“Give me books, French wine, fruit,
fine weather and a little music played out of doors …”~ John Keats

The weather didn’t quite fit the occasion on Easter Sunday. Coastal fog moved farther inland than predicted. Sunrise services were missing the main star – the Sun. Given faith and a little imagination, one was assured of its presence just beyond the clouds. Eventually the cloud cover drifted back to sea, revealing blue and mostly clear skies; the temperatures remained cool. Come Saturday, cloudy conditions return, once again. This time, they come as April showers.

Southern Californians have an expectation of a clear and sunny day on Easter Sunday. In other regions across the U.S., a blizzard would not be uncommon. After all, winter is just two weeks past. An Easter egg hunt in the snow – now that’s a vision! Snow bunnies?

Since the time man first walked the earth, survival depended on adaptation to the weather and climatic conditions. Modern day invention and technology has greatly lessened the impact of these elements. On a less catastrophic note, weather can influence us in another not so obvious way.

Accuweather and Spotify joined up to study people’s music listening based on weather. As music and weather both affect our emotions, the study seems a good one. Read on…

Over a year-long period, five types of weather data (sun, clouds, rain, wind and snow) from over a thousand weather stations worldwide were correlated with over 85 billion anonymized, aggregated streams on Spotify on those same days and locations. In conclusion, a Spotify researcher stated, “There is definitely a connection between what’s in the skies and what’s on users’ play queues.” As you may expect, across the globe- sunny weather brings happy tunes.

In the U.S., cities were unique as to how the weather affected their music choice. Miami and Seattle listeners are typically listening to energetic music on cloudy days, while those in San Francisco and Houston seem saddest on those days. I’m not sure about La Crescenta, but I can guess.

A southbound storm system is expected to move in Friday/ Saturday with a variety of rainfall totals. San Luis Obispo is projected to get the “lion’s share” – 0 .75 inches, while areas south of Point Conception, at best, may get a “mouse amount” – 0 .10 to 0.33 inches. The week starts out warm and clear; on Tuesday, there’s a chance for April sprinkles. Be prepared to change the music – and often!

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley resident and Official Skywarn Spotter for the National Weather Service. Reach her at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick