The Weather Channel Asks: Did Summer Forget L.A.?

An article in today's Weather Channel asks the question some Angeleños have been asking for a month-- where's the cruel summer heat, with hot summer streets when the pavements are burning?

Downtown Los Angeles finally reached the 80s on August 13, ending the longest non-80s streak to start August on record, according to the National Weather Service.

Low clouds and fog are normal along the California coast in summer. Due to the intense heating of the interior desert and the cool ocean waters, a pressure gradient directs cooler, cloudy air from the ocean onshore. Typically these low clouds dissipate by mid-late morning, as the sun heats the air around the low cloud layer.

However, with a southward diversion in the upper-level wind pattern parked offshore. This has deepened the so-called marine layer of low clouds in place. Even when the low clouds finally give way to hazy sunshine, temperatures have remained cool.

The article concludes asking us to count our blessings that we have afternoon sun, and no storms. Our prediction, entirely unscientific, is that we'll get our Summer in September and October.