Soggy Winter Afternoon at Garland Park

I ventured to Garland Park this afternoon to see how the area was faring during the rainy spell. I found the park refreshed and renewed! The air was fresh and moist; everything was lush and green.

The Carmel River was scooting along at a nice pace, putting the riparian vegetation in the water. Though flowing strongly, the river was only at a stage of about 4.3 feet when the pic was taken...flood stage nearby is 9 feet. The river peaked on January 20 at slightly above 6.6 feet, so no flooding occurred except for the bushes and trees adjacent to the stream getting their feet wet.

This waterfall in Garland has not flowed much in the past three years due to our prolonged dry spell. But it was cascading nicely today. It's about 50 feet high. It's great to see so much water in the park...usually it's pretty dry except for a trickle in the Carmel River.

A good rain shower further soaked the park while I was hiking. I took refuge under a gnarly oak tree and emerged to savor my reward for venturing out in damp weather...a rainbow.

Towering cumulus to the west indicate that we may not be done with the showers today. Indeed this proved to be the case.

Today was very cool by local standards...temp was in the upper 40s most of the day. It was just cold enough to crown Toro Peak with a dusting of snow. Toro's summit is just over 3500 feet in elevation.

Gray Day at Monterey Bay

The week of stormy weather is winding down...I've had almost five inches of rain in the past six days. Along with the rain came frequent periods of strong wind and high surf. In some places significant beach erosion occurred. This picture of stairs leading to the beach in front of the Best Western looks prosaic but it's dramatically different than the scene here a week ago. Then, six steps were visible...now fifteen. The steps appear to be almost a foot high, meaning 7-8 feet of sand have been washed away at this point in the past week.

Showers continued today, creating a foreboding scene at Del Monte Beach. But, as you can see, the surf is only moderate...it's come down a lot in the past few days.

Winter Storms Roll On

The recent rains have roused the Carmel River from its long somnolence. It hasn't flooded this week, but is running higher than it has since at least last winter.


These rocks are in front of the cypress tree at Carmel River State Beach. They are hardly ever visible! I haven't seen them in several years. I reckon that close to ten feet of sand have been scoured away at this spot over the past week.

Despite the wintry nature of the storms, signs of spring are evident.

El Nino Strikes!

This log wound up in the Carmel River beach parking lot this morning. Waves at Buoy 42 were 22 feet at the time.

Tsunami?? No, just huge surf looming over Carmel River beach.

Bit blustery the past two days! This tree branch did not snap during the high winds of yesterday and early this morning, but simply snapped right in front of me about a minute before I took the picture, in light winds. It was obviously weakened by the storms and picked that time to give way.

After a long dry spell, El Nino has finally produced some good stormy weather in California. We've had three storms in the past three days. This mornings was the strongest in Monterey, with over an inch of rain, thunder, and huge surf. Yesterday we had 52 mph winds. Tomorrow and Thursday are forecast to be even stormier! A storm a day keeps the dust away, I reckon. This moisture is much needed...overall it will simply raise rainfall totals and reservoir levels to near average, but that will be a big improvement.