The blustery day
Yes, I like A.A. Milne, too!
What has been described as the “Biggest October Storm in 50 Years” is hammering the San Francisco Bay Area today, causing power outages and flooded roads. Some residents of the Santa Cruz Mountains have been asked to leave their homes in areas where summer wildfires have created ideal condition for mudslides with the heavy rains. More than 3 inches of rain fell in Marin and Santa Cruz Counties today so far!
Wind gusts of 70 mile/hour were recorded on Mount Diablo (1, 2) and in Los Gatos this morning!
When I look at the National Weather Service Forecast Office Web page for the San Francisco Bay Area/Monterey, I see such goodies as Storm Warning, High Wind Warning, Flash Flood Watch, Gale Warning, Hazardous Seas Warning, etc., but you get the idea! 
I can’t WAIT to see the evening news!
In an article posted at 7:46 this morning, a PG&E spokesperson said that the storm had cut electrical power to about 38,800 customers, but that PG&E had restored power to about 22,800 of those customers. To report a power outage, customers should call (800) PGE-5002.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has responded to dozens of automobile collisions on Bay Area roads. This is the “FIRST storm of the season,” and if you agree that people drive like maroons on Bay Area roads during IDEAL driving conditions, then you should see how they drive during the first storm of the season – mostly “too fast for conditions,” according to CHP. This morning, in the city of San Francisco alone, there were nine auto crashes and five pedestrians struck by cars in a three-hour period!
At about 7:45 this morning, a 75-year-old woman was killed in a three-car collision on Highway 1 at Devil’s Slide (if you think it sounds bad, you should drive on it!), and Highway 1 was closed for almost FOUR HOURS in the area.
Several Bay Area cities are offering their residents sand bags to protect their belongings from flooding. Public works officials are searching for volunteers (phone [510] 238-7630) to “adopt a spot” to monitor storm drains and keep them free from clogging up with debris. Residents can report flooding to the public works agency at (510) 615-5566.
Some Fleet Week activities are being canceled by the U.S. Navy, such as today’s planned tours of the USS Green Bay.
Farther south, people who live near burn areas from the 250-square-mile Station Fire in Angeles National Forest were warned about possible flows of mud, ash, and debris during predicted rainfalls of up to 4 inches. The average rainfall in the entire month of October in Los Angeles County is less than 1/2 inch. In Santa Barbara County, where an 8700-acre wildfire burned in May, 3-6 inches of rain are predicted. In the San Gabriel Mountains, the U.S. Geological Survey recently warned of massive debris flows near areas that burned in September.
Meanwhile, in my backyard, it is raining “like mad,” and the winds are howling!
I love a good storm! Wait until it hits the Sierra Nevada!
(Update October 13, 2009, 6:27 PM: Some of the “highlights” of today’s storm – almost 12 inches of rain in some locations for a 12-hour period, 7-9 inches common in the Santa Cruz mountains, 52 fallen trees in San Francisco ALONE, 588 phone calls to CHP concerning auto accidents ALONE, a total of 155,000 people without electrical power at some time during the day, ANOTHER auto accident on Highway 1 at Devil’s Slide, a “big rig” (18-wheeled semi truck) BLOWN onto its side on the Richmond-San Raphael Bridge, some ferry routes canceled across the Bay, a Muni train derailment in San Francisco, a foot of new snow in some parts of the Sieera Nevada, and 100-mile/hour winds forecast for ridge crests in the Sierra Nevada for tonight!
One of the reasons that California roads become so dangerous after the first rain is that, unlike places that receive regular rains all year, the automotive oils and fluids on California’s roads ARE NOT WASHED OFF and accumulate, only to be lifted to the surface by the first rain. The highways then become VERY slick, which, in combination with people NOT slowing down, leads to hundreds of accidents, like today’s. I usually say that after a few rains, traffic becomes safer because the “world-class maroons” still have their cars in the shop, and everyone else has slowed down.)
(Note added October 13, 2009: Oh yeah, we had a little bitty, LOUD magnitude 3.7 earthquake this evening, just to keep us on our toes….)
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
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