I can’t calculate fractions and can barely conjugate verbs. But I know the difference between partly cloudy and partly sunny, and why many rain drops are shaped more like hamburger buns than tears.
So, dear reader, if you have a question about the weather, send me an email. I’ll try to answer it. And I’ll share what I find online and in the paper. Don’t be reluctant to speak up; other people probably have the same questions. You can reach me at [email protected].
I hope that offer triggers an avalanche. Our weather coverage attracts lots of readers. But few take the time to pose questions. Maybe that’s because many people regard the media as being distant and aloof. I’m neither. I’m a geek who enjoys talking to people about cold fronts and Catalina eddies and graupel.
Yes, even homely, lonely graupel — the soft hail that coated parts of Interstate 8 last winter, making driving a white-knuckle affair.
I grew up on the coast of Maine, where people are fond of saying, “If you don’t like the weather, well, wait a minute.”
That’s an accurate description that equally applies to San Diego County, with its many climate zones, even though people seem to think otherwise.
On a recent weekday afternoon, shafts of sunlight were penetrating the cool surface waters off Point Loma. That combination promotes the growth of kelp, which feeds or shelters about 400 types of creatures, and it contains algin, which makes ice cream thicker and beer less foamy.
A short time later, the marine layer crept ashore, snuffing out the sun. Late-night clouds may have made it otherwise impossible to watch Saturn rise above the eastern horizon.
Then again, things could have cleared out. That’s the thing about weather; you never really know what will happen next.
