When an atmospheric river,
dumps torrential rain,
spawning dozens of high mountain waterfalls,
that crash down right by the door of your condo rental,
creating flash floods?
What to do?
Get wet,
and take photos too!
It is an amazing experience because it happens so incredibly quickly. It starts with serious torrential downpours that are fast in onset, next you hear roaring, go outside, and see dozens of waterfalls falling from the 8000+ peaks of The Santa Rosa Mountain Range, to the sea level and below, and since your vacation condo sits at the foot of these mountains, the show is quite spectacular! The photos can’t do it justice in the midst of the storm. Lakes and rivers have formed where dust and lizards were sunning yesterday! Now I personally see why you do not want to be in a narrow desert canyon in a flash flood situation. It’s way too fast and way too intense.
Cheers to you from the flooding desert~
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Awesome!
Yes! It was such ꨄ︎
Wow Cindy, that’s a beautiful yet scary place to be with the atmospheric river doing its thing and what is hitting California too. Great photos! Be safe. ☺️
Did the atmospheric river make it’s way over to you? It got stalled and stuck from the coastal plains on the Santa Rosa Mountains, and churned there building up intensity, until it poured up and over the mountains in the most incredibly furious cascades ꨄ︎
We had two day of rain! That’s enough and I learned that I have a roof leak too. Bummer.
Another system is stacking up and may soon come your way. So sorry about your roof. It’s always something….. Stay dry ꨄ︎
I hope not but we still need the rain but my roof doesn’t. I’ve called some roofers, need estimates. Thanks Cindy! ❤️
I’m sorry. They always charge more when it’s raining.
I thought about that Cindy. No more water has got into I will wait until things dry out. They will try to take advantage of people.
Good plan.
That’s crazy, Cindy! Great shots, glad you’re safe!
Hi Terri. It was quite the show! Cheers to you my friend ꨄ︎
It would a great concern Cindy with water coming down in torrents. In Australia we have had one of the worse years of devastation with flooding and torrential rains on record and so many people were and continue to be displaced. IT was good that you survived that moment.
How truly terrifying and sad. I am sad to hear this Ashley. This storm was abnormal in both intensity and timing. This is supposed to be a drier than normal season for us. But this storm was fast and furious, especially in the desert. I just talking a few comments back to a blogging friend from Australia, mentioning that I thought the topography in Australia was somewhat similar and might be prone to intense waterfalls and flash floods. I am so sorry to hear this has recently been the case to such a destructive degree. My thoughts are prayers are with all those who were displaced and traumatized ꨄ︎
Wow! Great photos and glad you are safe, Cindy.
Thanks much Jane. It was quite a thrilling experience ꨄ︎
First of all, I’m glad that you’re safe; and secondly, your photos are stunning! All that rain coming down in such a deluge. Agreed – stay out of the canyons if rain clouds start approaching!
Thank you Lynette. I have seen the permanent waterfall shutes that are part of The Santa Rosa Mountain topography so many times, starting at the 8000+ feet top of the peaks, shooting down to the desert floor some of which is below sea level, but I wasn’t prepared for the sight and sound of dozens of waterfalls hurtling tons of water to the base of the desert where I was standing and staying. Incredible ꨄ︎
Wow, Cindy! That’s an extraordinary experience.
ꨄ︎ꨄ︎
It’s dangerous, beautiful, and you love it!
YES!!! Smiling ꨄ︎ꨄ︎
Beautiful post…
Much appreciated. Thank you ꨄ︎
Looks very pretty, but there’s no way I’d want to own a house (or condo) on a river bank like that.
Exactly! The Santa Rosa Mountains are sheer rock races going from the desert floor up over 8000 feet. Rock waterfull shutes are a permanent part of the mountain topology. The canals and catchment basins built around the condos are impressive and worked, but the mountains will have the last say ꨄ︎
Nature always does (have the last say).
ꨄ︎ꨄ︎
Cindy, what an extraordinary and frightening experience. You’ve described it with such immediacy that I could almost hear the roar of the water and feel that sudden shift from sun-soaked dust to torrents and waterfalls. Nature changes her mood in an instant, and your words remind me how alive and unpredictable the desert truly is. I’m grateful you’re safe!!!
Hi Rebecca. Our Mother is not to be messed with! She put on just the briefest infinitesimal display of Her power and I was thrilled beyond measure. Be safe & well Rebecca ꨄ︎
Amazing photos. Thanks for taking us there.
Thank you for joining me Peggy. You make the experience better ꨄ︎
I’ve read about flash floods in desert areas (and even wrote one into one of my books), but your photos show the real thing. Looks like that river came pretty close!
Fascinating. And yes, the condos that were the furthest back were on eroding, mushy ground that was unstable to walk on. The canal was eating the desert sand ꨄ︎
That’s scary!
Yes.
Quite an adventure to be part of.. special set!
Yes, thank you. I was quite thrilled and in the moment!! ꨄ︎
Beautiful and scary, too.
Exactly. Thank you Lane. Impressive as only Mother Nature can be ꨄ︎
I, too, am glad that you are safe!
Much appreciated. Thank you David ꨄ︎
You made good use of it
Well, you know what they say about crisis……. ꨄ︎
🙂
So glad to hear you are safe, Cindy! Sending loving thoughts. 💜
Visa versa 2UX2 Carol & take good care ꨄ︎ꨄ︎
Great photos! Hope everyone was okay.
My camera is angry at me. It got quite wet! Be we are well. Thank you Sheree & take good care ꨄ︎
We’ve had a fair bit of rain too but we live on the 5th floor and up a hill so………..
Looking down, not up, changes one’s perspective considerably!
Absolutely!
Spectacular to experience, but potentially life threatening. Nature is all powerful. Yesterday a mini tornado flattened a camp site here on the Algarve, killing one and injuring many others. We all need a little luck. Stay safe, Cindy xx
Wow! Scary. We need to respect our Mother! ꨄ︎
Great photos and a reminder that nature is no respecter of our precious homes or holidays! I feel sorry for the poor lizards.
Very true! When Mother Nature roars, the entire planet listens, both lizards and humans! ꨄ︎
Such drama, so well caught on your camera. Stay safe!
Our Mother does drama best!! Thank you & cheers Margaret ꨄ︎
These are spectacular photographs. You must have been at least a little on edge until you knew the main danger was over.
Yes. I was concerned about ground stability in some of the areas around the cachment canals. Large erosion tracks were breaking open, and as I walked, some of the ground around them was deep mush and seemed ready to give way. Also the water in the canals was furious with currents flowing in both directios from different falls. Amazing to experience ꨄ︎
Oh, wow! Looks amazing.
It was thrilling ꨄ︎
Wow!!!!
X2! ꨄ︎
That’s breathtaking! And very dangerous, it seems! Wow!
Yes, the unbridled power of our Mother! Be well Martha ꨄ︎
Looks intense! There been a lot of flashing flooding all over the world lately!
Strange days are upon us indeed! ꨄ︎
Love your photo essay… Be safe!
Thank you very much Khaya. Visa versa 2UX2! ꨄ︎ꨄ︎
Ahh you must be streaming with joy….just going with the flow. Amazing shots as always, my friend! ❤️ ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ❤️
Laughing…… I actually was! I was thrilled and amazed! ꨄ︎ ❤️ ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ❤️
Haha that’s good to know!
ദ്ദി/ᐠ – ⩊ -マ.ᐟ 💛
ꨄ︎ꨄ︎
Terrific captures.
Thank you very much ꨄ︎
What an incredible experience
Yes. I imagine this happens in Oz too in the desert regions. The terrain is similar. Give my regards to Jack ꨄ︎
Wow!
Exactly! ꨄ︎
Cindy, …the photos you’ve captured are simply awesome, …personally I’m glad you’re ok, ,..and that I’m safely at home reaping the benefits of safely viewing your amazing water-filled captures, … ‘Wow’ says I, …💙
What a wonderfully kind comment. Thank you very much! I must say the fire and a cup of tea were very welcome after my expedition and my shoes will never recover! 😉
Stay safe – and hope others do, too, and enjoy the show! Thanks for the pictures!
You are most welcome Betty. It would be very easy to get in trouble in this situation. Thankfully I was the only one I saw out, but I am sure others were elsewhere. It was an amazing experience ꨄ︎
Dear Cindy
Keep safe and dry. We hope you are safe and get spectacular photos.
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thank you X’s 4! Be safe & well ꨄ︎
You witnessed something very beautifully Cindy, You just had to be there to catch it, and caught well. Thank you for the share. Did your feet get wet? 🤣❤️🙏
Thank you Mark. Everything got wet! Even my precious camera and lens. I couldn’t possibly keep it dry. My shoes are goners! The mud is here to stay 😉 😉
Wow, these photos are awesome! I love the juxtaposition of human habitation and nature and its elements. You seem to capture how precarious we all are in terms of nature’s forces on the one hand, and how magnificently beautiful it is on the other. Thanks so much for sharing your photgraphy with us 💙🌹
Your description was so apt it gave me goosebumps. You said what I saw. What a talent! Thank you & take care ꨄ︎
Dramatic, and stunning photos, Cindy. Stay safe.
Thank you very much Eugi. We will ꨄ︎
A dangerous situation.
Yes. The place were are staying is prepared with canals and cachment areas which saved the day, but even so there was flooding ꨄ︎
Wow, Nature is a powerful force! Flash floods can be scary, so glad you were safe. 🙂
Hi Eliza. Scary and spectacular. The waterfalls were a sight to see ꨄ︎
wow, as long as you were safe, it is so beautiful and glad you took pics
So kind. Thank you Beth. I can see how unsafe it would be to be in a narrow canyon or any place where water could get trapped ꨄ︎
Oh my goodness! Nature is jaw droppingly and fiercely magnificent. So glad you’re safe. I have a kids book about flash floods coming out 2026 (I think…I forget what the publisher told me). It’s an early reader with MIT Kids Press and I hope it will convey to kids what you experienced.
How exciting! Congratulations. My twin grandsons were with me, although not when I hiked to see the falls. They could see and hear them while at a safe distance. They would love this book. Let me know when it is published and I will get it for them ꨄ︎
Cindy, a wonderful post, as always. Thank you! 🫠Ellen
Much appreciated Ellen. Thank you & be well ꨄ︎
Wow! Great photos.
Grazie mille ꨄ︎
Incredible views! Beautifully captured, Cindy!
So appreciated. Thanks much Amy! ꨄ︎
Goodness, me, that’s scary. I read earlier this week that SoCal was due for an atmospheric river onslaught. I hope you and your neighbors weathered the storm and that the water levels didn’t reach your property.
So much going on with our property, as I shared with you. Happily our recently denuded banks held, more rain in on the way, but hopefully not as intense ꨄ︎
Cindy, so glad y9u are ok! These are amazing images.
Thank you very much Beth on both counts & cheers to you ꨄ︎
The photos are impressive, bearing witness to an increasingly present climate change.
Thank you. And yes, flash floods and Mountain falls in the desert are seasonal events, but the intensity of this storm was of epic proportions ꨄ︎
Wonderful photos and reminders Cindy. I experienced the beauty and power of a desert flash flood in Utah. Beautiful and unnerving.
So you know! Incredible isn’t it ꨄ︎
Yes! 😯
🤗❤️
ꨄ︎ꨄ︎
Beautiful and very scary. Glad your ok!
Thanks very much & take good care ꨄ︎