Westport washout now open to one way traffic, defying early Caltrans forecast.
State Route 1 washes out just past Westport, 128 closed at Navarro could reopen today, but no word: King tides, storm, rain coming this week. How much flooding will there be? Please help us find out.
When we started on this story, there was one way in and one way out of Fort Bragg. While on the road, to see, Caltrans posted an update and said the Wages Creek washout was now open to 1 lane of traffic. Conditions are changing fast. We are going out to investigate. Use caution, and we would recommend using Highway 20, not HIghway 1 or 128 if you can avoid it.
Highway 1 washed out above Wages Creek Campground, in a location we wrote about extensively. One area said there was one way traffic to be allowed at 10 30 am, but the others have
Highway 128 at the Navarro River was still closed when we last checked at 9:30 a.m. With the high tide just before noon, the hope is afternoon reopening, but its not for sure, all depends.
The first day of winter just passed and roads will be uncertain into teh future.
The rivers are full, roads are closed, then open, then closed again and the water rising. And the king tides are coming. Combine king tides with storms and high rivers and you get Coastal flooding. The current forecast is rain Tuesday-Wed-Thu. But after that? if the storms continue, the rising tides could bring some bigger washouts and river based flooding.
How much?
We have no idea. Is MendoReady ready? Seems not.
MendoReady is the county’s decorative website that offers a lot of disaster info. Sunday night, i looked. There was no specific current information. Yes, it was what it always seems to be, great general information. MendoReady reminds me of those great racks of informative pamphlets you get when you go into the Chamber of Commerce office. The only information one is likely to get is by calling the roads department and Howard’s crews are all out working in force. Whatever happened to disaster preparation and planning?
Yes, MendoReady has solid GENERAL information and available year round 24/7. But that wasn’t what I wanted Sunday night, when I started wondering about what might happen here if the forecasts currently on the books come true. We live by the ocean. We would like specific, current information about what is coming!
The only actual current information I could find were not on MendoReady at all, they were press releases I got about road closures. Those were delivered to me by Caltrans, announcing that the Navarro and the Garcia had both flooded out State Route 1 and State Route 128 and now that State Route 1 is closed where they and we (but never the other media) have been telling you this would happen.
Call you say? Maybe someone has a full day to devote to that chore?
Calling to get info from the county is a chore of a chore of a chore. They don’t call back, the info is skimpy. I long for some computer model that would tell us Coastal denizens what to expect from the current atmospheric rivers combined with king tides.
During the two Tsunmai events that turned out to be a bust, but that wasnt for sure, I got zippo information from the county. I broadcast and write info but relied on Berekely professors and state resources. The city of Fort Bragg is good about putting out sandbags, although I dont need those myself.
If somebody wants to help us track this down, we would be inclined to do a bit more. Here is what we have. There is a walloper of a high tide Monday at 11.29 a.m. This would be the time when Coastal flooding would be most likely. The rain forecast for that same time is ??
The afternoon tides go to noon thirty the next day and about an hour forward in time every day. The good news is that high tide gets smaller every day and the swing less dramatic. Both of those cause problems. The bad news is the morning tides get bigger and bigger as the week goes on. In terms of tides only Christmas Day is the best, with the flattest tides. Then a 4 a.m morning tide on Dec. 26 builds into a New Years Day high over 7 feet, just after 8 a,m. This would be a day and time to worry if you live along rivers or at low elevations. It depends on the rain and how big the seas are. The king tides get slightly bigger and a little later through Jan. 3, then the king tides are over until December of 2026. Not to say the monthly Spring Tides won’t be worse, depending on the coincidence of rain, storm and tide.
Although this is an oversimplification, there are two high and two low tides every day, or roughly ever day. One is called the sun tide, from the gravitational pull of the ocean stretching it west, letting go to let it bounce back East. The sun and moon usually fight it out and neutralize each other. But when the get on the same side of the earth in the same position, they are both pulling in the same direction and we get the monthly highest and tides, called Spring Tides. The same thing happens when they are on opposite sides of the earth and parallel to each other, the pull it back in forth like synchronized tug of war opponents. One a year, the moon is closest to the earth in December, resulting in Moon king tides in December,and the same thing for the sun in January. December was dry so it passed with no worries but a minor to moderate disaster results when its wet and stormy like it is right now. Those high tides arrive and push the river back. But the river is already angry and full so the only place it has to go is into your yard, or harbor.
Inland, there is no ocean but there is another equally vexing factor, altitude. Ther eis MUCH more rain at higher altitudes. Not sure exactly why but it is a fact. And that creates fast runoff that then hits those rivers whose deltas have been filled up by the storm at sea, the rain and the tides. So lets watch the weather forecast and be most careful and alert and prepared (the county’s online info can help here, but perhaps not to know what the current situation is. Anyone who can help provide better information or has the keys to the kingdom for getting minute by minute or hour by hour info on the flooding, please share. Is there an app like Watch Duty for fire? Watch Duty, and the rest are terribly overrated robots created by people working for free instead of reporters, but do help a LOT in a fire. Still so much is lost by losing all the on the ground newspeople in exchange for robotic, crowd sourced apps.
Just not loving the automation of everything about now.
Drop us a line at 707-964-6174 or an email at frankhartzell@gmail.com.
