Tag: weather

The Weather Channel covers flooding in San Diego.

A crew from The Weather Channel was in San Diego this morning, covering flooding in Mission Valley caused by the rain-swollen San Diego River. It rained much of last night.

The Weather Channel had arrived for live storm coverage, aiming their cameras at high water passing treacherously over Fashion Valley Road.

I had twenty minutes to wait for a bus at the nearby transit center, so I walked down toward the river to check things out for myself. I received some smiles!

I then took a photo from the pedestrian bridge across the river to Town and Country Park, and another from the elevated Fashion Valley trolley station platform.

I had a couple more minutes, so I checked out the flooded Fashion Valley parking structure. It was actually designed to flood, believe it or not! Fortunately, no cars were caught in the water on the lowest level.

In the middle of the day, two tornado warnings were sent out to phones around the city. Apparently no tornadoes actually formed, although someone on the radio said they saw a very dark, low, rotating cloud in Spring Valley..

Was there a rainbow warning? There should have been!

Late in the afternoon, I saw how Mission Center Road was really flooded by the San Diego River. It had rained off and on all day. That car was almost completely submerged.

Please stay safe! More rain to come!

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San Diego River floods during heavy rain.

It rained very heavily in San Diego today. I heard that some coastal areas received up to four inches of rain. That’s a staggering amount of water in less than 24 hours for our naturally arid climate.

Not surprisingly, many parts of the city flooded. A couple of highways partially closed. All three trolley lines had service disruptions.

Severe flooding often occurs in Mission Valley as the San Diego River rapidly swells. As you can see in my photos, that happened again.

Late this afternoon I observed two cars half underwater where Mission Center Road crosses the San Diego River. I hope those drivers are okay.

Holding my umbrella, I then walked along the leaf-strewn pathway beside the swollen river.

The above sign west of Mission Center Road explains the San Diego River’s peculiarities, and why periodic flooding is actually helpful:

A River in Flood

Under historical conditions, the seasonal variation in San Diego’s rainfall creates strong fluctuation in the amount of water flowing within the San Diego River. The low rainfall and the geologic composition allowed for the river to run below ground during much of the year; this lead to the River’s nickname, the Upside Down River.

Habitats and vegetation adapted to flooding in the winter and subsurface flow in the summer. Flooding helped restore the natural river bottom, flushed out debris, created new sand bars and kept the river healthy.

Large flooding events were common and are natural along the river course. Over time, with the construction of regional reservoirs, El Capitan in 1934 and San Vicente in 1943, these large flooding event have been reduced and flows constrained.

Every year we’re reminded: Avoid driving in flooded areas!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

City life on a wet, very windy morning.

San Diego is experiencing very high winds today. Combined with morning showers, including a sudden bout of hail, the icy wind made walking downtown a bit of an adventure.

I ventured outside after the hail. Nevertheless, my usual San Diego jacket felt far too thin. And crazy wind gusts almost knocked me over several times!

Flags were whipping around, most people were bundled up and my hat flew off twice. As you can see in the next photo, it’s Ash Wednesday.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Big crashing waves at Crystal Pier!

Very high surf today, crashing into Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. I wasn’t surprised that the end of the pier was closed.

And I wasn’t surprised that surfers were out this sunny Saturday in droves!

In the distance, near the end of the pier, the largest, most ominous waves formed. And ambitious surfers waited…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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A wonderful New Year’s Day in Balboa Park!

It’s a breezy and drizzly New Year’s Day in San Diego. But a visit to Balboa Park proved to be just as wonderful as ever!

I was surprised that a few museums were open. Several studios in Spanish Village were also open. And, of course, there was the reliable two o’clock Sunday concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, where, due to the threat of rain, audience members got to sit right up close to the guest organist on stage!

The photo captions describe what I experienced…

Not the usual Sunday crowd on El Prado, but still pretty busy.

Roger, a regular Balboa Park busker, somehow managed to escape again!

Leaves and puddles in front of a colorful Spanish Village studio.

Gallery 21 was open. The 26th Annual Exhibition of 7 Printmakers continues through tomorrow, January 2, 2023. (I’ll be blogging about it shortly.)

I was greeted by a smile in Studio 9. Glass bottles were being converted into cool wind chimes!

A videographer records a street musician on El Prado.

The Palisades part of Balboa Park was unusually quiet on New Year’s Day.

Color in a tree and on the grass is a reminder that winter has arrived in San Diego.

Guest organist Jeobon Hwang rehearses before the Sunday afternoon Spreckels Organ concert.

Jaebon Hwang, organist at First United Methodist Church of San Diego, comes on stage.

I got to sit up close. The mighty Spreckels Organ thundered music directly into my bones!

Some people listening on the benches have umbrellas at the ready.

A flawless performance of classical music by one of San Diego’s outstanding organists!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Photo memories on this First Day of Winter.

Today is the Winter Solstice. The shortest day and longest night. The first day of winter.

I’ve taken many winter photographs around San Diego over the years. My camera has captured wild storms and their aftermath, high winds and crashing waves, snow in the mountains, umbrellas in the city, and the unique beauty of winter in nature.

Would you like to see some of these photos? Click the upcoming links and you’ll be transported back in time…

Click the following links to explore past winters…

Winter beauty by the San Diego River.

Snowing in Balboa Park?

A hike in Tecolote Canyon near Genesee.

Walking through Little Italy in morning rain.

Photos of high winds downtown.

Balboa Park’s magical winter garden.

A city reflected from puddles.

Early winter and three Santee bridges.

Snow and winter beauty at Cuyamaca.

Boats destroyed by El Nino winds in San Diego.

Los Peñasquitos Lagoon between winter storms.

Glimpses of nature’s beauty after a storm.

Storm brings huge surf to Ocean Beach Pier.

Morning rain and umbrellas downtown.

Photos of San Diego River, after three storms.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Tar, varnish and paint on San Diego Bay!

Have you read those classic nautical stories where sailors are tasked with tarring ropes in a ship’s rigging?

Well, if you visited the Maritime Museum of San Diego today, you might have seen this age-old activity in practice. A museum volunteer was tarring the shrouds of Californian, official tall ship of California!

As I walked about the museum’s historic ships, I noticed the forward hatch of the 1904 steam yacht Medea had been recently varnished. And another volunteer was busy applying the second of three coats of paint to the railing of the San Diego harbor’s 1914 Pilot boat!

Even in calm San Diego Bay, the daily weather, salt and sun slowly ravage ships. The sun’s ultraviolet rays eventually break down everything, even tar. To maintain the beautiful vessels of a world-famous maritime museum requires elbow grease!

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One very cool place on a very hot day!

This Labor Day weekend we’re experiencing a big heat wave in San Diego.

Many are taking refuge indoors, relying on air-conditioning or fans. Others, who’d rather be outside, are heading to the beaches.

But there’s one outdoor place that’s even cooler than a beach. A pier! Particularly the always very “cool” Ocean Beach Pier!

Walk along the OB Pier’s nearly 2000 foot length and feel the refreshing sea breeze. Perhaps stop halfway out at the Walking On Water Cafe to grab a lemonade or ice cream.

Look at the banners flutter in the wind as gulls wheel overhead!

At the Ocean Beach pier’s end you are well out over the water. The ocean-cooled air is inviting, invigorating. The one cooler spot would be straight down, surfing or swimming.

And to think those people on the beach are practically frying on the sand!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Evening storm clouds from the Cabrillo Bridge.

Enjoy this collection of photographs that I took yesterday evening, as I walked into Balboa Park across the Cabrillo Bridge.

The sun was setting and clouds were darkening as a storm rolled in. The early October storm would produce spectacular lightning all around San Diego.

As I began east across the Cabrillo Bridge, the California Tower was illuminated by the very last rays of sunlight. I periodically turned west to catch sunset color above Bankers Hill.

Knowing that rain was on the way, I debated heading back home. I’m so thankful I didn’t. Because the lightning-filled concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion turned out to be something very rare and special–likely one of the most extraordinary concerts in the organ’s 106 year history. Yesterday I blogged about that experience here!

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Leaves begin turning by the river.

Today is the first day of Autumn. The days are becoming noticeably shorter.

A few leaves down by the San Diego River have already begun to turn. Even through the weather has been hot due to our current Santa Ana conditions, the trees know summer is over.

I took a couple photos of Fremont cottonwood leaves changing their color in Mission Valley this morning. Some yellow has begun showing in all the green.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!