Monday, November 2, 2026
The swell was the story, and it came from a long way off. NDBC 46026 saw the dominant period stretch to a 16-second beat, which is clean, patient energy from weather nobody here ever laid eyes on, not the slop a local breeze kicks up. That kind of period moves water in the shallows whether or not the surface looks polite.
It also rained. The NWS climate summary for station KMRY put 0.33 in on Monterey Airport, and runoff is what kills visibility near the rivers.
Sunday was the windiest day NDBC 46026 has had this week, with a mean wind of 13 kt where the calmest day managed 5 kt. Not a washing machine. Not a mirror either.
Around the bay, iNaturalist logged 24 sightings of 20 different marine species.
That 16-second swell has already spent itself on the rocks. At 11:20 PM PST the water at NDBC 46089 read 57.4 °F, the wind 14 kt, the swell 5.2 ft, and those belong to whoever was awake, which was not you. The National Weather Service gives Tuesday a 44 percent chance of light rain. Different rain, different day.