California storms and LA ports!

[ozziebound]

Hi there 

anyone know if the cruise ports in San Pedro and Long Beach are being affected by the storms? 
Adam 

[Bruin Steve]

34 minutes ago, ozziebound said:

Hi there 

anyone know if the cruise ports in San Pedro and Long Beach are being affected by the storms? 
Adam 

Okay...remember, this is Southern California.  On an average year, we get 11 inches of rain...for the entire year.  It's BIG news--"Major Storm" when we get 2 or 3 inches...We get "Flood Warnings", "High Surf Advisories" and the like.  Like we are seeing now.  They advise people to go get sand bags and protect their property.  Not becaise it rains so much, but because it usually NEVER rains.  The rest of the year, it's incredibly dry.  So, in areas like where I live--in the Santa Monica Mountains--we get brush fires during the long dry season.  And, when hillsides burn, it leaves them without the vegetaion and root systems that keep the soil in place.  So, in many areas, musdslides become a concern.  That's what WE worry about when we say "floods".  it's not like parts of the world where rivers overflow and low-lying land is under several feet of water.  That doesn't happen here.  Our "rivers" are usually dry or nearly dry.  (I used to have an office virtually hanging over the Santa Ana River in Orange.  I once told that to someone I was doing business with back east and they asked "So, can you take a boat to work?"  I laughed and replied, "Yeah...if my boat has WHEELS!"  Anyway, our "major" rivers were long ago "channelized"...Cement walls, bike paths, jogging trails.

 

Yesterday, in San Pedro, they got 0.4 inches of rain.  Today, they predicted 0.29 inches today...and a deluge--1.36 inches tonight...between the two, it's expected to rain for 12 hours...which means it won't rain the other 12.  In most of the world, that's not a storm...it's just "normal".

 

I haven't heard of any ships being affected...but, if I had to guess, it might be a little rocky at times.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

I can't imagine how the storms would effect the ports.

[2TakeFlight]

The Phoenix Reisen Artania left San Francisco for Hawaii last night, and I’m sure it has not been a “relaxing day at sea” for them; the weather in the Bay Area the past 24 hours has been horrible!  

[princeton123211]

7 hours ago, 2TakeFlight said:

The Phoenix Reisen Artania left San Francisco for Hawaii last night, and I’m sure it has not been a “relaxing day at sea” for them;

I'm sure it isn't ideal but the old Royal Princess actually isn't a terrible sea boat-- it's been MANY years but I remember being impressed with her sea keeping in 20-25 foot swells. At least she doesn't have any inside cabins. 

 

I could think of a few ships I would rather be on in a tough storm but I can also think of a bunch that would be far worse than Artania (looking at you R Class). 

[2TakeFlight]

The Artania was in San Francisco for three days and two nights on a cruise around the world. I took notice of it, and learned of it’s history, while looking at the Cruise Mapper website. It truly is a beautiful classic cruise ship; originally christened the Royal Princess in 1984, by Princess Diana. I saw a recent tour of the ship on YouTube, and I was very impressed with it’s features. Last March we cruised to the Mexican Riviera (out of San Francisco) on the current Royal Princess; that ship was christened by Princess Katherine (Kate). Hopefully the Artania’s cruise to Hawaii is improving. (Versus the first 36 - 48 hours.)  

[moonjelly]

The forecast included high waves and winds around the port and cautioned of vessels potentially smashing against docks, etc. It sounds as of this may have been less than expected or overdramatized?

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, moonjelly said:

The forecast included high waves and winds around the port and cautioned of vessels potentially smashing against docks, etc. It sounds as of this may have been less than expected or overdramatized?

Referring to SF? Believe me, the storm was everything that was advertised.

[Bruin Steve]

A little update:

 

I live in a town that is one of the more susceptible areas to impact from a storm.  We are atop the Santa Monica Mountains, inland from the coast at Malibu.  Several canyon roads wind through these mountains.  During "fire season", this is the area most often impacted from wildfires--so, during the rainy season, it's also where there is the most danger from mudslides, etc.  Also, since clouds get stopped by the higher mountains, we might get a little more rain than most.

 

The City just sent out an email to residents with the latest update:

"Car v. power pole at Mulholland Highway and Canyon Drive in the Highlands. SCE says the intersection will be closed all night as crews make repairs. Please avoid the area.

Close to seven inches of rain has fallen on Calabasas in the last two days.  More on the way tonight through tomorrow  Partial clearing Wednesday.

Some mud and rocks have been cleared from roadways but, so far, no major damage in our city."

 

So, basically, we've been hit with a LOT of rain...and the area in the highest mountain canyons have been hit by a minor amount of rocks and mud --which has been easily cleared away by city crews--as well as being inconvenienced by one stupid driver who hit a power pole.

 

Other than that, yeah, it's been raining...but for me and most of my neighbors, everything is just very normal...but wet.  I did have some dead fronds off one of my palm trees fall off and into my pool.

 

And, yes, I've seen tape on some news stations showing a little minor "flooding" in some areas--but realize that those incidents are actually quite rare.  Most of the warnings here just tell folks not to drive if you don't need to and consider not driving into the canyons and avoiding driving in areas that look to have a little standing water.

 

Still haven't seen a single story where the harbor areea is impacted or cruise ships have been impacted.

Edited February 6 by Bruin Steve

[MMeMelody]

Hi, we sail out of long Beach Monday but fly into long Beach on Sunday. Will it be safe still to port out of long Beach and fly into still?

[KeepCalmBearOn]

2 hours ago, MMeMelody said:

Hi, we sail out of long Beach Monday but fly into long Beach on Sunday. Will it be safe still to port out of long Beach and fly into still?

 

Hunh?

 

The raining in So Cal is mostly a giant nothing burger in most areas. Any flooding effects very tiny areas of the vast LA area.

[moonjelly]

23 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Referring to SF? Believe me, the storm was everything that was advertised.

Thanks cruiserBruce. I hope the area and people are recovering quickly.

[Bruin Steve]

3 hours ago, MMeMelody said:

Hi, we sail out of long Beach Monday but fly into long Beach on Sunday. Will it be safe still to port out of long Beach and fly into still?

Here's today's report (with a lot of numbers) from the LA Daily News:

Rain map: Here are the wettest spots in Los Angeles County – Daily News

 

The town next to me, Topanga, reported 11.94 inches of rain...BUT, the areas you need to be concerned with?  In that same period, LGB Airport reported 2.21 inches of rain...West Long Beach shows (on the map) 2.75 inches...Point Vicente, near San Pedro, shows a mere 1.19 inches of rain...

...And those numbers were all yesterday. 

 

The storm looks to be just about passed this morning.  By next Monday?  According to Accuweather.com ZERO rain:

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/long-beach/90802/daily-weather-forecast/347631?day=7 

Edited February 6 by Bruin Steve

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

Hunh?

 

The raining in So Cal is mostly a giant nothing burger in most areas. Any flooding effects very tiny areas of the vast LA area.

I think you have to realize that those of us who don't live in California are being fed pictures of flooding and mudslides and stories that include words like "1000-year storm" by the media. It's next to impossible to discern what the effects of the storms are in any particular area, so it's understandable that people would be concerned about their travel plans being disrupted.

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

Hunh?

 

The raining in So Cal is mostly a giant nothing burger in most areas. Any flooding effects very tiny areas of the vast LA area.

When was the last time you can think multiple locations in LA had over 10 inches of rain?

 

The storm in sagging your way right now.

[Bruin Steve]

17 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

When was the last time you can think multiple locations in LA had over 10 inches of rain?

 

1 hour ago, njhorseman said:

I think you have to realize that those of us who don't live in California are being fed pictures of flooding and mudslides and stories that include words like "1000-year storm" by the media. It's next to impossible to discern what the effects of the storms are in any particular area, so it's understandable that people would be concerned about their travel plans being disrupted.

Here's the deal:  YES, it is a VERY unusual storm for us...That's because the average YEARLY rainfall in Los Angeles is only about 11 inches.  And over the past decade or so, about 80% of the years can only be classified as "extreme drought".  We've had several years with only 5 or 6 inches of rain.  We've been forced to NOT water our lawns...turning them into dead, brownyards.  So, THIS much rain IS a major story here.  And, yes, there ARE places around here where there is a little "flooding".  But it's not like flooding one sees in other parts of the world where whole houses are washed away.  And, in a city this large, you can find plenty of places where someone's hillside has been undermined or a normally dry street looks like a river for a small distance.  But, again, it's NIT extensive.  But, since it's such a big story here, the news stations send reporters and camera crews to the worst instances...and those "stories" have made it to gthe national news.  But, for MOST of us...even those like me-who live in the areas with the most rainfall...it's really just rain.  No flooding, no mudslides.  Just bring an umbrella when you walk outside...and drive a little slower because roads are slick.  Normal life for most of the rest of you.  But, here in SoCal, people just have no idea what all this wet stuff is or why it appears to be falling from the sky.

 

And, there really is ZERO impact for areas like San Pedro, Long Beach, LAX, LGB...even Burbank has seen just ordinary rain. There's nothing that would keep airplanes from landing or taking off and nothing that would keep your cruise ship from embarking or disembarking.  If your travel plans included walking the Venice Beach Boardwalk or doing some hot air ballooning today, you may want to rethink that...maybe visit a museum today and visit Venice Beach tomorrow.

 

Winds have been 10-15 mph.  This is NOTHING like, say, hurricanes in Florida.  Our worst weather day in SoCal is the equivalent of a good day in Miami!

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

I would be more concerned about the drivers in LA during the storm than the ship.