Southern California Monsoon Season 2007
Sunshine Summit & Lake Henshaw: September 1, 2007
Towering Cumulus erupt south of Julian.
The first thunderstorm of the day forms southwest of Lake Cuyamaca.
This storm never really did much and getting a good lightning shot turned out to be impossible!
Decided to head for storms firing near Mesa Grande and Lake Henshaw. Here is the aftermath. This Honda had a close encounter with a tree limb!
There were actually two vehicles involved... this Honda and a pickup truck (not pictured).
Most of the broken Oak limbs were of this size, however a few were much larger.
The pickup truck is just ahead of the Honda. You can see more downed trees in the distance.
The storm regenerates north of Warner Springs near Sunshine Summit.
Stone Ridge becomes Muddy River! The water was flowing quite rapidly here, but was probably only about 4 inches deep.
Runoff inundates Highway 79 in Sunshine Summit.
As I head down the hill towards Oak Grove, I encounter more rivers of muddy water. With each mile, these crossings became more frequent, more furious, and much deeper. About one or two miles from Oak Grove, all of these "rivers" converged into one giant river that paralleled Highway 79. I'd estimate the rapids within the river to about 2 feet high.
The storm blew down numerous tree limbs and three mature trees along Highway 79 just east of Oak Grove.
Tree limbs in the foreground, downed trees (hard to make out) in the background. The three downed trees did not fall at a 90 degree angle to the road, but instead fell lengthwise along the southbound lanes of Highway 79.
More debris along Highway 79.
Three code-3 border patrol agents enroute to who knows where!
The large limbs of a mature Live Oak in Sunshine Summit fell victim to the passing thunderstorm.