Winter rainfall came back with a vengeance this week, triggering mudslides, falling trees, and power outages, causing millions of dollars in damage.
The “atmospheric river” pulling moisture from as far away as Hawaii struck first on Jan. 7, backed off until Jan. 10 and then slammed into Scotts Valley and San Lorenzo Valley from late morning through Tuesday night.
The San Lorenzo Valley Water District reported that the area received 8.17 inches of rain in the four-day period. Total rainfall this “water year” (Oct. 1 – Sept. 30) is 42.56 inches. Last year the district recorded a total of 49.47 inches for the entire season.
Though torrential at times, the storms were reminiscent of what used to be an annual affair.
“From a historical perspective, these are some significant events,” said Boulder Creek Fire Chief Kevin McClish. “But in looking back over the years this was more of a typical weather pattern for us.”
Rain wreaks havoc
Five years of drought conditions have left the earth parched and weakened the stability of trees and their ability to withstand heavy rain and driving winds. Wind speeds in high-altitude areas of the San Lorenzo Valley peaked at nearly 50 mph last week.
Downed trees fell on numerous county roads, all but stranding Boulder Creek and Brookdale residents for several hours on Monday.
“Boulder Creek was almost isolated. Jamison Creek Road, which is a rough, windy ride under the best of circumstances, stayed open except for brief closures,” said Boulder Creek resident Robin Musitelli. “During the heaviest rains, we could hear boulders going down the San Lorenzo River. Amazing.”
Bear Creek Road at Scout Ranch Road will be closed indefinitely because of a fallen tree and tangled PG&E wires, according to Santa Cruz County Public Works.
There was a mudslide below a house on Alta Via Drive and Highway 9 was closed at Brookdale.
Boulder Creek residents were nonplussed when cut off from the rest of the world. One person reported the crowds downtown resembled a Fourth of July celebration.
Others sheltered themselves from the wind and rain inside Joe’s Bar, long the unofficial community center.
“I don’t even open until 10 a.m. and when I got there at 9 a.m. there was already a line outside,” said Gina Trepagnier, who posted on her Facebook site that everyone was welcome to come in for coffee and free wi-fi.
“Between 20 and 30 people were in having conference calls and talking about $300,000 budget items.”
Felton’s share of trouble
In the neighborhood of Felton Grove along the San Lorenzo River, the river breached its banks late Tuesday night and flooded the area under three feet of water. About two miles south on Highway 9 near Glengarry Road a large tree and most of a hillside fell across both lanes of the highway.That road will be closed indefinitely.
Fortunately, the storm did not cause any fatalities, though a man had to be plucked from Boulder Creek near the San Lorenzo River after they ventured in with an inflatable boat. “It’s truly amazing that no one has died from this storm,” McClish said.
Earlier in the day, Felton fire officials were alerted about a possible body trapped against the covered bridge, but it was not that serious.
“It was a scarecrow, not a human,” said Fire Captain Bob Gray. “The scarecrow did survive and continued down the yellow brick road.”
Scotts Valley rain totals
Scotts Valley received 18.78 inches of rain during the first 10 days of January. Normal rainfall for that period is 5.57 inches. For the season that begins Oct.1 and ends Sept. 30, Scotts Valley has received 45.15 inches of rain, against last year’s total of 47.06 inches for the entire water year.
Highway 17 at Vine Hill Road remained partially closed because of a giant mudslide. On Monday, both northbound lanes were closed and southbound was reduced to one lane. One northbound lane was open after partial clearing.
On Tuesday another mudslide north of Granite Creek Road closed both northbound lanes again. Commuters who wanted to brave the detour through one southbound lane going north were spending 1.5 hours to get over to Los Gatos, rather than the usual 20-minute ride.
While San Lorenzo Valley schools were closed on Monday, Scotts Valley was able to keep classrooms in session.
“We had a few leaks, but nothing significant,” said school superintendent Tanya Krause. “We did have some teacher absences (due to closed roads) but we were able to get subs.”
PG&E reports the following were still without power on Wednesday: 50 homes in Scotts Valley, 5 homes in Ben Lomond, 530 homes in Boulder Creek, 265 in Felton and 2175 in Scotts Valley.
Weekend weather
“Although the weather is clearing up, it is still very likely that trees can fall in the next week due to saturated soil, bringing downed power lines and damaging electrical equipment,” said Mayra Tostado, senior communications representative at PG&E.
After a weaker storm on Thursday, the area began a drying out period for the weekend. “It looks pretty nice,” said National Weather Service Forecaster Brian Garcia. “But one caveat is that it will be on the cool side.”
Overnight temperatures are forecast to dip into the 30s, with daytime highs in the 50s, Garcia said.
And more rain. Longer-term weather models are forecasting above-normal precipitation for the next 10 days.
