The gridlock sounds like Santa Cruz on the weekend.Originally Posted by DavidFisk
The gridlock sounds like Santa Cruz on the weekend.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Any difference traveling north vs south on PCH?
I was thinking to barrel up the 5, possibly the 101 to SF, spend a few days in the city being a tourist, and then spend 3-4 days coming back down the coast and exploring, hiking, taking pictures. I could do the opposite if there's some reason that makes more sense.
Also, I heard someone refer to this month as "Fogust" in SF, is that true? Might make for some very cool images! Is the coastline the same, at least in the mornings?
Sort of. But the scenery is better on PCH. And you can always hope an RV driver might get distracted by the beauty and drive off a cliff, say at Hurricane Point.
There are 3 kinds of people in the world: those who can count and those who can't.
Drive Southbound on 1 and you'll be on the ocean side---better views IMHO
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
True. And there are likely more turnouts on that side of the road. The "fog" in summer is really more of an overcast rather than ground-hugging wisps, but if is looks as if it is low to the ground, then do check out Point Lobos. Get there when it opens at 8:00. Getting just one image of the cypress emerging out of the fog can make the entire trip worthwhile.
There are 3 kinds of people in the world: those who can count and those who can't.
Coastside fog is noting like it once was. The once dense and intense fog is now significantly less and lower in density and less often these days due to changes in the climate.
Keep in mind, areas of the Northern California coast have been scorched by massive fires last year during adding to the difficulties from the COVID 19 Pandemic.
This is what the coast near Pescadero looked like during that fire.
Bernice
Coastal fog generally burns off by late morning. We were in Santa Cruz last weekend and instead of burning off, the fog bank just retreated out into the bay
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Coastal fog less, Bernice? Tell that to my front yard. And where is does tend to shift away during afternoon, it's apt to have simply shifted somewhere else instead. The pattern varies, based on where you are. The timing is different here on the Bay compared to my sister's place near Monterey, for example. But the basic engine driving it, is that the hotter it is inland, the more the marine atmosphere with potential fog is sucked inland. We call it our natural air conditioning. It banks up against the coastal mountains except where there's an opening. But when inland and coastal temperatures tend to reach equilibrium, particularly around October, the wind and fogs seasonally stop and local conditions get hotter. The calmest clearest weather can often be in November. But forest fire issues are a complication to weather no matter where you live. The air has been quite good here so far this summer, in contrast to the hellish smoke last year, when we were surrounded by massive fires. There was plenty of fog then too; it just unfortunately got combined with ashfall and other crud turning it into nearly opaque smog instead. Keeping my fingers crossed.
What your Pescadero shot looks like to me, Bernice, is in fact what I just described. The crud is suspended in fog, or at least shaped by it to an extent. Otherwise, hot ash would be raining down, volcano-lke. It would be the next morning, after the fog dissipated late at night, that all those yellowish flakes of incinerated Burger King stands and back yard sheds would settle on everything. Nasty stuff, way more unhealthy than forest fire smoke per se, though I'm miserably sensitized to even that. There's a lot of creosote in California brush. Yet what beautiful light destruction can sometimes bring! Thanks for sharing the picture.
There is a report from the pacific costal fog project that says costal fog is down 33%.
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You'd have to be more specific. I don't find anything like that on their site. When and where? How monitored? There are some random reports in relation to wildlife habitat, but nothing recent. Over the long run, it's all ecologically interconnected anyway, with healthy forest, especially redwoods and old growth firs, capturing more fog, and hence returning more moisture to the atmosphere. That got seriously impacted way back when these forests were cut down down in the first place. Watershed was dramatically impacted. Now there's a fair amount of second growth, but nothing will ever be quite the same. The very tallest trees ever discovered on earth were once atop the hill behind me. But now there are just some eucalyptus, and not even an extant stump of those giant redwoods. But like I already mentioned, being drier and hotter inland actually draws the fog in. Nobody waters their garden or has an air conditioner around here. There was a 50 degree temp differential last month between here and just twenty minutes inland. Damp cold fog and lots of wind. I've hardly been able to use a view camera all summer due to it. Just too windy. Everything is about microclimates around here. Last year there was a massive late season variable, with soot and smoke collecting around moisture particles in the air and transforming it into something else. I don't know how they official classify that other than disaster. Everyone was too busy just trying to stay alive in those areas.
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