El Nino Surf!

The El Nino is finally starting to take effect.  In November and December, we had a series of weak to moderate cold storms that approached  Northern and Central California from the northwest, giving us welcome rains.  But the moisture was still a bit sparse in most areas south of Mendocino county.  However, this week a couple of stronger, wetter systems have roared in from the west, soaking the entire state with several inches of moisture.  These systems fit the El Nino pattern and are the types of storms that, if they continue, will finally make a dent in the drought.  And of course, cause mudslides and snarl traffic.  My first full day back in Monterey...Jan 7...we had an impressive high surf event.  Here a big breaker is poised to crash down on Del Monte Beach.

Boom!  The public walkway in front of the Best Western is a good spot to take surf pics...I and several other folks were doing that yesterday.

Now I'm at Carmel River Beach, a perennially good spot from which to view big surf.  And yesterday it was BIG!  Buoy 42 out in Monterey Bay was recording 20 foot swells at about the time of this wave, and it was indeed close to 20 feet from trough to crest.

Another massive wave crashes down.

The power of the waves is awesome!

A pile of incredibly turbulent water.

There were apparently several high surf events while I was out of town.  This section of Carmel River Beach has had the sand entirely stripped off, and the waves then started carving away the cliff just mauka from the sand.  Haven't seen this kind of beach erosion since 2008.

Masses of foam sparkle in the low winter sun.

This scene is at Carmel Point.  The surf break here is especially huge and powerful.  Often, expert surfies come here to test themselves on the waves, but none were present on this occasion.

Waves maybe coming too much over the top for surfabillity.

In the midst of the masses of churning water, two birds cruise just above.  Blow up the pic; they're right in the center.

Water splashes at least 30 feet into the air when a massive wave crashes down.

Tor House, the poet Robinson Jeffers' Carmel home in the mid 20th century.  Nice view of the surf, which was at my back as I took the pic...except that the windows aren't very large.

A pelican basks in the sun.

A slightly more tranquil view of the Carmel surf, with The Cypress Tree to the left.  The tree is an institution hereabouts; but it grows right out of a sand slope that is in danger of erosion during high surf events.