“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time.”
~ John Lubbock, “Recreation,” The Use of Life, 1894

This past weekend found us on the Central Coast, visiting family. With a baby and two preschoolers in the bunch, needless to say there was little time for rest or idleness. No complaints here! We were way too busy playing and being entertained; an invitation into their delightful childhood realm is a privilege one could never decline. The weather was in full cooperation, as cool ocean breezes made for clear skies over the white-capped turquoise waters. Between the chatter of small voices, a few clouds floated across the sky and we also heard a faint murmur of the ocean’s water.

Lost in the heat waves and the 4th of July celebration, I forgot to post the final rainfall total for 2015-16. On June 30, at the elevation of 1,707 ft. in La Crescenta, 16.26 inches of rain was measured. Our average is around 24 inches. Not great, but at least it was a six-inch improvement over last year’s total.

Driving along the once water brimmed shoreline of Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County, the severity of our five-year drought was evident. This man-made lake and reservoir has been reduced from a water volume of 205,00 acre feet to 27, 000 acre feet, only 13% of its normal size. Similar areas in northern California were blessed by the winter’s El Niño and were filled to capacity. Hopefully the rains in 2016-17 will be generous when they fall across Southern California.

Heat-wise the summer started off with a bang! Thankfully, so far, temperatures have settled into a mostly average pattern. A nice cool onshore flow continues to intercede every few days to comfort us.  Today and tomorrow we’ll reach a few degrees above normal with temperatures in the low 90s. Come the weekend marine air will flow into the valleys, dropping the mercury once again. Maintaining the pattern, by Monday a warm-up settles in. With an exception of a few, evenings have been comfortably cool. Come 7 p.m., a leash for the ever-luring and insistent canine and a light jacket for her ever-indulgent owners are procured.

May our weather’s current status quo continue throughout the days of summer.
Sue Kilpatrick is a
Crescenta Valley resident and
Official Skywarn Spotter for the
National Weather Service. Reach her at  suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick