“Peering from some high window; at the gold of November sunset (and feeling that if day has to become night this is a beautiful way).”

~e.e. cummings

Autumn has its sunsets as the sunlight cuts through the atmosphere at day’s end. Living in Southern California, it’s one of the few signs of autumn we are given. Green leaves hang on tight, not quite ready to let go of their branch. Not more than a drop of rain has fallen into the 2020-21 seasonal buckets and daytime temperatures often reach 90 degrees. Try to find a quotation fitting November in our part of the country. While some regions receive their first snow here it’s prime beach weather. So, what’s up? Seasonal lag.

Oh, and don’t forget the lag that takes place every day. The sun is at its highest point each day at noon but the hottest time of the day is delayed by several hours and occurs between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. That’s due to the surplus of the sun’s energy, which overflows into the afternoon.

Now for the big story. The cause for seasonal lag is based on the fact that nearly 71% of the Earth is covered in water. Water has a higher heat capacity than land or simply put – the amount of heat added or removed to change temperature. Water requires more heat and takes longer time to warm up than land.

Conversely, water takes a longer time to cool down than land. So even though the greatest amount of solar heat occurs during the summer, Earth’s slow heating process puts the hottest days into autumn.

Living along the coastline of the largest and deepest body of water on the planet – the Pacific Ocean – it’s no wonder we experience the most extreme effects of seasonal lag.

Today, Thursday, warm summer-like conditions are expected to return for, hopefully, their last hurrah of the season. Hold onto your hats; not only will temperatures reach 90-plus degrees, but strong, gusty northeast winds are coming through. With lightning speed, a sharp cooling trend arrives tomorrow, Friday, that lingers into the weekend. Added is a 30% chance for umbrella usage as rain is in the forecast.

Next week is a scenario we haven’t seen for a long time: daytime temperatures hovering at 70 degrees and the nighttime in the 40s. Lo and behold – the weather is catching up with the season.