Extreme Weather can be Quiet

Most extreme weather is rather spectacular.  Rain pours down; snow buries cities; wind howls, and creates dramatic effects with either rain or snow.  Extreme heat or cold has extreme effects on people and plants.  Hurricanes and tornadoes are natural spectacles.  But there is one type of extreme weather that is very quiet and unobtrusive.  Much of the time, in fact, it is very pleasant.  I'm talking about drought.  We are in one right now on the California coast, and it's deepening day by day, week by week.  The weather is beautiful here; for the past week it's been mostly sunny every day, with afternoons warming into the 65-70 degree range.  It's perfect weather for any outdoor activity.  In some areas, drought is marked by strong winds, high temperatures, maybe a dust storm now and then.  Not here in Monterey.  The sea is calm; the air is mild; the weather is tranquil. 

But rain is scarce.  Since the first of the year, we've had only about four inches of rain in Monterey.  San Francisco has had barely five; the normal to date is eighteen, and barring a wet December, SF will have its driest calendar year on record...and the records go back over 150 years, to Gold Rush days.  Even Santa Rosa is parched; they've had barely 8 inches this year, less than 30 percent of the normal of 29.

I hiked at Point Lobos the other day.  The sea was calm and glassy.  We've had no storms yet, and there are none in sight. 

The cormorants at Point Lobos are probably enjoying the drought.  They don't have to battle the elements, and I imagine their food supply is as abundant as usual.

It's too early for this meadow at Point Lobos to be completely green, but by now there should be many short tufts of green grass emerging beneath the old dead stalks.  But there's not a trace of greenery anywhere.  It's rained only twice so far this autumn, totaling well under an inch, and in most places the moisture was just sucked up by the thirsty earth without triggering any new growth.  There are a few patches of green grass emerging near where I live, but not here.

Odd rock formations are common in the soft rock at Point Lobos.  I've seen similar rock erosion about 200 miles north on the Sonoma coast, and also at Cape Otway, near Melbourne in Australia.