[UPDATE 12:05 p.m.: Flash Flood Warning] Roads Close, Flooding Spreads as First Day of Winter Brings a Real North Coast Storm
Truck driving on Freshwater Road [Reader provided]
UPDATE: Our most up to date roads piece is here:
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Roadway flooding is becoming increasingly widespread across Humboldt County this morning as steady, heavy rain continues to fall, pushing creeks and low-lying areas beyond their limits and forcing multiple road closures.
“Stay home or go slow,” says Denton Carrick Southern Humboldt Road Supervisor of Humboldt County Public Works who has been out on the roads working to keep them open since 1 a.m. “There’s flooding everywhere,” he told us.
In Freshwater, a resident described conditions as worse than they’ve ever seen. Freshwater Road, they said, is “100% impassable.” She added, “I am hopeful we will be ok on the house front,” capturing the uneasy waiting many residents are now experiencing. However, the NWS is not predicting that kind of flooding into homes.
On Arcata Road, this morning about 8:20, an officer requested the closure of the 2100 block as floodwaters spread across the roadway. A nearby resident watching the situation unfold said the entire Jacoby Creek Valley is flooded and conditions are already worse than earlier storms this winter. They warned that debris hidden beneath the water—branches, trash, etc—creates serious hazards for drivers. A new pothole, growing rapidly, has also formed in the flooded stretch, she told us. Flood warning signs, they noted, often aren’t placed until neighbors or pedestrians call the danger in.
That same resident expressed concern about drivers speeding through standing water to create wakes, despite nearby homes with children, pets, and livestock. “It’s not a thrill seeker location,” they said. “It’s frightening to watch.”
Elsewhere, a video circulating on social media shows flooding at the Blue Lake gas station.
Video of flooding at the Blue Lake gas station by George Ponnay III
Road closures are continuing. Highway 254 is closed between Miranda and Phillipsville, and there has been a request to close Highway 211, the route to Ferndale, due to flooding concerns.
Earlier this morning, the California Highway Patrol reported that Redwood Drive at Evergreen Road, on the bluff south of Bear Canyon, was closed due to flooding. Additional closures are likely as rain continues and waterways rise.
This storm marks the first day of winter with a reminder Humboldt knows well: when the rain settles in, valleys fill fast, roads disappear, and familiar routes can change hour by hour. Conditions remain fluid and information is still developing.
Major Highways–Here’s What We Know:
(Most information below is from Caltrans’ Quick Map. If you are heading to Oregon, check their similar site. If you are heading to Nevada, check their similar site.)
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- Interstate 5: Open
- Hwy 1: Open
- Hwy 3: Open
- Hwy 20: Open
- Hwy 36: Open
- Hwy 96: Open
- Hwy 101: Open but watch for traffic collisions and road hazards
- HWY 162 (Covelo Road): Open
- Hwy 169 (Klamath): Open
- Hwy 199: Open
- Hwy 211: CLOSED
- Hwy 254 (Avenue of the Giants): CLOSED between Miranda and Phillipsville
- Hwy 255: Open
- Hwy 271: Open
- Hwy 299: Open.
Humboldt County Roads:
- Arcata Road flooded in the 2100 block
- Blue Lake Blvd watch for flooding
- Camp Kimtu Road is closed at mile marker .85 as the South Fork of the Eel is over the road.
- Coffee Creek is closed due to flooding from mile marker 1.00 to 1.25
- Eel River Rd and Hookton Rd is closed due to flooding
- Elk River Rd 1/2 mile before Wrigley Rd is closed due to flooding
- Evergreen Rd to Bear Canyon Rd due to a slide
- Fernbridge Dr Northbound Lane closed to the bridge due to flooding
- Freshwater Road flooded (between Greenwood Heights Dr and Garfield School is a HARD CLOSURE. Use the detour through Greenwood Heights Dr to get to the Kneeland area.)
- Glendale Drive – 100 feet northwest of Liscom Hill Rd closed due to flooding
- Hookton offramp of 101 closed
- Jacoby Creek Road flooding at Eric Lane
- Meridian Road between from mile marker .5 to .9
- Old Arcata Rd between Graham Rd and Jacoby Creek Rd is closed due to flooding
- Redwood Drive closed at the bluffs.
- Wilder Ridge Rd at mile marker 6.9 closed due to flooding
Trinity County Roads: No information at this time.
Mendocino County Roads: No information at this time.
On a positive note, our chances of having a drought in 2026 are pretty low. Here’s a video by Ed Johnson of Ruth Lake’s spillway overflowing.
Note: Updates to road info are in blue.
UPDATE: 11:41 a.m.:
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I have not heard of “Arcata Rd.” Has a road been renamed? Or do you mean Old Arcata Rd.?
Any relation to Zeke Poff?
Driving through flooded roads like the gentleman in the white pickup you can end up in a washed-out area, hit debris, etc. Plus, you can damage your vehicle by getting water in the engine, transmission, differential(s), etc. It is just not worth the risk or getting a high repair bill. If you have to go through drive slow and cross your fingers.
Don’t do what Donny Dont Does
(Credit to The Simpsons)
He’s actually going pretty slow, just pushing water and not tossing any spray.
RAM has the air intake for the engine mounted up pretty high in the engine compartment.
Don’t know about the differential vent hoses, they may be routed up too.
Bozo, when you can barely see your tires, you are in water that is too deep for safe crossing. With the flatbed on his truck the fuel tank filler cap looks to be close or in the water. If his engine sucks in water, it will self-destruct.
Yeah, if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t do it. I see no evidence that this driver doesn’t know what they are doing, but clearly you shouldn’t do it. XD
The same 6 or 7 roads flood every year. Why hasn’t the county been proactive in fixing this problem? You would think with all the engineers and technology, that a solution could ne found.
Those roads were built in floodplains.
They have literally always flooded- and always will. Just stay off them when they do.
We have done far too much damage already trying to make nature conform to our wants.
If it keeps on raining, the levee’s going to break
If it keeps on raining, the levee’s going to break
When the levee breaks, I have no place to stay
Levees, which I suppose are one option, break quite often in California (Tulare Lake anyone?). Every engineering feat humans create has drawbacks.
The above lyrics came to mind in the Missouri River floods of 1993, which was catastrophic in terms of lost farmland ( I actually joked with Mom about that song being the new Missouri state song). In response, the state and feds decided that tens of thousand acres would no longer be farmland behind levees but to act as areas the Mississippi could flood naturally and lessen the dangers. Of course in other areas, people demanded the levees be rebuilt even higher.
1993 wasn’t the last time levees failed in the region.
That song came to mind this past week (earworm!). We are supposed to retrieve a relative from coastal Washington before Christmas. Maybe, if the floodwaters retreat on the roads to her place. We’ll be sure to bring a chainsaw.
Like you said, floodplains always flood. A lesson my 8 year old brain even understood after the Christmas floods of 64/65.
A good day to stay inside and listen to music.
“Water’s rising, rain’s still coming down.
Dam broke loose, flood’s gonna wash away this town.”
String Cheese Incident- 100 Year Flood
Hard to pick a best version. Here’s one that splits the difference between the 6 minute studio version and the 20 minute epic jams of the early 2000s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKwn-cddXkM
During that summer of high water I took my canoe many places I would never have imagined I could. It was crazy in the Missouri and Mississippi basins.
But Freshwater Rd closed from Greenwood Hts to Garfield School? Howard Hts area, yes. But the whole road? There are lots of houses along that road lower than the road itself.
I’ve never seen that happen. Either someone is overreacting or it’s much worse than expected.
I wonder if there’s a log dam on Freshwater Creek?
Looking at the few photos I could access, it is worse. None of those photos showed people knew ahead of time enough to even sandbag door ways.
So it’s not climate change?
It’s rain.
No shit
Well, it was a pretty simple question.
Hey D’T, I’m right there with you with the smart ass answers, but to be fair, it was a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question. Can’t blame Mel for coming back at you.
Roads go through floodplains to accommodate school buses, emergency crews, utility companies, and a host of regular folks who must reach their appointed destinations
The floodplain roads are merely temporary, getting wiped out by incredible, biblical-like flooding every decade or two—Google Flooding on the Northern California coast for some eye-opening videos.
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Lol, can’t help it.
Stop the rains! Raise the plains! Reform the ocean! All in vain.
The old timers called these relatively minor events “freshets”. The newcomers call them floods caused by atmospheric rivers caused by climate change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53yxM3a1Ecc
Kym, I think that the update time is 12 pm? Anyway could you add any photos people have sent on Freshwater flooding?
Thank you. Fixed. Hopefully you saw the photos here? https://kymkemp.com/2025/12/21/water-everywhere-flood-scenes-across-the-area-101-closed-after-deluge-at-cr/
36 closed at Dinsmore per Caltrans…and photos on FB
I poured 4.75″ from my SoHum gage around 8:30 this morning. Turned the gage around and showed it to my Sweetie, told her it was almost 8″.
Haven’t checked, but likely another inch or so since I emptied.
Seasonal creeks started flowing after the previous wave (around 3.5″). They’re raging now, as is the nearby year-round creek.
Sweet. Looking like a big 12 incher + day! The non wind makes it especially nice. This will solve the drought!
Hatchery road is flooded as well did yall forget to look