7-12, esp. So. CA –11-16

lornajarrettblanchard February 6, 1973

–13-16 Blanchard tally from County breakouts below.
–12 Auto accidents
— 3 Drownings (though all were the result of vehicles swept off or going off roads)
— 1 Earth and rock slide
— 11 Storm Data. Vol. 15, No. 2, Feb 1973, p. 2.
— 7 Auto accidents
— 3 Drownings
— 1 Slide

Contra Costa County 2 (Not in Southern California – San Francisco Bay area)
–2 Concord area, Hwy. 4, Feb 6. Semi and 2 cars collide “in heavy rain.”

Los Angeles County 7
–7 Traffic accidents on “rain-slick streets…,” Feb 10-11.

Monterey County 1 (Not in Southern California – below Monterey, CA)
–1 Big Sur area, State Hwy. 1, Feb 12. Highway worker clearing previous slide, buried.

San Bernardino County 3
–3 Fontana area, Route 31 at Devore Road, Feb 6. Two-car crash “on rain-slicked Route 31…”

Tuolumne County 1 (Not in Southern California – in Central-West CA)
–1 Sonora area, Feb 11. Drowning? Car swept off flooded Wood Creek ford; Louise Gurney, 27.

Ventura County 2
–2 Piru Creek, Feb 7. Drownings; jeep leaves rain-slick road, flips into creek.

Narrative Information

EDS Storm Data: “Southern California, South Coast Basin and Coastal area…10 and 11 [dates]…11 [deaths]…unk [injured]…Heavy rain and wind.

“These two days stand out as especially damaging in terms of wind and flood during a nine (9) day period in which considerable rain fell on southern California. Rainfall totals were light along the immediate coast (102 inches), but were much heavier in coastal valleys (3-7 inches), and extremely heavy in the San Gabriel Mountains (e.g., 12 inches at Mt. Wilson and Mt. Baldy). The storm was accompanied by unusually strong winds: for example, at 4 a.m. on the 11th, Newport Beach was reporting steady 40-knot winds. Many inland areas received equally strong winds. Mudslides and earthslides were numerous, closing many roads and highways. The most severe slide occurred when a portion of California 1 gave way five miles south of Big Sur. Hundreds of persons were stranded in floodwaters or snow from the storm. High winds uprooted some 200 trees in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego County. In Pasadena, a segment of an uncompleted freeway bridge collapsed. Between the 6th and 11th 3 persons drowned, one died in a slide, and 7 died in auto accidents. During the morning of the 11th, violent rain squalls with thunder and hail struck many areas, especially the coastal and intermediate valleys of the Los Angeles Basin. At 9:00 a.m. Arlington Field in Riverside reported gusts to 57 m.p.h. accompanying thunderstorms. On the morning of the 11th, Mt. Wilson reported 6 inches of rain during a 6-hour period.” (Storm Data. Vol. 15, No. 2, Feb 1973, p. 2.)

Sources

Associated Press. “Man dies in Big Sur mudslide.” Daily Review, Hayward, CA, 2-12-1973, p. 2. Accessed 1-13-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-review-feb-12-1973-p-2/

Daily Report, Ontario-Upland, CA. “Fontana Child, Grandparents Killed in Crash.” 2-7-1973, p. 1. Accessed 1-13-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/ontario-daily-report-feb-07-1973-p-1/

Environmental Data Service, NOAA. Storm Data. Asheville, NC, Vol. 15, No. 2, Feb 1973. Accessed 1-8-2022 at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-C20943BA-32D3-4426-B205-BAC08F0B86FE.pdf

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Highway 4. Two Killed as Truck, Cars Collide.” 2-7-1973, p. 7. Accessed 1-13-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-feb-07-1973-p-7/

Press-Courier, Oxnard, CA. “Two Youths Drown as Jeep Swamps in Flooded Piru Creek.” 2-8-1973, p.1. Accessed 1-13-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oxnard-press-courier-feb-08-1973-p-1/

United Press International. “L.A, hopes for a break in the rain.” Daily Review, Hayward, CA, 2-12-1973, p. 2. Accessed 1-13-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-review-feb-12-1973-p-2/