Weather in Southern California: not paradise (Santa Ana, Fullerton: school, live in, move)

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

All ya gotta do is take a few weeks vacation! Visit a new place, experience another climate. I miss S. Ca living and especially the climate. You can always plan a nice outdoor event and not worry about being rained on. Come to FL where it rains every day all summer long with crazy thunderstorms and hurricane threats.

[Kerasina]

Bagel analogy...Another unsatisfied east coaster. Perhaps if less people found Orange County to be perfect, there would be less smog

[cobmw]

We moved from SoCal to Ft. Collins, Colorado in part to get clear skies. I really miss CA weather. The weather here is a hassle. Miserably cold in the winter (in spite of the statistics), then windy and cloudy most days in the spring, then roasting hot in the high-altitude sun in the summer plus mosquitos at night keeping you inside. In fact being trapped inside is my big gripe about CO. There are days with a few hours of nice weather, but then the wind or rain comes. Can't plan a game of golf or most anything outside without keeping an eye on the horizon. And forget about keeping your car clean. Roads a mess in the winter and showers almost every day in the spring and summer. I'll take CA weather with its boredom and smog anyday. If you want miserey you can always take a plane trip somewhere.

[Twinkle Toes]

Originally Posted by 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?

You gotta get out to the Coachella Valley more often. We don't have all that OC/LA smog and haze!

[connie&dave]

Try living in England, grey, dull, wet...

[Donna7]

Originally Posted by 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?

I think that I understand some of your points, and I do believe that there are people that DO enjoy the various seasons, change of seasons, actually like snow, etc. For me, my husband and I lived in S. CA (Orange County actually) for several years, moved back to NE OH in order to start family and have our family (grandparents) near our kids. This was almost 24 years ago. Now, I do not think that I can stand another winter; not only for the snow and ice, but due to the overcast skies and perpetual grayness that pervades NE OH for months on end during the winter. The lack of natural sunlight for months on end most definitely affects some people profoundly; I am one of them. S. CA is "boring" I suppose for those that truly enjoy the change of seasons, however, for me, I would love to be able to go out and walk, exercise, (things that I love to do) all year round.

[jksouthbay88]

"I would like to move out of here is because of the extremely boring weather."
I feel you about 100,000%!!!
I was born and raised just south of San Diego and I'm just about done with the "330 days of fall"
I want Vegas heat,Min.Snow,and Seattle rain some time!!!GOD!!!
But it must be pretty cool living in OC,lot's to do at least at my age.Not much here in San Diego but maybe because I lived here all 19 years of my life.So in 2 years; Nevada here I come.

[northcountystooge]

Originally Posted by jksouthbay88

"I would like to move out of here is because of the extremely boring weather."
I feel you about 100,000%!!!
I was born and raised just south of San Diego and I'm just about done with the "330 days of fall"
I want Vegas heat,Min.Snow,and Seattle rain some time!!!GOD!!!
But it must be pretty cool living in OC,lot's to do at least at my age.Not much here in San Diego but maybe because I lived here all 19 years of my life.So in 2 years; Nevada here I come.

Nevada? Ha, ha.
What does OC have that San Diego doesn't?

[Mumof3]

Originally Posted by connie&dave

Try living in England, grey, dull, wet...

Hey Connie&Dave -

You took the words right out of my mouth!!!LOL!!! - I grew up in the UK - spent the first 30 years of my life there - the damn weather is so changable that you really can't go anywhere without taking a jacket out with you. It's funny because now I have been here (in CA) for nearly 6 years I still can't get out of the habit of taking one with me everywhere I go!!! It can be 120 degrees and I'll still take it!!! I know deep down as well that I don't need it!!! It's like a comfort blanket it really is - something that I can't snap out of!!! I need therapy to remove the impression that the sky will cloud over any second and the heavens will open!!! LOL!!! It's bizarre because all my family are still in England and apparently they had a really great April with plenty of sunshine but shock horror!! May has turned out rainy and dull!!! They can't believe it!! They are so jealous of the CA weather!! I can't mention how great the weather is here because they wouldn't speak to me again!!! I tend to just say "well it's like it usually is' !!!LOL!!! I'm tactful like that!! Please weather - Don't listen to this daft thread - remain sunny and warm because I love it and my kids unlike me are making great childhood memories!!!

[SandyCo]

I've lived here all my life, and I like "boring" weather! I do wish we had gotten more rain this past winter. I'm looking at the brown, dry mountains, thinking, "What spring?" It's already a terrible fire season as well. I just hope we get some rain in the fall before the Santa Ana winds kick up.

The weather is actually the one thing that may keep me here, even as I choke on the smog, sit in traffic, etc. I don't think I could handle a grey, monochrome winter with frigid temperatures. I get cold when it gets below 60 degrees! And forget driving in it...