[californiadisasters] Soggy Stretch Factors Evoke 1964 Floods

Soggy stretch factors evoke 1964 floods

By John Lindsey

A few years ago my family and I drove old Highway 101 along the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt County and passed through seemingly endless groves of redwood trees. Along the way we saw numerous "High Water" marks that staggered the imagination. They were from when the Eel River flooded in December of 1964.

An Arctic air mass moved into Northern California during early December that year and produced large quantities of snow in the mountains.

Then around Christmas a low-pressure system off the coast, along with a 500-mile-wide storm track, steered a great surge of subtropical moisture from the Pacific Ocean toward Northern California and Oregon, resulting in unprecedented rainfall from December 19 to 27, 1964.

This warm rain melted much of the snow from the previous storms and caused widespread, record-breaking floods along the North Coast. Unfortunately many lumber mills kept logs stockpiled near the Eel River. The logs, which weighed tons, came down the river during the deluge and crashed into bridges, taking out many of them. Many towns along the Eel River were wiped out.

The floods of December 1964 resulted from meteorological conditions similar to those over the Central Coast last weekend.

<SNIP>

Read entire article here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/12/26/1421111/soggy-stretch-factors-evoke-1964.html#ixzz19FloYoVD

--
Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/
Read our blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
Visit me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/derkimster

__._,_.___

Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___