Western Railroad Discussion > OT: Tehachapi rainfall

The southern Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Tehachapi Mountains have had some impressive rainfall totals since 12:01am yesterday.  The totals have exceded expectatons.  There continues to be flash flood warnings in the mountains east of Bakersfield (not the Tehachapi area).  So far Tehachapi Airport has had 3.66 inches of rain and it's still raining.


Allen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/17 10:09 by bradleymckay.

Sacramento news is tossing out some epic projections for NorCal this weekend. For the Sierra, 8 to 15 inches of rain! We could probably handle 8, but 15 could be overwhelming (shades of Floods of '86 and '97).
We'll just see what happens!

Tom Y
(Lives pretty high up on a hill, not the kind that slides).

 

It sounds like a landslide struck a BNSF train somewhere south of Bakersfield this morning. Any info out there?

icancmp193 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sacramento news is tossing out some epic
> projections for NorCal this weekend. For the
> Sierra, 8 to 15 inches of rain! We could probably
> handle 8, but 15 could be overwhelming (shades of
> Floods of '86 and '97).
> We'll just see what happens!
> Tom Y

Been there- done that!  The melting snow will contribute to the flooding.  Posted previously:
"I was staying in Donner Pass, CA, Xmas to New Year's 1996-97. We had 7' of snow on the ground when the "Pineapple Express" arrived, 1' remained afterwards. Went skiing, even at 7,000', it was half snow, half rain, was all rain the next day. Got back very wet to the lodge, the heat was out, the lights were off, couldn't get out of the parking lot to catch a plane out of Reno (didn't matter because the Truckee River had flooded the airport and closed it), and someone walked off with my skis! Got a ride home and my skis were returned later. We did the high-Sierra camp loop in Yosemite that summer, and any good-sized stream we crossed was scoured out to bedrock by that flooding. The upside was one of the best summers for wildflowers."

mapboy
 

'96 -'97 took out the FRC and shut down I5 corridor for 10 days or so.  No Modoc to take up the slack now.
Mother Nature unleashed her fury many times before.  Sfgate article claims we are "on pace to the wettest
water year ever".

sphogger

As of 6pm the Tehachapi Airport rainfall total is up to 4.75 inches since 12:01am yesterday.  Still raining lightly...


Allen

This is when I'd love to see a photo of Tehachapi Creek near Woodford where it goes under the highway, right by the tracks.  Is it running high?  And how about Caliente Creek way down below, and out near Bena?

This should at least ensure the hills will be green this Spring with plenty flowers blooming.   And here's hoping to some major drought relief.   We've been through a lot with restrictions for years.

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is when I'd love to see a photo of Tehachapi
> Creek near Woodford where it goes under the
> highway, right by the tracks.  Is it running
> high?  And how about Caliente Creek way down
> below, and out near Bena?

There was some flooding east of Lamont last night, around where Caliente Creek flows straight west from Tejon Highway. 


Allen

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is when I'd love to see a photo of Tehachapi Creek near Woodford where it goes under the
> highway, right by the tracks.  Is it running high?  And how about Caliente Creek way down
> below, and out near Bena?

​Well here is a photo and video from the road into the César Chávez National Monument taken 1/5/17. Note the train in the background of the video. Farther down by Bena, it looked like a raging river.

---

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

sphogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> '96 -'97 took out the FRC and shut down I5
> corridor for 10 days or so.  No Modoc to take up
> the slack now.
> Mother Nature unleashed her fury many times
> before.  Sfgate article claims we are "on pace to
> the wettest
> water year ever".
>
> sphogger

I drove through the FRC the day of that storm as a detour from I-80 west, where winds of 80 mph were being recorded.   The crosswinds driving north from Reno to Beckworth Pass on US395 were lifting my wiper blades off the glass.   And going down the FRC I was dodging rocks on the highway.   The following flood damage closed that road for 3 months.