Special Weather Statement from the National Weather Service:

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CHANGE COMING TO SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA
BY THIS WEEKEND…

AFTER A SECOND VERY WARM DAY WITH NEAR RECORD HIGH
TEMPERATURES…RELIEF IS IN SIGHT. A SIGNIFICANT COOLING TREND
WILL BEGIN THURSDAY AND CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY.

A SERIES OF COLD FRONTS MOVING INLAND TO THE NORTH WILL BEAT DOWN
THE STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS NEAR RECORD
HEAT.

TEMPERATURES ON THURSDAY ARE EXPECTED TO AT BE LEAST 10 DEGREES
COOLER AT COASTAL AND VALLEYS LOCATIONS AND AROUND 5 DEGREES
COOLER OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS.

ANOTHER 5 TO 10 DEGREES OF COOLING IS EXPECTED BOTH FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY.

SO BY THE WEEKEND TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE 15 TO 30 DEGREES
COOLER THAN TODAY…WEDNESDAY.

IT WILL ALSO BE WINDIER…ESPECIALLY OVER THE DESERTS WHERE WINDS
MAY BE GUSTING OVER 50 MPH.

AND IT SHOULD BE MUCH CLOUDIER. THE MARINE LAYER IS EXPECTED TO
DEEPEN TO THE COASTAL SLOPES OF THE MOUNTAINS THIS WEEKEND.

AND BY SATURDAY NIGHT…THERE IS A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN.

Forecast for the Coachella Valley, click here

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Today marks the first day of Autumn. Below is some information I posted a few years back that I thought I’d repost for this occasion.

“Did you ever wonder why leaves change colors in the fall?
A pigment called chlorophyll helps turn water, air and light energy into food for plants. When a plant contains a lot of chlorophyll, it appears green. There are also other pigments present, such as purple, red and yellow, but these colors are masked by the green chlorophyll. During the fall, the production of chlorophyll decreases due to the change in temperature. This is when the other pigments appear, and the leaves display brilliant colors. But this also means that the leaves are reaching the end of their life cycle.

The Autumnal Equinox
The point in late September when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south marks the beginning of autumn. On this date, the night becomes longer than the day for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.

Autumn vs. Fall
The word autumn refers to the autumnal equinox that marks the start of the season, but what about fall? An online search indicates people have several theories about where the use of the word fall comes from. Some say its simply because of falling leaves. Others say its a term that started in the South where the word autumn seemed to invoke a colorful season that didnt occur there. It seems that the prevalence of one term over the other follows geography.”

(sources: weather.com, USC)

LOCAL STORM REPORT

 NWUS56 KSGX 112306
 LSRSGX

 PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
 406 PM PDT THU SEP 11 2008

 ..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
 ..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
             ..REMARKS..

 0340 PM     TSTM WND GST     LA QUINTA               33.67N 116.29W
 09/11/2008  M67 MPH          RIVERSIDE          CA   TRAINED SPOTTER 

             WIND GUST WAS FROM OUTFLOW FROM THUNDERSTORMS ABOUT 30
             MILES TO THE SOUTHEAST.

(this storm report is from the National Weather Service and rebroadcast here)

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Hot & dry conditions today as we reached a high temperature of 113° (9 degrees above average). Thermal set a high temperature record for the day at 115°. Beating the old record of 113° back in 1986.

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