Weather in Southern California: not paradise (Orange, August: apartment, earthquakes, living in)

[fpbear]

I find it funny when people from other states talk about the wonderful weather in Southern CA. I have lived in Orange County for 32 years, and one of the top reasons (besides the traffic congestion) I would like to move out of here is because of the extremely boring weather.

There is no change of season. During the summer the sky is hazy white from the low stratus clouds trapped by the mountains, until July. We call it May Gray / June Gloom. From August through October we are stuck in a bubble of brown smog, which you can see the best when you approach LA/OC from an outlying area. As a private pilot, I can also see this from the air. The mountains trap the clouds and smoke preventing the onshore winds from blowing it out to the desert.

After living here for a while you begin to realize this is the desert. If it were not for the supply of water diverted from the Sierra Nevada mountains through the Owens Valley, we would have parched land with little but cacti to decorate the soil. As the summer moves on with days approaching 100F, you can begin to see the roadside plants dying of thirst as the city landscapers struggle to give them enough water.

The short winter is wet and rainy with accidents on the freeway all over the place, because LA/OC drivers don't know how to drive in the rain (except for this year, when we had record low rainfall).

I can understand why people from cold climates would want to move here to escape from the freeze. But this is not the paradise weather that is so frequently advertised. The Spring and Fall season is nice, although those seasons are nice in a lot of areas of the country.

Whether you will enjoy it here could depend on your personality type. If you like a routine, predictable life, then you may love it. Besides the earthquakes and wildfires, the weather does not offer much surprise. On the other hand if you like adventure and variety, Southern CA weather is like watching the paint dry on a fence, or watching the bagle in the toaster oven.

A little bit of vartiety in nature (forests, cute wild animals, natural meadows) and weather patterns adds a little spice to life. That's mostly missing here.

This is what the smog looks like from an airplane. This layer of smog covers the Southern CA basin every summer and you can feel it in the lungs after a good excercise. How can this be ideal weather?

[Roma]

I would call Southern California's weather....IDEAL!!!!! So, to me, that would be paradise.

[Lisa_from_Debary]

I had a good laugh over the cold snap that happened right before and during one of the awards show, all those stars, wearing those pretty dresses, cold...of course not prepared with a coat or jacket.

I myself like rain, I would miss it.

While I hear the dryer climate is better for my asthma, the smog in LA alone would kill me.

[snb3]

This reminds me of someone who can't stand (or is incapable of substaining) a stable relationship. Some people are always in need of some conflict & situation, etc to keep it churning.
Stability? Eh, boring.

Having lived in places with actual differing seasons, I'd take mostly sunny & boring over 5 days of too cold/hot/rainy/snowy for every 10 good days.

[Roma]

[quote=snb3;738522]This reminds me of someone who can't stand (or is incapable of substaining) a stable relationship. Some people are always in need of some conflict & situation, etc to keep it churning.
Stability? Eh, boring. [end quote]



snb3,

Great psychoanalysis! You get 2 gold stars for that.

[fpbear]

No I wouldn't compare it to someone who wants an unstable relationship. When I visit other states I am jealous of the clear blue skies and puffy clouds decorating the sky. In different climates, after a brief summer rainstorm the colorful wildflowers bloom. In the winter, a little bit of snow gives a special postcard feeling to the Christmas season, and another way to play like a kid in the soft powder. When the wind blows, it gives a soothing breeze and you can listen to the rustle of the plants. I miss natural meadows with a variety of plants, but in Southern CA the fields are dominated by mustard weed and dried brown grass. These are the wonderful sights and sounds of the natural variety provided by weather... we don't get the "beauty of weather" here in Southern CA.

[recycled]

There's a saying in southern cal: We don't have weather, we have news events. Firestorms, drought, earthquakes, mudslides, storm surge coastal floods, etc, you get the idea. The weather here can spoil you, it's rarely anything to complain about. Smog is a bad thing in some parts of southern cal, in my area it's normally not too bad. If you asked a hundred people on the street the one thing they liked about living in southern cal, most would say they like the mild temps. There's plenty of other things around here that I don't like too well, but that's another story.

Don't hardly ever need AC where I live in the summer, and rarely use heat in the winter. The one and only cheap thing about living here is my utility bill (combined gas and electric) which averages maybe $30 a month for an apartment.

I hardly ever check a weather report, because in a typical week it will change so little from day to day. Almost like the movie "groundhog day" except except the landscape is brown and dry instead of snow covered. I bike ride to work most days, and it's rare that the weather interrupts my bike commute schedule. Quite true, this place is mostly brown and dry, especially since it's only rained about 3 inches in the past 12 months around here. But hey, nearly the entire southwest USA is pretty dry and besides if someone can't stand it the only thing to do is move somewhere else.

[Axiom]

Originally Posted by fpbear

No I wouldn't compare it to someone who wants an unstable relationship. When I visit other states I am jealous of the clear blue skies and puffy clouds decorating the sky. In different climates, after a brief summer rainstorm the colorful wildflowers bloom. In the winter, a little bit of snow gives a special postcard feeling to the Christmas season, and another way to play like a kid in the soft powder. When the wind blows, it gives a soothing breeze and you can listen to the rustle of the plants. I miss natural meadows with a variety of plants, but in Southern CA the fields are dominated by mustard weed and dried brown grass. These are the wonderful sights and sounds of the natural variety provided by weather... we don't get the "beauty of weather" here in Southern CA.

You paint a pretty picture... but having lived in places with 4 seasons and places with boring, stable weather year round; I think I'll take boring and then just plan trips to visit other places to experience some of what you've described.

For example: granted the first snow of the season can be magical and I get soft powder and Christmas postcard bit, really I do. But the reality is not so picture postcard when there are still piles of ugly, dirty snow & slush & ice everywhere you turn in Jan or Feb, or when you get hit with yet another huge snow storm in March when you're more than ready for spring fever to kick in. I won't even get into shoveling it and driving in it - Yikes!

[Dennis P]

I happen to like predictability and routine, so the climate here in SoCal suits me just fine.

However, after seeing the picture of the smog-shrouded cityscape in the original poster's post, I can't help but wonder if my lungs are black from breathing in all that smog my entire life of living here. And I'm a lifelong non-smoker, too.

[Angel Bear]

Want some interesting weather? Try living in Michigan! LOL We have a saying here, "If you don't like the weather, then, wait five minutes." Hee hee!

I like a drier, warmer, sunny climate. So, So. Cal. is ideal for me

Interesting stuff though about the pollution issues. We also have that where I live right now in Michigan. We were put on that top 10 list with LA and other cities as far as pollution goes.