A series of winter storms that arrived in Monterey County in early 2023 brought rainfall, high winds and big surf, creating hazardous conditions including downed trees and flooding. The Weekly's coverage of the storms is below, with the most recent stories at the top; scroll down to read earlier stories.
The first major storm system began on Jan 4, 2023; coverage of the impacts went on for weeks afterward. Another atmospheric river arrived on March 9, 2023.
For information on various resources, including signing up for county alerts and up-to-date shelter locations, click here.
Rey Mashayekhi here, once again thinking about government—and how it’s able (or not) to meet the needs of its people at difficult times.
On Thursday, April 6, Karen Marcos keeps a watchful eye on her young daughter on the steps of the Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building while…
Dozens of Pajaro residents attended the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, April 4, holding signs in English and Spanish that read “Just…
After the Pajaro River levee breached in the middle of the night, the response was swift and urgent. Firefighters and law enforcement officers…
David Schmalz here, thinking about the residents of Pajaro and grateful that President Joe Biden finally issued a formal declaration of disast…
Where is the Federal Emergency Management Agency? That's been the question on people's minds in Pajaro, which suffered major flooding in March…
As cleanup continues in the community of Pajaro, where evacuation orders lifted on Thursday, March 23, the town looks anything but clean. Stre…
Gov. Gavin Newsom officially sought federal assistance for Monterey County and other California communities impacted by recent storms and floo…
Pajaro residents who were flooded out of their homes and businesses due to winter storms will not have to worry about facing evictions, after …
David Schmalz here, thinking about the residents of Pajaro and how much they’ve endured in the past few weeks after the Pajaro River levee bre…
Crews finished emergency repair on the high-pressure pipeline under the bridge of Highway 1 over the Pajaro River on March 24 at 3am and are m…
The only school in Pajaro, which serves 450 students, will remain closed for the rest of the school year. Classes end on June 2.
Celia Jiménez here, thinking about the arduous work Pajaro residents have ahead of them to bring normalcy to their lives and recover financial…
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office lifted the evacuation orders in Pajaro on Thursday, March 23 at 10am, 12 days after devastating flooding …
In the wake of the flooding that forced more than 2,000 people in Pajaro from their homes and into nearby shelters, motels and even their own …
Centerpiece
IN THE SUMMER OF 1926, HEAVY RAINS ACROSS THE MIDWEST SWELLED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO RECORD LEVELS, precipitating a catastrophe that would u…
BY SATURDAY, MARCH 18, THE STREETS OF PAJARO ARE DRY. It’s a contrast from one week earlier, when water rushed through town after the Pajaro R…
Thousands of families were forced to evacuate after the Pajaro and Salinas rivers flooded rural areas. The storms arrived at the beginning of …
On the morning of Friday, March 17 – nearly a week after the people of Pajaro were forced to flee their homes as floodwaters swept through the…
At first light on Saturday, March 11, members of the SPCA Monterey County’s disaster response team were on the ground in Pajaro, wading into f…
Cal Fire officials have finished initial inspections of structures and now crews from the Monterey County Bureau of Environmental Health and b…
Los funcionarios de Cal Fire terminaron las inspecciones preeliminares de estructuras y ahora los equipos de la Oficina de Salud Ambiental de…
Sara Rubin here, thinking about how the speed of time seems to change during a disaster. For residents of Pajaro, many of whom were awoken in …
As we come to the end of the winter season, reports show this has become one of the rainiest winters the Central Coast has experienced in year…
As cleanups and assessments continue in the community of Pajaro after the Pajaro River levee broke on March 11, displacing hundreds of people,…
Mientras las limpiezas y evaluaciones en la comunidad de Pajaro continúan después de que el dique del río Pajaro se rompiera el 11 de marzo, d…
Tajha Chappellet-Lanier here, thinking about the myriad ways Monterey County is impacted by the recent storms—from Pajaro flooding to ongoing …
It could be weeks or even months before living conditions and traffic routes return to normal in Monterey County.
Podrían pasar semanas o incluso meses antes de que las condiciones de vida y las rutas de tránsito vuelvan a la normalidad en el condado de Mo…
Pajaro residents were ordered to evacuate one week ago today, although many were awoken hours later in the middle of the night, after a levee …
A los residentes de Pajaro se les ordenó evacuar hace una semana, aunque muchos se despertaron horas más tarde en medio de la noche, después d…
David Schmalz here, thinking about a place I love dearly, but don’t visit often enough—Elkhorn Slough. Established as a national estuarine res…
Los daños severos a las líneas eléctricas, postes y otros equipos de PG&E son, al menos en parte, los culpables del persistente problema q…
When the Pajaro River levee breached shortly after midnight March 11, floodwaters made their way south down Salinas Road, and later that Satur…
On Sunday, March 12, just a few hours after the staff at Rio Grill in Carmel saw their electricity return after three nights without power and…
El domingo 12 de marzo, solo unas horas después de que el personal de Rio Grill en Carmel vio que su electricidad regresaba después de tres no…
Four days after high winds on March 9 took out power for 37,000 residents in the Monterey area, PG&E crews were busy in Carmel with a back…
It is too soon to tally the toll of the ongoing storms. As of this writing, Monterey County has been, by some key measures, quite lucky – ther…
A major connective road between Monterey and Santa Cruz counties is set to reopen tomorrow, Thursday, March 16, as floodwaters recede.
If you were left in the dark over the weekend—or, as of 3pm today, were one of over 8,000 PG&E customers still without power—you were not …
An initial fix is complete on the span of the Pajaro River levee that breached early on Saturday, March 11, flooding the town of Pajaro and re…
Contractors are working non-stop to fill a 400-foot-wide breach at the Pajaro River levee. They are filling the gap with fill and rocks, and o…
Los contratistas están trabajando sin parar para llenar una brecha de 400 pies de ancho en el dique del río Pajaro. Están llenando la brecha c…
Greetings from a dry, warm indoor space that I am so grateful to have today.
Weather conditions have resulted in several major road closures. As some roads reopen while floodwaters recede or fallen trees are cleared, ot…
An atmospheric river will continue to bring rain and gusty winds to Monterey County, but it’s expected to move through the region quicker than…
Only about one day after some Carmel and Pebble Beach residents found relief from a power outage that lasted four days, their power was back o…
The series of storms now hitting Monterey County are expected to impact the county’s agriculture sector even greater than January’s storms, of…
Se espera que la serie de tormentas que azotan el condado de Monterey afecten el sector agrícola de la region más que las tormentas de enero, …
In the wake of flooding caused by a breach of the Pajaro River levee around midnight between March 10 and 11, the Pajaro/Sunny Mesa water syst…
A raíz de las inundaciones causadas por una ruptura del dique del río Pajaro, la cual ocurrió alrededor de la medianoche entre el 10 y el 11 d…
Despite high water levels on the Salinas River that have threatened to flood Highway 68, the thoroughfare remains open as of noon on Monday, M…
A pesar de los altos niveles de agua en el río Salinas, que han amenazado con inundar la carretera 68, la vía permanece abierta desde el medio…
Power has returned to most of Carmel, more than three days after it went out during high winds Thursday night, March 9. Although, at least two…
First responders in Pajaro on Sunday morning, March 12, the day after the Pajaro River levee breached upriver causing widespread flooding, fou…
Monterey County officials have placed much of the Salinas Valley under an evacuation order, calling on residents from Gonzales north to Spreck…
The first day of spring is just about a week away, but don't let the calendar fool you: It is still very much winter weather on California's C…
Los equipos de emergencia encontraron que el problema empeoraba en lugar de que el agua retrocediera el 12 de Marzo el domingo por la mañana,…
Las autoridades del condado de Monterey han puesto ordernes de evacuación en gran parte del Valle de Salinas, pidiendo a los residentes desde …
El primer día de la primavera está a solo una semana de distancia, pero no se deje engañar por el calendario: todavía hay mucho clima invernal…
Saturday night, March 11, one block after another in Monterey and Pacific Grove lit up after approximately 48 hours of no electricity due to a…
The morning of Saturday, March 11 saw a break in the rain but a colossal amount of water coming down the Pajaro River. A crowd of people gathe…
The good news is approximately 20,000 PG&E customers in Monterey County saw their electricity return overnight as crews continued to make …
The Pajaro River breached the levee upriver from the North Monterey County community of Pajaro early Saturday morning, March 11, just after mi…
As weather continues to impact various parts of Monterey County, resulting in widespread flooding, power outages and other hazards, evacuation…
As Monterey County gets hit with yet another series of severe rainstorms that threaten flooding, county officials are keeping a close eye on t…
Travelers in and out of Monterey Regional Airport are no stranger to weather-related delays, and March 9 and 10 have been no different, says M…
High winds and tall eucalyptus trees lining Del Monte Boulevard in Monterey, through the area adjacent to the Naval Postgraduate School, are l…
Multiple hazard advisories are in effect for Monterey County mostly due to the rain, and the stormy weather is expected to continue all day Fr…
A Monterey firefighter on a storm-related call in Pacific Grove was injured when a tree fell on him during high winds Thursday night, March 9,…
As the rain continues to fall steadily in Monterey County, evacuation warnings and orders have been issued for locations along the county’s ma…
Strong gusts of wind that whipped through Monterey County on Thursday night, March 9, shutting down power to thousands of households in Monter…
As another atmospheric river flows over the Central Coast—Thursday night is predicted to pack the biggest wallop—the county is urging resident…
The massive winter storms of January were no time for outdoor recreation – it was weather that beckons even the most intrepid outdoor adventur…
While the winter season is ending, there doesn’t seem to be an end to the stormy weather. An atmospheric river is expected to bring high winds…
Buckle up, Big Sur. Or rather, stock up. That was the message the county’s Department of Emergency Management sent out in a statement Monday n…
All of these rainy days, coupled with unusually chilly temperatures, make for some excellent soup weather – the kind of days you might want to…
It’s still wintertime in Monterey County, and the weather this weekend will live up to that schedule.
Smooth roads are not just an aesthetic issue, they are a safety issue: They influence the routes drivers take and how fast they can go. And in…
Centerpiece
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE’S STATION IN MONTEREY OPERATES 24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR, MOSTLY OUT OF SIGHT. While someone from the team …
One of the steady voices during the surge of winter storms that soaked Monterey County was that of Daniel González from the Monterey County De…
With January’s onslaught of storms now past, Monterey County officials are counting the toll of rain and flood damage on the local water infra…
It’s not that unusual for Carmel Beach to temporarily lose some of its iconic white sand during rough storms in the wintertime. What was unusu…
David Schmalz here, thinking about natural disasters. That phrase has now become a loaded term, because the so-called “natural” disasters we’r…
Monterey County is set to reopen its local assistance center for residents affected by the recent storms and flooding on Saturday, Jan. 28, at…
On a pristine morning on Monday, Jan. 23 – a week after the last of the storms that battered much of California – the line stretches out the d…
Since New Year’s Eve, the Pajaro River was one of several rivers officials watched closely as the water level rose amid storms that pounded th…
Rey Mashayekhi here, thinking about government—that ever-contentious, ever-divisive bedrock of civic life. Irrespective of your politics, I th…
For people who live in Big Sur—accessible via Highway 1, the region's lonely paved artery on the edge of a cliff, and a series of rugged dirt …
As Monterey County residents and business owners take a breath after the storm, it's time to begin the next phase: recovery.
While Chualar’s wastewater treatment plant is out of commission, Soledad is treating its wastewater.
During the recent winter storms, Monterey County’s wastewater treatment plant in the unincorporated South County community of Chualar was unde…
On Tuesday, Jan. 17, the first sunny day of the year, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors met for its first full meeting of 2023, the pom…
As parts of the Carmel Valley flooded last week, it highlighted the stark risks of living in a floodplain, and for some residents, perhaps, wa…
Dozens of sandbags, like a small barricade, are outside of several homes and garages on the low side of Paul Avenue in Bolsa Knolls in North S…
Call it ironic, a twist of fate, or a case of life imitates art. For the past year, I’ve been writing the latest installment in my Nick Drake …
Even before the recent wave of winter storms hit, some local jurisdictions began declaring emergencies.
As the latest front in a series of storms passed through Monterey County and river levels dropped, county officials lifted most evacuation ord…
Some 17,350 Monterey County residents remain impacted by evacuation orders and warnings as a new cold front arrives Saturday, Jan. 14, bringin…
The storms that continue to bring rain, wind and big swells to the California coast are not all disaster news. Besides bringing needed water, …
Celia Jiménez here, remembering the language barriers I faced when I first came to the U.S. in 2010—the feeling of isolation, and the time I s…
While much of Monterey County has enjoyed a break in the rainy weather, vigilance is still encouraged for everyone when traveling this weekend.
The Los Padres National Forest issued a special public health and safety closure today, Jan. 13, for the forest's Monterey Ranger District, Sa…
The Community Foundation for Monterey County, a local nonprofit which since 1981 has been striving to “inspire philanthropy…
Sara Rubin here, wishing I had a crystal ball to see what the next few hours and days hold for Monterey County’s rivers and weather. The very …
Public safety and county officials came together in a show of unity Thursday afternoon Jan. 12, giving the latest update on flooding along the Salinas River…
Why is it that, on the nicest day of weather in the past few weeks, the Salinas River, in the lower Salinas Valley, was expected to potentially rise…
The Salinas River continues rising even during a break in the rain, as water in its upriver tributaries flows toward the ocean…
Up until Wednesday, hotels on the Monterey Peninsula were gearing up to greet visitors checking in for a three-day holiday weekend…
The most serious rainstorm in years descended on California this week, and Monterey County was not spared. Massive storm swells barreled into …
In modern, urban life, it can be easy to forget we have built many of our neighborhoods on top of waterways. Especially in California’s long d…
Part of the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services’ storm response in recent days involved pre-storm outreach, encouraging residents to sign up for alerts and to obey evacuation orders…
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office issued new evacuation orders on Wednesday, Jan. 11, for communities located along the Salinas River near …
Dozens of sandbags, like a small barricade, are outside of several homes and garages on the low side of Paul Avenue in Bolsa Knolls in North Salinas…
Evacuation shelters remain open with more than 18,000 residents under evacuation orders or warnings.
Dozens of Monterey County residents took to evacuation shelters Monday night, Jan. 9, following several warnings of flooding in the area. Abou…
Evacuation orders remained in effect overnight for communities along the Carmel River, Pajaro River, Big Sur River and Arroyo Seco River, with…
After a drumbeat of warnings and PSAs about potential flooding, along with a series of evacuation warnings, officials ordered evacuations of s…
David Schmalz here, thinking about sand. That’s because, with the recent storms, the beaches along southern Monterey Bay will be seeing more o…
For some urban residents who are not under evacuation orders, the day may feel almost like a regular rainy day even as communities throughout …
With potentially thousands of residents and hospitality workers impacted by evacuation orders and evacuation warnings in the low-lying areas o…
Officials from Monterey and Santa Cruz counties gathered on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 8, during the calm between storms. Their message, delivered…
Monterey County officials say they are taking an “all hands on deck” approach to shepherding the region through the ongoing storm that has swe…
Tajha Chappellet-Lanier here, happily staying dry in the Weekly offices in Seaside. I’ve always found winter storms quite exciting—the first-h…
As a deluge of rain fell on the Monterey County coastline on Thursday morning, Jan. 5, officers from the Sheriff’s Office went door-to-door in…
According to PG&E, 3,022 customers in Monterey County are currently without power due to the ongoing atmospheric river, and it remains unc…
The emergency response began even before the storm made landfall, and continued overnight and throughout the day on Thursday, Jan. 5. For the …
High waves crashing into the Pacific Grove coastline this morning, Thursday, Jan. 5, prompted city officials to close the Recreation Trail and…
The Monterey County Sheriff's Department issued an evacuation order just after 8:30am Thursday, Jan. 5 for the neighborhoods just west of Miss…
The National Weather Service issued two flash flood warnings for Monterey County just after 6:15pm. The first one was for the Big Sur Coast, e…
Pam Marino here, bracing for the atmospheric river that is expected to flow through our county. Not long after this email hits your inbox, the…
The severe storm warning for Wednesday-Thursday, Jan. 4-5, is yet to bring the most significant wind and rain predicted, but has already promp…
Safety and preparation are the keywords from public safety and emergency officials this week. Monterey County is expecting a large winter stor…
Hours ahead of what's predicted to be a severe atmospheric river storm hitting Monterey County tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan. 4, Monterey County of…
A powerful atmospheric river is coming and it's anticipated to roll right over Monterey County over Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 4-5. County o…
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