SANTA CRUZ — Confidence was high among weather experts that Thursday’s atmospheric storm would bring impressive rainfall totals to Santa Cruz County and the forecast delivered, with one local water official telling the Sentinel that Santa Cruz’s Loch Lomond reservoir is already well on its way to spilling.
The storm made landfall late Wednesday, but only increased in strength overnight before slamming the county with hours of heavy rainfall throughout most of Thursday.
“The initial, most vigorous band has already passed through,” National Weather Service meteorologist Nicole Sarment said at noon Thursday. “But we’re still expecting a lot of rain through the afternoon. So we’re not done yet.”
Sarment said rainfall totals were in line with what was expected in the forecast, but the continued deluge suggested the storm might overperform.
According to Sentinel weather observers, Ben Lomond received 4.79 inches of rain as of 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Boulder Creek had 3.38 inches, Scotts Valley had 3.4 inches and Soquel had 3.16 inches.
Chris Coburn, deputy director of the Santa Cruz Water Department, also told the Sentinel Thursday morning that water totals were already stacking up high and that the city was off to “a really strong water year,” which began Oct. 1.
The Loch Lomond reservoir, which holds 2.8 billion gallons of water and is the city’s only drinking water reservoir, had reached about 92% to 93% of its capacity as of Thursday morning, according to Coburn.
“We’re in a really good position with Loch Lomond,” he said. “If we have even a normal winter from here, easily Loch Lomond will spill.”
Santa Cruz is unique in that 95% of its water supply comes from surface water sources, while the remaining 5% comes from groundwater. Other agencies across the county use only groundwater sources or have a more even split between their groundwater and surface water supplies, Coburn explained.
Coburn added that before the storm hit, the San Lorenzo River was running at about 30 cubic feet per second. For reference, he said, 1 cubic foot is about the volume of a basketball.
By about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, he said the river was flowing at more than 400 cubic feet per second and he wouldn’t be surprised if that figure topped out near 1,000 cubic feet per second before the end of the day.
“We’re not at a point in the season yet where the watershed is saturated,” said Coburn. “This storm is going to put a dent in that for sure.”
Elsewhere in the county, the storm created some difficult conditions, but nothing on a large scale. Images of nuisance flooding in Santa Cruz and near Rio Del Mar in Aptos circled around social media. California Highway Patrol’s Santa Cruz Unit shared on Facebook Thursday morning that it had already responded to several crashes on local roadways due to the wet and slippery conditions.
The agency reminded drivers to reduce their speeds, turn on headlights and wipers when visibility is low, avoid using cruise control on slick surfaces, keep extra space between vehicles and keep alert for standing water and the risk of hydroplaning.
According to the Santa Cruz County road advisory map, Paulsen Road in Watsonville, known to flood during heavy storms, was experiencing a hard closure. One lane along Highland Way, above The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, was also closed because of the storm and Buena Vista Drive had experienced some flooding.
Other than that, no other county-maintained roads were closed due to the storm as of the Sentinel’s print deadline Thursday.
The county was under National Weather Service wind and flood advisories that expired at 4 p.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday, respectively. However, the coast was included in a beach hazards statement that will last from 3 p.m. Thursday through 4 p.m. Friday.
Still, some surfers were spotted Thursday catching waves beside the Santa Cruz Wharf as the storm barreled through.
RAINFALL TOTALS
Ben Lomond: 4.79 inches.
Boulder Creek: 3.38 inches.
Scotts Valley: 3.40 inches.
Soquel: 3.16 inches.
