Morning sunlight transforms railroad tracks into ribbons of light as a bicyclist pedals down Coral Street in Santa Cruz on Wednesday January 27, 2010. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
Morning sunlight transforms railroad tracks into ribbons of light as a bicyclist pedals down Coral Street in Santa Cruz on Wednesday January 27, 2010. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
A rainbow shines in front of a dark cloud bank as a couple embraces on Main Beach on Tuesday. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
During Tuesday morning's downpour, a storm weary pelican dropped anchor in the middle of 3rd St. in Beach Flats and refused to budge for oncoming traffic. Native Animal Rescue was notified to see if the sea bird needed help. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
The West Cliff surfer statue is silhouetted as fleeting sunshine breaks through the cloud cover on Monday morning. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
A visitor to Main Beach becomes a living part of a sand drawing as storm debris covers much of the sand on Sunday. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
Comcast contractor Anthony Morton of Daleo Inc. fights gale force winds and ocean spray as he secures a new utility pole on West Cliff at Swift St. Thursday morning. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
Comcast contractor Anthony Morton of Daleo Inc. fights driving rain and wind-swept sea spray as he secures a new utility pole on West Cliff at Swift St. Thursday morning. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
A Felton Grove area resident carries his daughter through flood water on Wednesday. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
Felton Grove neighbors push a sunken car from the flooded streets of the low-lying neighborhood Wednesday when the San Lorenzo river rose to 17 feet causing the sheriff's duputies to evacuate the homes. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
Members of Pacific Salvage attempting to salvage a sunken boat from the harbor on Wednesday. Robinson Kuntz/Sentinel
Gale force winds batter a cyclist's umbrella as he struggles to cross Water Street in Downtown Santa Cruz Wednesday morning. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
Wave spray washes over West Cliff Dr. at Woodrow as giant rollers crash against the cliff Wednesday morning. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
Erik Pegoda clears debris as Gitta Ryle's damaged Clark Avenue home and Steve Capasso's crushed Honda Accord show the damage caused by strong winds that toppled a 100 foot Monterey Cypress in Santa Cruz early Tuesday morning.. Ryle, a 77-year old Holocaust survivor, has been fighting for 25 years to have the tree removed, but the City Arborist has blocked the action, saying that the cypress was a heritage tree. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
A woman fights a driving rain with her dog along West Cliff where the wind tore a power pole from the ground early Tuesday morning blocking West Cliff Dr. at Swift St. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
A PG&E worker lifts a downed power line allowing a West Cliff Drive. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
West Cliff Drive residents venture out to look at the downed power pole blocking West Cliff Dr. near Swift St. as a PG&E worker assesses the damage Friday morning. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
Erik Pegoda cuts up a Monterey Cypress that crushed Steve Capasso's Honda Accord when it fell across Clark Avenue in Santa Cruz early Tuesday morning.
Strong winds and heavy surf provide an exciting venue for kite surfer Quinn McLaughlin at the harbor mouth on Monday. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
A visitor to Capitola Beach keeps an eye on the surf on Monday. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
Downtown Santa Cruz pedestrians head for the shelter of a parking garage during Monday morning's wind-whipped, umbrella-bashing rain storm. (Dan Coyro/Sentinel)
Trees came down across the county on Monday including this one on Plateau Avenue in Santa Cruz. (Shmuel Thaler/Sentinel)
Peter Mel of Santa Cruz finds himself in the belly of a Maverick’s wave Wednesday. Numerous surf forecasters had predicted waves larger than 30 feet would hit the break. Instead, surf photographer Ed Grant reported waves closer to 18-20 feet in the morning, with the swell beginning to drop by 11:30 a.m. ‘Although the “epic swell” never arrived, it was nonetheless impressive, as Maverick’s always is,’ Grant wrote in an e-mail. Maverick’s Surf Contest surfers voted against holding the paddle contest Wednesday, mostly because of concerns about strong south winds. Grant said the weather was clear with little wind Wednesday morning, but most surfers were towing in. (Photo contributed by Ed Grant)