There were some big storms that came through southern California in January 2017.  They brought some much needed rain to the area that has been in a serious drought for the past 5 years.  The storms had strong winds and created some huge seas in the Pacific.

Santa Clara River Mouth

On January 20th I went for a hike along the beach from the Ventura harbor south to the mouth of the Santa Clara River.  During most of the year the river mouth is capped off by sand.  Due to the recent rain the river mouth washed out and is flowing to the sea.  It is interesting to watch waves flow up into the pond.

Over time the ocean will fill sand in and once again block the river mouth.  The sand is porous so water that comes down the river finds its way out to sea, but the level of the pond at the river mouth is higher when the river mouth is closed.  This has caused flooding problems at the adjacent park, McGrath State Beach.

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