Oh yes, it's way cooler than usual. Normally, the Central Valley thermal low is in full swing by mid-April, with the usual coastal fog bank and Central Valley heat going full force. But right now, the upper atmosphere circulation pattern is stuck in Winter mode, sending us cold front after cold front. This is far from usual.

Here's what the National Weather Service bulletin says:

"COOL AND UNSETTLED WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AS THE 500 MB FLOW REMAINS ZONAL AS TWO LOWS GO INTO THE PACNW COAST. ALTHOUGH THE BULK OF THE RAIN WILL STAY TO THE NORTH... HEIGHTS AND TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN LOWER THAN NORMAL KEEPING US IN A COLDER TO MUCH COLDER THAN NORMAL PATTERN. CURRENTLY LOOKS LIKE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING IS THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR ANY ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WITH THE MAIN EMPHASIS OVER THE NORTH BAY."

It will be a late season for everything, unless we get an unusually hot Summer to make up for the cold weather. My tomatoes are blooming but not setting any fruits, I may end up covering them in plastic to get some fruit set. This might also be a good year to use tomato blossom set spray.

It seems to me that over the last ten years, fall has been stretching into mid November, and spring is lasting into early June. We don't seem to get a really hot spell in the valley until July, when previously it used to hit like clockwork on Memorial day. I am actually able to plant summer annuals that don't like hot weather, and get a fair amount of bloom from them, which was never the case before. I no longer pull out my dying spring annuals on June first, like I used to, since they are still going full throttle. I suppose this could be the effect of global warming, but my husband, who is a statistician, says it's too short a period to say it isn't just a statistical fluke in the weather pattern (at least I think that's what he is saying, I don't speak math).

Yep, the weather actually since March has definitely been quite unusual and cooler than normal...I've lived in Sacramento since 1994 and can't recall such an inconsistent spring with alternating periods of sunny warm days and many cool showery days. In fact this kind of weather makes me feel like I live back home on the east coast! From what I've read the unusual weather is due to a very strong El Nino influence which has caused the jet stream to dip way down the CA coast. I also just read that El Nino is starting to weaken so we'll see what happens. Usually by now Sacramento would have had several days in the 90's , but as of today it has not hit 90 yet! I've only used my A/C twice so far (no complaints!). It would be really weird if this pattern continued into the summer months!

Like norcal916 said, it's a big El Nino year, which I suspect is why we're seeing the weird weather patterns. We're planning an outdoor wedding next month, so I did way too much digging on historical spring weather patterns after El Nino winters over the last 20 years...very, very odd on all fronts. The late rain/long spring is "normal" for post-El Nino springs. Historically it has warmed up significantly once summer got rolling, though---it even hit 99 one year in the Berkeley/Oakland area (which is CRAZY hot for these parts!)

So who knows....although our veggie garden is loving the late rain!

It is even cold and bleh down here in SoCal. I mean I know that Santa Monica can have that "May Mist" and "June Gloom" but this is ridiculous. It has been bitterly cold.

I'm enjoying the cool here in socal. I can work outside without breaking a sweat. The May Gray and June Gloom doesn't normally come this far so the very light rain was welcome today but it didn't really help anything.
65 beats 90 and running a/c anyday!
The Sierras could get more snow I just heard so that is great news.

I am absolutely loving it! True, we usually get the May gray-June gloom here, but last night and today it's actually drizzling. This has been a fantastic year as far as I'm concerned, just wish it could stay like this. If I were to get *really* lucky, it could stay like this through the summer too......

Looks like many folks also observe the extended cool season so this weather is not just my imagination. Next time after an El Nino, I'll have to remember to anticipate a cooler early summer.

artemis78, good luck with the wedding. I hope the weather will turn out nicely for you!

wcgypsy, I think you probably would be happier here in Northern California. Sounds like the weather you're having right now is pretty much standard coastal Bay area weather!

Personally, I am ready for Summer. We had drizzle and fog all day today, but no real rain. It's time for some heat.

lol....You're right! I used to live up there, also in Washington state, loved both. Anywhere north of Santa Barbara is heaven to me....if we leave, we'll go north again.

I have survived over 80 years in California and every year we all agree it was NOT a NORMAL year. What is nice is that there is no such thing as a normal year. I am delighted to accept a new year,or even a new day, with no questions asked! Al

Not only have the past couple of years been below normal, but the prior 30 years had been above normal, so the contrast is marked. Though the evidence is still evolving, NOAA believes that we began to enter a cool phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation in 2008. This marks an end of the warm phase that began in 1977. During the next 20-30 years, the climate on the West Coast will probably be more like it was during the 1946-1977 period. There will still be periodic warm years, but overall, the West Coast will be cooler. Get used to it, folks. THIS IS THE NEW NORMAL. The decadal oscillation still swings through its phases, global climate change or not.

{{gwi:531738}}

LOL Al, I like your outlook. And my 80-year-old aunt says the only thing normal about California weather is that it's always changing.

Volcanos are also thought to cause a temporary global cooling. The one in Iceland is seems large. Anyone know how it compares with other large volcanic eruptions and the one in Alaska last year?
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/VolcWeather/description_volcanoes_and_weather.html

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1476912/icelands_volcanoes_give_clues_to_potential_eruption_effects/

According to todays SF Chronicle,this is El Nino caused, and the current has kept the jet stream further south. Sacramento has had a May mean temperature of 55f..coldest May for them since---1880!

Ah! I, too, like Al's outlook very much.

1880! No wonder I was caught off guard. Somehow the past winter did not really feel like an El Nino to me. Around 12-13 years ago when it rained cats and dogs, streets flooding, land sliding, and my gutter erupted despite cleaning, that was El Nino to me. This past winter was just too mild.

But no complaint about a mild El Nino here. I wish every winter is a mild El Nino as long as I remember to garden accordingly. Compared to the folks in the flood zone, this is heaven!

It's about to get a little colder. The NWS is calling for a very cold airmass coming in, frost on the ridges and North Bay valleys. Wow, it's almost June and some people will be scraping frost off their cars with Morning highs in the 30's, burrr. I don't think most of us will see any frost, though. But this is not exactly good tomato blossom set weather.

From this Morning's Monterey NWS office bulletin:

A SECOND UPPER LEVEL LOW IS THEN FORECAST TO DROP S ALONG THE CA COAST AND OVER THE BAY REGION SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. THE SECOND UPPER LOW LOOKS MORE IMPRESSIVE COMPARED TO THE FRIDAY UPPER LEVEL LOW. CURRENT FORECAST CALLS FOR SHOWERS (PROBABLY HIT OR MISS VARIETY) SATURDAY INTO EARLY SUNDAY. THIS SEEMS JUSTIFIED GIVEN THE CURRENT MODEL SOLUTIONS AND COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT. IN FACT...TEMPS WILL BE UNSEASONABLY COLD BRINGING SNOW LEVELS IN THE 3500-4000 FOOT RANGE.

Wasnt too bad today in the mid eastbay of Hayward.We scraped 70.But that wind felt chilly in the shade. I dont beleive that Monday will be only 58 as they predict. Just wouldn't be fair.

How about 57F at 1:30PM today in Southgate Hayward? It's really way too cold for this time of year. And the bulk of the cold air hasn't even gotten here yet. I did find a scatterings of low 60's in Hayward and surroundings today, but the entire East bay is coming in mostly around 55F. Same with the other side of the Bay. Sacramento is coming in at 67F, that's 14 degrees below normal. Bonny Doon is coming in at 52F under sunny skies, that's 25 degrees below normal.

It's COLD! I KNEW someone on gardenweb would be talking about it!

Sunday was fabulous, on the cool side, but so clear and sunny, it's rare to see the sky so crystal clear in May, this is the sort of weather you normally get late in the Fall in Central California and mid-Winter in Southern California.

I am actually glad the weather has been cool as I discovered several fireblight strikes in my Asian pear tree. The cold weather stopped the infection from spreading. Plus the lack of heat and late rains has meant that I've not had to turn on the irrigation system yet. There is a thick layer of wood chip mulch in the orchard, and underneath it the soil is soaking wet.

The one positive-speaking for the bay area- is..In that other years a cool May has been because of thick fogs..so you had gloom and no rain. The bonus this year -here at least- is that when there is no sun,their is life giving rain. A huge positive.

I'm actually seeing a forecast that includes 7 straight days of sun and low 70's. Could we finally be coming toward something that resembles summer? Keeping my fingers crossed!

I read that this is in part global warming. As the ice melts in the arctic regions, more moisture is carried in the atmosphere and in turns falls back to earth right over my house.

On a garden note the soil is still too cool for vegetable gardening but I am going to put the plants in anyway this weekend. Otherwise they are getting big in my hothouse.

Penny

I don't care if temps drop to freezing or rise to 100 F, I just need the winds to stop. The fruit drop is crazy, my fence keeps threatening to collapse no matter how much I brace or tighten, and I've had days where I'm maxed on anti-allergy meds and the only thing that keeps my eyes from being clawed out are icing them with cubes.

Something about the wind, it's just exhausting to be out in a strong one for very long, histamine overload or not.

I agree dicot. I have wind here again today and am under a high wind warning for tonight. It's always a little breezy in this canyon which is nice sometimes, it keeps the air moving, but I'm tired of cleaning up neighbors palm and pine needles.
But I'm still enjoying the cooler temps since 90 is expected sun-mon.

I am in Sacramento and am hedging my bets by planting a few cool season vegetable crops, since so far my eggplant, peppers, okra, etc. are just languishing. If it gets really hot next month everything will bolt but it seemed like it was worth a try, since we did not have a winter/spring vegetable garden last year.

The cool is over now..May 29th..waaay late.