*** Success! Both lanes of PCH at Mugu Rock are open for business, according to the Malibu Times.

Updated 3/2 at 12:40 p.m.

** PCH still closed due to that early-morning post-rain mudslide. From the Cal Trans site --and I quote because they speak (well, shout) a different language there:

SR1 IS CLOSED FROM 5 MI SOUTH OF OXNARD /AT CALLEGUAS CREEK RD/ TO 4.3 MI SOUTH OF OXNARD /AT LAS POSAS RD/ (VENTURA CO) - DUE TO A MUD SLIDE - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

Basically, you can't get through at Mugu Rock.

Updated 3/1 at 3:50 p.m.

* That was fast. Overnight rains caused mudslides and PCH is now closed between Yerba Buena and Las Posas Roads at Mugu Rock. Road crews are digging out even as we speak and word is CalTrans plans to have the route re-opened to through traffic by 11 a.m. (ish.)

Updated 3/1 at 8 a.m.

More than two months after CalTrans closed Pacific Coast Highway to through traffic at Yerba Buena Road, the coastal route is now open again. Road blocks and barriers were removed at about 3 p.m. today and traffic immediately began flowing.

Rain storms in December and January triggered major mud and rock slides and a temporary road closure turned into a sustained one. From the Malibu Times:

The highway, which was originally closed due to mudslides after a Dec. 12 storm, sustained further damage in January, after which time it was decided the 9-mile stretch of roadway between Las Posas and Yerba Buena roads would be closed off through late February. In late January, a portion of the roadway reopened, giving access to Pt. Mugu State Park.

Businesses in western Malibu took a financial hit during the prolonged closure. Neptune's Net, the popular seafood shack at Yerba Buena Road, whose porches and parking lot are typically overflowing, was a ghost town. We'll see what happens during this weekend's storm.

Meanwhile, barriers are up:

And motorists have been given fair warning:

Everything you ever wanted to know about the damage and the work done is at the CalTrans blog here.

Continuing with the post-rain, pretty sky, silhouetted tree theme, here's the sunset Monday night.

The final shreds of that stormlette as they crossed the coast yesterday left us with blue skies and the slightest semblance of a winter chill.

Well, it tried to rain. I've read about other parts of SoCal that got drenched but here in Malibu we had to make do with random sprinkles.

Here's the view this morning, golden glow in a cloud-rimmed sunrise. Also, dtla.

And honestly? Still pretty happy about it.

At dawn, the fog was clumped offshore. By the time we hit the beach it was rolling in, so it's cool here this morning (can't really use the word "cold" considering what's going on east of here) but if you just turn around and look across PCH, there it is, sunlight.

Amid the glut of ongoing coverage of the fatal four-car pile-up on PCH last week, almost all of it with Bruce Jenner at the center of the whirlwind, the Malibu Times was one of the few to put the story into true perspective -- a woman was killed in the crash, and secondarily, a celebrity was involved.

Remember this, the little mountain lake evaporating in the drought?

Thanks to just those few storms we had, it's back. For now, anyway.

Big surf and strong rip currents have had their way in Southern California the last few days and though the high surf advisory ends this afternoon, we're still seeing a strong swell here on our bit of coastline.

The good news -- another six-mile stretch of PCH, which has been closed for repairs between Yerba Buena Road in Malibu and Las Posas Road in Camarillo since last December due to storm damage, has been re-opened.

The bad news? You can't get there from here. The newly-opened stretch of PCH extends between Las Posas Road and Sycamore Cove. For drivers and cyclists headed north along PCH from Malibu, that means they're still greeted by a road block at Sycamore Cove, which is expected to remain in place until the start of March.

From the CalTrans blog:

Caltrans today announced that nearly six miles of the nine mile closure on Pacific Coast Highway (SR-1) between Las Posas Road and Yerba Buena Road are open to public access. SR-1 is now open from Las Posas Road to the Sycamore Cove Day Use Area. The public will now have access to trails and beaches in Point Mugu State Park. The highway remains closed between the Sycamore Cove Day Use Area and Yerba Buena Road

Motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians will not be permitted access to southbound SR-1 beyond the Sycamore Cove Day Use Area or northbound SR-1 beyond Yerba Buena Road. Motorists and cyclists must use alternate routes around the closure such as US 101, state highways and Los Angeles county roads that intersect with SR-1.

Scofflaws who get caught in the remaining three-mile no-go zone face the prospect of fines.

Want more info on what, exactly, this two-month repair project entailed? Details here.

Photo: A 200-ton crane sets rocks in place to protect washed out slopes. From the CalTrans blog.

I'm never sure what to think of the Palm Motel which, with its bright and tidy beach kitsch vibe, is an irresistible place to photograph. Online reviews range from guarded praise to whole-hearted revulsion. The truth? Who knows.

The original Trancas Lagoon, located where Trancas Creek empties into the Pacific, has for decades been the site of a shopping center. That hasn't stopped a group of local environmentalists and activists from fighting for years to restore the bygone waterway. The latest step forward is a meeting on Feb. 3 where Clark Stevens, an executive officer of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, will present a possible solution.

From the Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society blog:

Once upon a time there was a lagoon where Trancas Creek meets the beach. Today, to the southeast, now shifted away from its supporting hydrology, only a remnant remains. A local movement is trying to restore some lagoon size and functionality, even though the original condition, now occupied primarily by Trancas Market, cannot be replicated.

Clark Stevens, will be presenting the conceptual design studies for the Trancas Lagoon and Lower Trancas Creek habitat enhancements. This work is part of an initial study, integrated with Caltrans' bridge replacement project, to increase the functionality and size of the wetland area of the Trancas Lagoon and wetlands and to enhance fish passage through the currently hardened section of Trancas Creek.

The lagoon, fed by the seasonal Trancas Creek, is one of scores of vital coastal wetlands in California that have, over the last century, been erased to make way for development. The long and complicated battle over restoring a portion of the Trancas Lagoon has involved law suits, feasibility studies, easements that have been promised and retracted, and the involvement of federal and state agencies such as (deep breath) the National Park Service, the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Foundation, the California Coastal Commission, and CalTrans.

A bit of the more recent history from a June 2014 story in the Malibu Surfside News:

In 2008, the owners of the shopping center agreed to sell the property to the NPS. Initial plans for a connector trail and additional wetland habitat adjacent to Trancas Creek were developed. When the Trancas shopping center changed owners, however, the entire NPS conservation easement agreement was left in a state of flux. A feasibility study grant was awarded in 2012, but lost when the landowner revoked access.

Although the Trancas property, at one time slated for extensive commercial development, is not yet acquired by the park service, NPS spokeswoman Melanie Beck said the outlook appears promising. A smaller, privately owned parcel known as the "Boomerang Property" because of its shape, is also part of the project proposal and would provide an essential link missing from the current trail plan.

Last year, the current owner of the Trancas shopping center contributed $81,719 toward the project feasibility study. A $47,000 grant from the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program was also obtained, with a focus on the potential to increase Southern steelhead trout habitat and fish passage. The study is finally underway.

Dagit said an $8 million Caltrans plan to replace the aging Trancas Creek bridge may offer a opportunity to make more substantial habitat improvements to the lagoon than previously envisioned, and that the NPS, which is the lead agency in the project, proposes to work with Caltrans.

No one involved expects a restoration of the original lagoon, but the hope is that, using current conditions in the area, a new wetland can be created.

If you're interested in attending the meeting, it's at 7:30 at in Douglas Park, located at 2439 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica. Directions, parking info and more in the SMBAS post.

Rendering (above) of the Trancas Lagoon after proposed restoration by Clark Stevens.

Not a bad start to the shortest month of the year. There's something happening today, right? Some game with big sweaty men and a pointy ball?