You may have heard or read the terms “May gray,” “June gloom,” “no-sky July,” and “Fogust” to describe the persistent marine layer that often develops along the coastal regions of California during late spring and summer.
Typically, the coastal marine clouds give way to mostly blue skies by September, until the first storms of the year arrive. However, this September will start with marine stratus clouds that will produce pockets of heavy drizzle and dense fog.
Zoe Hendricks, of Los Osos, coined “Souptember” (like pea soup fog) to describe the overcast in late summer. During the Industrial Revolution, in London, they called it “pea soup fog,” which was yellowish or greenish in color caused by the heavy smoke from coal burning to heat homes and power factories mixed within the moist air from the River Thames that runs through the city.
A 565-decameter upper-level low-pressure system will develop over the Central Coast on Saturday. At the surface, a weak cold front will move southward through San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. This condition will produce partly to mostly cloudy skies with areas of heavy drizzle\light rain with dense fog, especially Saturday evening into Sunday morning.
Overall, most areas can expect less than 0.10 of an inch of drizzle/light rain.
High temperatures on Saturday will reach the low 60s along the coastline. The coastal valleys (Santa Maria and Lompoc) will range from the high 60s to the low 70s. The inland valleys (Santa Ynez) will only reach the high 70s.
Labor Day will see the inland valleys warm to the mid-80s and the coastal valleys to the mid-70s.
Strong to gale-force (25 to 38 mph) northwesterly winds will follow on Sunday and Labor Day afternoon, which will create clearing skies. However, the marine layer will redevelop Sunday night into the following morning with fog and mist.
The northwesterly winds will gradually decrease Tuesday into Friday, resulting in a deeper and more persistent marine layer in the coastal regions, while the inland areas will warm to the low 90s under mostly clear skies.
The long-range models indicate monsoonal moisture will continue to move northward into far eastern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. The Central Coast is expected to remain dry.
There is no indication of any Santa Lucia (northeasterly/offshore) wind events developing through the first half of September.
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
58/71 57/71 54/73 55/74 55/74 56/73 58/75 58/76
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
57/76 54/80 51/85 53/85 53/84 54/89 57/90 58/91
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Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
59/66 58/68 56/70 55/72 56/71 55/72 56/73 57/74
Seawater temperatures will range between 56 and 59 degrees through Tuesday, increasing to 57 to 59 degrees on Wednesday through Friday.
A 2- to 4-foot northwesterly (310-degree, deep-water) swell (with an 8- to 11-second period) is forecast on Saturday into Sunday morning.
Strong to gale-force (25 to 38 mph) northwesterly winds will generate a 4- to 6- foot northwesterly (310-degree, deep-water) sea and swell (with a 5- to 17-second period) on Sunday, increasing to 5- to 7-feet (with a 5- to 15-second period) on Monday into Tuesday.
A 3- to 5- foot northwesterly (295-degree, deep-water) swell (with an 8- to 12-second period) is expected along our coastline on Wednesday through Friday.
Combined with this northwesterly swell will be a 1- to 3-foot Southern Hemisphere (195-degree, deep-water) swell (with a 16- to 18-second period) on Saturday through Friday.
This Date in Weather History (Sept. 2):
1935 – Perhaps the most intense hurricane ever to hit the U.S. struck the Florida Keys with 200 mph winds. The hurricane produced a 15-foot tide and waves 30 feet high.
The barometric pressure at Matecumbe Bay, Florida hits a record low for the U.S. of 26.35 inches. (David Ludlum)
1950 – The temperature at Mecca, California soared to 126 degrees to establish a U.S. record for the month of September.
The low that morning was 89 degrees.
2017 – San Luis Obispo Airport hit 115 degrees on Saturday, which broke the previous all-time high of 112 set on Sept. 14, 1971. The temperatures in Paso Robles climbed to 115 degrees, matching the all-time record high set on July 20, 1960.
The Santa Maria Airport reported a high of 106 degrees, breaking the record high for Sept. 2 of 95 set in 1955. Bonnie Wollam reported a high of 117.3 degrees at Chumash Village Mobile Home Park in San Luis Obispo.
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