in the last 1/2 hour. Wicked up here! CHP very busy in Monterey – trees blocking both lanes of the 68e OFR from Highway One SB vehicles having to back up OFR. CLOSING THE OFR until 40 ft of trees dan be disposed of. 101 flooded JNO of Chualar and at Spence Rd. There is a mud/dirt/rock slide on San Miguel Canyon Rd. just to name a few of the serious problems developing.
Noon – power went out in Big Sur Valley about 1/2 an hour ago. Unknown how extensive. Been wicked up here – wind and rain – but I have no leaks, I have a great fire going, and I have power, as I planned ahead and charged up my solar battery yesterday. Hope everyone stays safe and dry!
10:30 am – NOTICE 101 NB and SB lanes in Santa Clara and San Benito Co. Flooded – proceed with caution! Friend just made it to town from Big Sur Valley safely. I am having Internet gremlins, again, so will update as possible.
7:00 am – no closures on CHP site, here, at this point. Santa Cruz has some mud slides. Not a good day to be out and about, but if you are, and can post a comment about road conditions or other information, we encourage you to do so. Time and place make the information more useful. Here is NOAA forecast discussion:
.DISCUSSION…AS OF 3:00 AM PST SUNDAY…RAINFALL HAS BEEN IMPRESSIVE IN
THE OROGRAPHICALLY FAVORED REGIONS SUCH AS THE SANTA CRUZ
MOUNTAINS AND THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS OF MONTEREY COUNTY. A
COUPLE OF GAUGES IN THESE AREAS HAVE RECEIVED MORE THAN 1 INCH OF
RAIN BETWEEN 12:30-3:00 AM…SUCH AS UVAS CANYON COUNTY PARK IN
THE SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS…AND CHALK PEAK/MINING RIDGE/ANDERSON
PEAK IN THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS. IN FACT…CHALK PEAK HAS
RECEIVED NEARLY 1.5 INCHES OF RAIN DURING T HIS PERIOD. THE
PRECIPITATION SUMMARY CAN BE ACCESSED AT THE CNRFC HOMEPAGE
(WWW.CNRFC.NOAA.GOV/GOOGLE_PRECIP.PHP).
SATL IMAGERY AND LOCAL RADARS ARE INDC THAT THE MAIN FRONT IS
NORTH OF SONOMA COUNTY…BUT WITH A STRONG SHORTWAVE APPROACHING
THE COAST IT HAS BEGUN TO MOVE SOUTH. THERE CONTINUES TO BE GOOD
COOLING OF THE CLOUD TOPS AS SHORTWAVE ENERGY INTERACTS WITH THE
WARM MOIST AIRMASS. EXPECT MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN TO SHIFT SOUTH
AS THE MORNING PROGRESSES. WITH THE SATURATED GROUND THERE COULD
BE WIDESPREAD URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING…MAINLY IN THE
NORTH BAY AND IN THE SANTA CRUZ AND SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS.
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES THROUGH THIS EVENING…
Looks like another fun day in store for us, boys and girls!
1 pm – I contacted MoCo Rd re N-F, given the possible conditions on Highway One, and this is what they said: “Public Works crews are headed to N-F Road, should get there in about an hour. They’ll drive from East to West to check conditions. I won’t hear from them for hours, but I’ll let you know what I hear back.” Also, something is happening on Old Coast Rd, but can’t tell what. MoCo Rd advised, per CHP.
12:10 – 101 at Crazy Horse Canyon closed for an hour to remove debris CHP didn’t say if it was NB or SB.
Noon – Another cell phone alert. NOAA FLASH FLOOD Warning extended to 1:30 pm
NB 101 #2 lane north of Chualar is completely flooded. Water has been rising since 9 am, per CHP.
11:30 am – Rocky Creek is still open at this point, but my sources says there are rocks everywhere there could be rocks. More as things develop.
11 am – CT is calling it the Rocky Creek Closure. Not official, yet. I have sources headed that direction, will post as soon as I hear from them or get official notification.
This is Juan Higuera Creek, photo by bigsurdeb. Thanks, deb!
10:30 am – per phone alert from NWS, flash flood warning extended until noon. Downloading a photo of Juan Higuera Creek which I will upload if I can! Internet is working, but slow and iffy.
10:00 am – CHP reporting mud/rock slide in Rocky Creek construction area. Spooky! This was removed from the site less than 5 mins after reported.
9:30 am – just got an alert to my cell phone that we have been upgraded from a flash flood watch to a flash flood warning until 10:30 am, which means flooding is imminent! The loud unusual beeping startled me, and it took a minute to figure out it was my phone!
9 am – There is a boulder down at Hurricane Point, some workers from town are reporting the Highway is a lake, but so far, no major slides reported. Probably some smaller ones I haven’t heard about. Flash Flood Watch still in effect here in Big Sur, LPNF, and Santa Lucia Mountains, so be careful out there! One friend in Big Sur Valley reported almost 2″ overnight. NOAA Big Sur RAWS reports just over 3″ in the last 24 hours. I haven’t checked mine, yet. Winds still a factor today, as well. As bigsurdeb says, ” Quack, quack.”
Here is today’s satellite photo from Dave Allan to show what is in store. It is a slow moving storm, so we will likely see heavy rain at times in certain areas.
And here is the current NEXRAD
…Flash Flood Watch in effect from 7 PM PST this evening through Monday morning… The National Weather Service San Francisco Bay area has expanded the * Flash Flood Watch to include a portion of California… including the following areas…Santa Lucia mountains and Los Padres National Forest and southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur coast. * From 7 PM PST this evening through Monday morning * rain is scheduled to arrive tonight and continue through the weekend with several storm systems. Copious amounts are expected in higher elevation areas…totals of 6 inches or more may fall. Given that watersheds are saturated from the prior storm on Tuesday…some smaller creeks may approach or overtop banks. * Storm drains may be overwhelmed and culverts may become blocked by debris…urban flooding is likely. At times… rainfall rates may exceed guidance thresholds for producing debris flows and slides in mountainous areas. Precautionary/preparedness actions… A Flash Flood Watch means that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding. Flash flooding is a very dangerous situation. You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action should flash flood warnings be issued.
