California's Highway 1 Near Big Sur Washed Out Again

Image from the San Francisco Chronicle

California's storied Highway 1, hugging the Pacific shoreline near Big Sur, has experienced yet another catastrophic wash-out. The location this time is where Rat Creek enters the ocean, almost due west of King City along Highway 101. Highway 1 is now closed from just north of Ragged Point on the south to Nepenthe on the north. This is south of the area generally described as "Big Sur." The flood occurred on Thursday January 28 after heavy rain fell in the area. Seven inches of rain fell along the coast and up to 16 inches in the local mountains.

The same area was the site of the Dolan Fire that began on August 18, 2020. It was only fully contained on December 31. The confluence of wildfire and subsequent wash-outs along streams is a common occurrence. The highway was closed for 8 months in 2017 when a similar atmospheric river dumped heavy amounts of rain along the highway north of this event.

Read a descriptive text of the event on the American Geophysical Union Landslide blog here. Also, the San Francisco Chronicle has a great article with many photos here.

Dear friend Joan has brought my attention to the blog of 'Big Sur Kate'. Please check out her blog about the wash-out here. Included in her post of this wash-out is an additional link to excellent highway maps with individual mile markers for Highway 1. Find that and included links here.