Sand Dunes Slow to Dry Out

There's no doubt that this season has been a cold and wet winter. The dunes have been hammered over the last month because of the rain in December. The sand is usually quick to dry out because of the prevailing Dumont winds, but the cold temperatures have kept things damp below the surface. Although some areas are quick to return to virgin smooth sand, the tops of the dunes take more time to dry out. You'll notice how one side of a dune will be perfectly smooth and the other will look like the surface of the moon.

When it rains, water collects and cuts deep ruts as it runs down from the razorbacks. The end result? Some ugly dunes! 

At the beginning of last weekend, the dunes were pretty wet with those funky ripples of "dune cellulite" as I call it. But as each day went by, there was already a noticeable difference in the condition of the sand. Each day it dried out a little bit more. On the south end of the dunes, they were in great shape and were already drying out. 

So don't worry. Dumont will be full of that fluffy, dry sand that we all crave before we know it. Mother nature has been hard at work. Between the strong winds and warm sunny days, the dunes should be dried out well before President's Weekend. Highs have been in the 60's lately and believe it or not, Dumont will already see temperatures as high as 80 degrees over the next week or two! That's right. Because of the low elevation, it doesn't take very long for the temperature to climb back up at Dumont Dunes.

Jan 26-29, 2017 Weekend Report

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President's Weekend