Weather anomalies

[Higgs Boson]

Hope I spelled that right

Wondering if anybody else is experiencing unusual weather.

Here, in So.Calif coastal, where I have observed the weather cycle for [censored] years], everything used to be steady -- totally predictable.

But this year, I fear that global warming is finally hitting home. The Spring was so cool that my summer crops may not even be ready by the time I go abroad (end Oct). May and June are *supposed* to be cool and overcast -- the well-known "May grey/June gloom". Didn't totally materialize. Now we are in August, and still having the familiar "night and morning low clouds" -- words I've heard the radio folks say since forever.

Mind you, personally I am delighted to have a pleasant summer; it's just that crops are a little confused.

We usually get about 2 weeks hot & HUMID (I HATE) in August or September. Be interesting to see if it materializes this year.

Anyway, to summarize, I would be interested in others' reports of weather anomalies.

HB

[David E. Ross]

Some 30 miles from you, we had almost average winter chill (hours below

45F) between the start of November and the end of March. However, almost 25% of the chill hours were in the last two weeks of March, after my roses and peach tree were already blooming and thus too late to benefit more deciduous woody plants.

Normally 70% or more of the rain we get falls between the start of December and the end of February. This past rainy season saw only 18% of the total fall in those three months. We have received 8.9 inches since the start of October against an average of 13.1 inches.

June temperatures here this year, however, were within normal ranges. Over the past seven years, the average minimum for June was 57F; and the average maximum was 84F. This year, the average June minimum was 55F and the average maximum was 84F.

See my Climate page per my signature below.

[songbird]

Higgs Boson wrote: ...

heh, we got a swirly today (low pressure rotating the same storm over us for hours at a time).

we're at about 10 inches of rain here for the past day (a normal month is 3 inches).

whitecaps in the road a few minutes ago when the wind shifted. had me laughing...

i don't think i'll be doing any picking for a day or two. wonder how many tomatoes will explode. some were getting close to being ripe i may have to go pick them anyways and get them canned.

songbird

[Winston]

OMG!

Remember your snorkel! :)

--Winston

[David Hare-Scott]

today is about 11C, no sun, with wind gusting from 50 to 80 kmh and rain showers, I might stay in and read a book.....but wait; one of my weekend guests has left the gate open and the horses are in the orchard turning the mud into pugged-up crap and ogling my cabbages so I have to get them out.... grumble.

D

[Higgs Boson]

David, I don't keep as detailed stats as you do -- more power to you

-- I just lurch from day to day

However, NG members unfamiliar with our respective microclimates might be interested in a brief heads-up.

Though, as you point out, only +- 30 miles separate us, the microclimates are vastly different. One is at the sea, and the other is inland across a mountain. The Valley (your side) can and does get frost, whereas it is unknown at the beach. Also it is usually at leat 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler here than inland. This area must have been so beautiful when just the Indians were here -- land rolling gently down to the sea. Now, one can go only about 25-26 blocks uphill inland to find already slightly warmer temps, and so on further inland.

Only about 2-3 days ago "summer" kicked in bigtime (plus effects of globalwarming). However, in my old "Spanish" house, I follow the custom of Closing blinds to the South in the morning and Opening them in the afternoon, while Closing the Western blinds. Leaving doors/ windows judiciously open creates adequate drafts (and allows dust to get in!). Evenings are always cool enuff to sleep w/a blanket. No A/ C needed here, but ISTR that in the Valley most people have to use them.

It's still possible that we will get our annual Aug-Sept 2-3 weeks of horrible HUMIDITY, which just about wrecks me. Normally humidity is low. This is a dry climate - basically a desert, that could only grow to its unmanageable size because of water brought from other parts of the States by more or less unsavory means. (See "Chinatown" for one thinly-disguised example). Also the fabled Owens Valley water wars, where the locals dynamited NINE times the lines that were stealing their water for L.A.

Thus endeth this lesson.

HB