Winter Storm Checklist for Boulder Creek Homes

The short version

• Sign up for CruzAware and PG&E outage alerts before the season starts.
• Clean gutters, downspouts, ditches, and culverts, and check them again after the first storm.
• On a clear day, flag dead limbs and leaning trees, and book tree work early.
• Stock a week of supplies: the ready.gov kit plus mountain extras, especially stored water if you're on a well.
• Run any generator outside only, more than 20 feet from windows and doors, with a CO detector inside.
• Save road dispatch, (831) 477-3999, and bookmark the closure dashboard and Mountain Status before you need them.
• In any emergency, call 911 first.

The first big atmospheric river of the season tends to find whatever you didn't get to: the clogged culvert, the dead limb over the driveway, the flashlight with dead batteries. Getting a Boulder Creek home ready is really five jobs, and you can knock them out in one good October afternoon. Below, each one is in the order that tends to matter most, with a link to the official source so you can go deeper where your property needs it. And one rule stands over the whole page: in any emergency, call 911 first.

Why Storms Hit Harder Up Here

The big winter storms that soak the Santa Cruz Mountains are usually atmospheric rivers, long corridors of moisture that NOAA describes as rivers in the sky. Most are harmless rain-makers, but the strong ones can stall over a watershed and, in NOAA's words, create extreme rainfall and floods, disrupt travel, and set off mudslides. Our steep canyons, tall trees, and one main highway mean the same storm that's a gray Tuesday in Santa Cruz can be downed lines, a closed road, and a three-day outage in Boulder Creek.

That's not a reason to dread winter. It's a reason to spend one afternoon getting ahead of it.

First: Set Up Your Alerts

Everything else on this list works better when you hear about weather early.

Sign up for CruzAware, Santa Cruz County's alert and warning system, at cruzaware.org. It's how the county sends evacuation notices, severe weather warnings, and other public safety alerts by text, call, and email. Register more than one contact method, since no alert system can promise delivery every time.

Bookmark the National Weather Service Bay Area office, which writes the forecasts and warnings for our mountains. When a storm is coming, their watches and warnings are the source of truth, not a weather app's blue icon.

Then set up outage alerts with PG&E. Account holders get them automatically for their service address, and anyone can sign up for updates on any address through the outage map. Our full walkthrough of outage prep, including generators, food safety, and the Medical Baseline program, is in the power outage plan.

Clear the Water's Path

Most storm damage to homes in these mountains starts with water going where it shouldn't. Before the first big rain, walk your property in work gloves and look at where water flows and pools.

Clean the gutters and downspouts, and make sure downspouts actually carry water away from the foundation instead of dumping it against the house. Clear leaves and redwood duff out of any ditches, culverts, and drains on your property, and check them again mid-season, because one storm can refill them. If your driveway has a culvert, look through it; a plugged culvert is how driveways wash out. The county's storm preparedness page has a downloadable checklist and property-specific guidance worth reading before the season.

If water on your parcel is a recurring problem, the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County works with rural homeowners on erosion and drainage, and you can request services through their site.

For flood-prone spots, sandbags help more than people expect. In Boulder Creek, the fire district keeps two self-serve sand bunkers through the winter season, with sand and bags at both:

• Boulder Creek Golf Course, Highway 236 and E Hilton
• Redwood Elementary School, 16900 Highway 9, north of town

Bring your own shovel. Locations can change season to season, so call Boulder Creek Fire at (831) 338-7222 before you drive out. The county also posts a countywide list on its storm preparedness page, with a limit of 15 bags and no contractors. A county tip worth repeating: only fill bags halfway, because half-full bags stacked up hold water back better than bags filled to the top. Our sandbags and road closures guide has the wider valley list.

Look Up at Your Trees

Do this on a clear day, not when the wind's already blowing. Walk around the house and look for dead limbs over the roof, driveway, and parking spots, and for trees that lean harder than they used to. You don't need to be an arborist to spot an obviously dead top or a big broken limb hanging in the canopy, and it's worth having a professional look at anything that worries you before the ground gets saturated. Winter tree work gets booked out fast once the first storm hits.

Two hard rules:

• Tangled in power lines: don't touch it, don't cut near it, and call 911, then PG&E.
• Down across a county road: that's road dispatch at (831) 477-3999, any hour; our emergency contacts list has every number on one page.

Storm-season tree work overlaps with fire-season work. CAL FIRE's defensible space guidance calls for removing dead and dying vegetation, keeping the first five feet around the house clear of combustible material, and maintaining 100 feet of defensible space, which state law requires. Limbs you remove in October are limbs that can't land on your roof in January or carry fire in August.

Stock Supplies for a Week of Weird

Boulder Creek's version of storm supplies assumes the power might be out and the road might be closed for a few days. Ready.gov's kit guidance is the baseline: one gallon of water per person per day for several days, several days of food that doesn't need cooking, a flashlight, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, phone chargers with a backup battery, and your prescription medications, plus basics like pain relievers.

Then add the mountain extras: extra water if you're on a well, since no power means no pump, a full tank of gas or charge in at least one vehicle, cash in small bills, pet food, and anything a baby or an elder in your house can't go without. If you heat with propane, check the tank gauge going into winter rather than during the first cold snap; our utilities guide covers who to call about propane, water, and everything else.

The Generator Rule That Saves Lives

If your storm plan includes a generator, this is the part of the checklist you memorize. Never run a generator inside your home or garage, even with the doors and windows open. The CDC says to operate generators only outdoors, more than 20 feet from windows, doors, and vents. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, it kills more than 400 Americans a year, and sleeping people can die without ever waking up. Put a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector near every sleeping area and test it when you test your smoke alarms.

Never plug a generator into a wall outlet or your panel without a transfer switch installed by an electrician; backfed power can hurt the line crews working to get your neighborhood back on. The full setup details are in the power outage plan.

Know Your Roads Before the Storm

The middle of a storm is a bad time to learn where road information lives. Save these now.

For county-maintained roads, the county's Road Closure Dashboard shows current closures, and road dispatch at (831) 477-3999 answers around the clock. For Highway 9 and Highway 236, which are state routes, check Caltrans road conditions or call 1-800-427-7623. Our Mountain Status page pulls the official links together in one place.

And one rule from the National Weather Service that's absolute: never drive into water on a road. Six inches of fast-moving water can knock an adult down, twelve inches can float most cars, and the road under that water may not be there anymore. Turn around. No shortcut in the valley is worth it.

The One-Afternoon Version

Here's the whole checklist, compressed. Sign up for CruzAware and PG&E alerts. Clean gutters, downspouts, ditches, and culverts. Walk the property and flag dead limbs and leaning trees, and book tree work early if you need it. Build the ready.gov kit plus mountain extras, especially stored water if you're on a well. Confirm the generator lives outside, 20 feet from openings, with a CO detector inside. Save the road dispatch number and bookmark the closure dashboard, Caltrans, and Mountain Status. Then check the drainage again after the first storm, because the first storm always finds something.

None of this guarantees an easy winter, and nobody can promise you one. But a prepared house turns most storms into stories instead of emergencies.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I start storm prep in Boulder Creek?

Aim to finish by mid-October. The big atmospheric river storms typically arrive between late fall and early spring, and tree crews, roofers, and gutter cleaners book up once the first system is in the forecast. The NWS Bay Area office is the place to watch for what's actually coming.

Where do I get sandbags near Boulder Creek?

Boulder Creek Fire keeps two self-serve sand bunkers through the winter season: the Boulder Creek Golf Course at Highway 236 and E Hilton, and Redwood Elementary School at 16900 Highway 9. Sand and bags are at both; bring your own shovel. Call (831) 338-7222 to confirm before you drive out, since locations can change. Santa Cruz County also posts a countywide list on its storm preparedness page, with a limit of 15 bags and no contractors.

Who do I call when a tree falls across the road?

If power lines are involved or anyone's in danger, call 911. Otherwise, for county-maintained roads, call road dispatch at (831) 477-3999, answered 24 hours a day. If it's on Highway 9 or 236, that's Caltrans territory, 1-800-427-7623. On a private road, clearing it is generally up to the road association or the neighbors.

How much water should we store?

Start with ready.gov's rule of one gallon per person per day for several days, then add more if you're on a well, since your pump stops when the power does. Separate jugs for flushing toilets stretch your drinking water further. A multi-day outage after a storm is common enough here that erring on the high side is cheap insurance.

Is it ever safe to drive through a flooded stretch of Highway 9?

No. The National Weather Service is blunt: it's never safe to drive into floodwater, twelve inches can carry away most cars, and the pavement underneath may have collapsed. Turn around, check the Road Closure Dashboard or Mountain Status, and wait it out.

Last reviewed July 16, 2026. This checklist links to official sources from the National Weather Service, Santa Cruz County, CAL FIRE, the CDC, and Ready.gov. Conditions on your parcel and during an active storm come from the responsible agencies and the official sources linked above.

Storm prep is one afternoon in a year of mountain-home upkeep. For the deeper outage-and-generator walkthrough, see the Boulder Creek power outage plan, and keep the Residents guide handy for utilities, permits, and county contacts in one place.