Interesting Week Ahead. A Chance of a Warm Up For the Holiday.

Summer jobs are always rewarding.  Honey Maker.

Summer is an interesting time of year for those of us on the central California coast.  Often we have fog in the mornings and sun in the afternoon.  "June Gloom" we call it, but it can occur any time from May through October.  We even occasionally get this weather in the winter.  The past weekend was not so bad and not so chilly.  It turned out much better than I predicted, which I guess is nice.  We have been seeing the fog clear pretty early the past few days.  Sure, that has kicked the wind up earlier, and stronger, but if you were able to block that wind, the days warmed up pretty nicely.  For instance, we have out tomatoes in a new spot this season (it is always good to rotate them to avoid disease build up).  While it does not get as much sun as some of the previous location, it is nearly completely blocked from the northwest winds, even on the worse days.  Turns out this little corner is the hottest spot in our yard, and these plants are loving it, even with the morning fog.

Tomorrow we see more of the same.  Fog in the morning giving way to sunshine.  What is curious about this week is that another low pressure system is expected to push down the coast from Canada, and may actually impact our region with rain.  It could even snow on Shasta, Lassen and the highest peaks around Lake Tahoe.  The bulk of this storm will be in Humboldt County, but Tahoe could see a half inch of precipitation and San Francisco up to a tenth.  The city is looking like it has a 50/50 chance of showers on Tuesday.  Less so as you move south.  As this system presses down the coast, it may push the marine layer away, briefly clearing the sky Tuesday morning.  Actual clouds will fill in by late morning and showers could begin in the afternoon.  Chance of precipitation increases slightly in the evening.  Wednesday should start off sunny before the fog returns for Thursday.  Winds will also lighten during this period, but ramp up late Thursday and beyond.  The good news is that we should be in a warm up period after that and see possible high 70s and 80s around the Bay for Saturday and the weekend.  Fog persists through the late evening and early morning hours.  This is a pattern that looks more like April than July.  Go figure.

Just lying down staring at the sky.  Summer pastime.

Either we are damn lucky, or this has been a great start to the growing season.  Our garden is in full swing and I blame this on a few things.  For starters, we took advantage of the warm and sunny weather we had back in January and got some Brussels sprout and broccoli started.  We also started peas back then, but we have already completed that harvest.  Then we have had great seedling weather back in April and May, with hot periods interspersed with cooler, wet periods.  This kept the soil wet, but allowed enough heat and sun to get things going.  Tomatoes are looking great and we have already begun to see the first Sungolds set on the vine.  These sweet cherry tomatoes have already made their first appearance at the local market.  Several squash are well on their way, and even our cucumbers are growing well.  Now it is all up to what July and August bring.  Current thinking suggests continuation of the fog for at least a week - and likely longer.  But it does look like three positive things will occur.  First, fog is likely to be lifting early in the morning, between 7am and 10am for most locations.  Second, the day time highs are lifting into the high 70s and low 80s by this weekend.  Finally, the wind gradient that has been on top of us for the past month may shift north, allowing for more sun.  Regardless, you should have your gardens in working order by now.  You can still plant though, as our growing seasons last well in the latter part of the year.

Blooms continue to go off.  As some end, others begin.

Surf's up.  Still.  Been windy, which is always a bummer, but the south swell really started to show last Friday and built through the day Saturday.  In town, the usual good spots where firing at head high and very crowded.  Out of town there only the most protected breaks were working, but crowds were thinner.  Expect the swell to continue through Monday, and slowly back off as the week progresses.  Still, surf should be fun for several more days.  On the plus side, the winds will go slack late on Monday.  Tuesday will bring light south winds, but if we are lucky, they will have a little east in them, allowing for the coast between Santa Cruz and SF to clean up.  Wednesday may also have light winds.  On Thursday, the gradient builds back in and sticks around through the weekend.  There is also some stuff brewing in the North Pacific and we may see a shorter period ground swell arrive by next Friday.  We will need to watch the charts over the next few days.  But it has been a great June for surf.  We only hope that July will be as good.

A touch of spring weather is on tap this week, as a storm comes out of the Gulf of Alaska and bring a chance of rain for Tuesday.  Air temperature will drop and only be in the mid 60s as the storm passes over us.  Things clear out on Wednesday and we enter a warming trend that should peak around 80F on Saturday.  Things cool just a few degrees through the rest of the holiday weekend.  Except for some morning fog, it looks like great barbecue weather.