Summer Monsoon Visits The Carrizo Plain

I took the following sequence of photos while out on the Carrizo Plain earlier this decade.

It was a Summer day with monsoonal moisture streaming into the region and storm cells popping up all over the place.

Mom and I drove down the length of the Carrizo Plain sky-watching.

We drove on out of the Carrizo Plain National Monument and down to Hwy. 166 which we took west to New Cuyama where we had lunch.

The first two photos were taken on the way south before the storms hit but as they were building.

We returned to Atascadero by the way whence we came and found ourselves in the aftermath of a flash flood of which we had just missed the worst.

The last two photos were taken on the return trip after the storms had rolled through.

Soda Lake Road is the recently-flooded road pictured.

Photos by Kim Patrick Noyes - all rights reserved.

Kimmer