More June gloom

Kris O’Donnell

The “June gloom” weather that has hung persistently overhead this

year may be a dark, damp preview of what’s to come over the next two

decades, researchers say.

A result of warm land air moving out over cool ocean water, the

foggy -- not to mention familiar -- weather pattern could become more

persistent as the Pacific Ocean cools off year after year from the

warm El Nino year of 1998-99.

The bad news? That cooling-off period, researchers say, lasts

about 25 years.

“Patterns vary, especially after leaving the warm phase of the

‘90s,” said Steve LaDochy, an associate professor at Cal State Los

Angeles. “This cool phase encourages June gloom.”

And that could mean problems for Newport-Mesa’s weather-reliant

economy.

“If June gloom were to worsen, there would probably be a

diminished tourist and general beachgoer population,” said Richard

Luehrs, president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Luehrs added that, although June gloom has been unusually heavy

this year, there has been little sign it has reduced the numbers of

visitors or tourists to town.

Few doubt, though, that lingering clouds will eventually become a

damper.

“People generally prefer to barbecue on sunny days,” said Tommy

Pearson, owner of Pearson’s Port in Newport Beach. “When it’s cloudy,

we don’t see as many shoppers.”

If so, Newport-Mesa may have been in a more economically unsettled

period from the mid-1950s to the 1970s. Research by LaDochy and Bill

Patzert, a NASA researcher at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,

found that those years were generally cooler, winters were drier and

fog levels were fairly high.

“The ‘80s to ‘90s were wetter, warmer and clearer,” Patzert said.

“We’ve now reverted forward to the past.”

While the likelihood of more June gloom is high, not every summer

will be cloudy and gray, LaDochy said.

Not all researchers are willing to predict years of sunless

summers.

“There is no official prediction of what is going to happen for

the next decade,” said NASA researcher Jorge Vazquez, also of

Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

And, of course, years of cooler weather don’t bring everyone down.

“I love this,” UC Irvine drama professor Annie Loui said,

referring to the cool and overcast days.

* KRIS O’DONNELL is a Daily Pilot intern.