The above link to the County Website can be found here
Tag: road
Rain Reports & Road Conditions, 12/15/16
8:30 pm – the highway closed at 8pm, there was a car on its roof at the Big Sur Station, and now we are under a flood warning:
“FLASH FLOOD WARNING – Soberanes & Chimney Burn Scars
This message is for any of the areas inside/alongside/or down-slope of the Soberanes or Chimney Burn Scars. The National Weather Service has issued a FLASH FLOOD WARNING for your area. A WARNING is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, is imminent, or has a very high probability of occurring. A WARNING is used for conditions posing a threat to life or property.”
6:30 PM – it just got serious. 40 mph, 1/3″ an hour. Total so far today, 1.35″
3:3-0 pm – Many rock/mudslides in Santa Cruz being reported.
2:30 pm – up to .60″ and it is just getting going.
1 pm – here are the graphs, yesterday’s (again) and today’s which is quite higher.
Noon:
Rain: I have received .28″ thus far, steady, but light all morning. Also received .25″ yesterday by dark. Nepenthe is up to .34″ thus far. This is what the automated gauges have recorded as of 11 am:
Roads: As far as the roads, no big problems being reported, but there are bound to be rocks out on Highway One, so pay attention as you travel, and report what needs reporting.
After the winds
Today was a soaker
Today was what Rock Knocker used to call a soaker – slow, steady, consistent rain. It is the type of rain that sets up slides, particularly mud slides, and I noticed a couple likely candidates just north of Pitkins Curve, south of The Hermitage. I think that one is called Paul’s Slide – you know the gray stuff. I’ve only gotten 3/4s of an inch, so far today, but it’s been steady every where I went.
I had to go to Monterey and Salinas for appts I have had to reschedule until today. I got to drive in all this rain all over the county. What fun. An amazing amount of tourists out and about taking photos in the rain, coming back from Garrapata Beach under an umbrellas and the like. An amazing number of large RVs of every type.
My road was the bad, the very bad, and the gawd awful. Thank goodness only some of it is clay.
I am enjoying the sound of the rain on my metal roof, the crackle of a fire in the wood stove, and the smell of wet dogs at my feet.
Enjoy our Spring rains – they will be with us most of this week.
Wind, Road Conditions, and Mike Tyner
UPDATE: Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. should be officially open in the morning, and the county is planning on keeping an eye on it to make sure it remains clear. Telephones in South County were not working, so it took a while to get the evening update. Unless you must get through it, it would be advisable to wait until daylight hours.
County Roads is working Nacimiento RD from east to west to clear it, be there around noon. Will work toward the coast. County will give me an update sometime after 5 pm on conditions. Here is their website, but it is also listed in the winter links provided to the right: County Roads
One VWS biologist, Mike Tyner, was killed when a tree fell on him during the high winds of Wednesday, 11/30/11.
From Ventana Wildlife Society:
“Mike Tyner was a wildlife biologist who dedicated the last six of his nine years working for Ventana Wildlife Society, to save California Condors in Big Sur, CA. He was truly an exceptional individual who served as the field supervisor for Ventana Wildlife Society’s condor recovery program. Tragically, during high winds that we received in Big Sur on November 30, a tree toppled causing his death. This loss is catastrophic, heartbreaking, and painful. As our staff mourns the passing of a remarkable friend, our hearts go out to his family. Mike will be greatly missed!” – Kelly Sorenson, VWS Executive Director and VWS Staff
A friend’s house suffered structural damage when a tree fell on her roof.
Power has been out to Big Sur Valley for some time, and my appt to get my Commander serviced was canceled, as they had no power, either!
RESOURCE:
Get prepared and find some good savings on portable generators for the next power outage.
Tuesday, March 9th Reports
Because I am watching two fronts – weather and road, I have divided this post into 2 sections, one for road updates, and one for weather updates. I will add information to the appropriate section as information comes my way.
WEATHER
9:30 pm – it is 34.9 degrees outside, and still dropping. It is going to hit the upper 20’s tonight — I just KNOW it. Brrr…
7:30 pm – currently down to 36.7 and still dropping.
5:30 pm – currently down to 37.4 degrees, and still dropping. Looks like a freeze tonight. I just hope it doesn’t get down into the 20’s. I have a brand-new, unopened package of silk long-johns I have misplaced. Tonight would be the night for them! (Can you tell I got my temperature gauge set up, again?)
5:00 pm – currently down to 38.0 degrees, and still dropping.
3:00 pm – 40 degrees, currently, and still dropping, after a day of mostly sunny skies. (I mistakenly put 44 degrees earlier.) It feels much colder due to wind chill factor. Windy up here, and white caps visible on the ocean.
9:30 am – NOAA’s NWS is predicting another chance of precipitation tonight, although amounts should be low, and light snow above 3K ft. No accumulation expected. Wednesday and Thursday should be dry, with a stronger system arriving on Friday.
8:00 am – First, everything is frozen up here. Hail and ice cover the deck, so I cannot safely go out on it, quite yet. It was 45 inside, when I woke this morning. However, the sun is shining. I will try to post photos later. Dave Allen reported very large hail at the mouth of the Valley. Here is one:
ROAD
11:00 am – Cal-Trans JUST NOW issued this report:
MONTEREY COUNTY –The closure just south of Gorda (Alder Creek Slide) that reopened yesterday morning continues with one-way traffic control with flaggers from 7 am to 6 pm with up to 1-hour delays. The road will close again overnight tonight from 6 pm to 7 am.
Caltrans will reassess the slide conditions each morning and provide updates accordingly.
9:00 am – This is Dave Allen’s report from his commute this morning: “The road was clean, except for the Lucia slip-out. That is gowing lower fast…the drop was about a foot.Looks like the “sag” rate is about a foot a day…not bad for a slip-out! CALTRANS, though, is there with a foot of fill each day…’sorry, slip-out!’.”
8:00 am -Please see Suzi’s comment from last night under Road Conditions, 3/8, for her first hand report of going through the Alder Creek slide around 5:30 last night. I have yet to receive anything “official” from Cal-Trans, but that normally doesn’t come in until 9 am.