The Summer Pattern

It’s July on The North Coast which means it’s time to get out the sweaters and scarves. Below is the 5 day forecast, but really it could be the 8 week forecast. We live in what is called a micro-climate. There is this thin strip that extends no more than a few miles inland, right on the coast that gets this weather. It starts south of San Francisco around Monterey and extends up in to Oregon, Washington, and I guess Canada. It is usually a question of a few blocks that determines how much, if any, sunshine you get. This also determines whether you get temps in 60s and 70s or temps in the 90s and 100s.



Here is how the day goes. When you wake up the fog is socked in and the temperature is in the low 50s. Some times it is the classic fog with clouds billowing down the street, and other times it is just a low ceiling. With a low ceiling the forth floor of a building will be shrouded in fog. On a good day the fog will burn off sometime between 11:00 and 1:00 and on a bad day it never burns off. When it does burn off the day becomes very pleasant. Brilliant sunshine and a cloudless sky and temperatures in the 70s. On a bad day the fog will roll back in around 3:00 and on a good day it may stay off shore until after 8:00 or 9:00 in the evening. When it does come back in the temperature drops quickly back down in to the 50s. Some years the 4th of July fireworks are nothing but muted colors in the clouds.

Fog is a year round “treat” but July and August are the worst months for fog. One year when I was living in Santa Cruz we went the entire month of August without seeing the sun. Some find it very depressing, but its not that bad. All you have to do is go 5 miles inland in to the local mountains and its in the 90s and summer is in full swing. If you ever plan a trip to this area come before July or after August, or pack your winter clothes.

Supposedly Mark Twain once said, “The coldest winter I ever spent was one summer in San Francisco”. He could have been talking about Eureka as well.