A draft of smoke arises from a fire near Malibu, while the rest of the Santa Monica bay remains picturesque.
The clouds slowly roll in, giving the water an almost indoor eeriness.
There's actually a relationship between fires in nearby hills and calm waters in the Santa Monica bay. Fires spread with hot dry winds. Hot dry winds come from the northeast, high pressure in Utah generally. The hot dry winds blow the wave energy away from the California coast giving rise to darkened orange skies and an almost silky smooth character to the ocean.
The image above may not have been taken on the same day as the fire, but when the fires really get going, I'm telling you, the ocean's appearance is amazing. Someday my batteries will be charged when I'm around to see it.
