Weather

It was cloudy when I got off the bus in Mountain View this morning. It felt kind of odd, and I didn't know why until I realized that this morning was probably only the second or third day in the past two months that it's been cloudy in Mountain View. It got me thinking about how different the weather is out here than back east.

Mountain View is about 5-10 degrees warmer than San Francisco on average, it seems. I've been wearing jeans, a shirt, and a light jacket or a fleece around the city, and I've been appropriately dressed pretty much the whole time. However I'm a bit warm when I get off the bus in Mountain View in the morning. I'd love to start wearing shorts to work, but it's just too chilly in the city in the morning and evening to get away with it.

One other weather-related phenomenon that was a new experience for me happened on the Friday before Memorial Day. I stepped off the bus in Mountain View and smelled smoke. I thought maybe they were setting up a barbeque on the patio for lunch, but as I walked by I didn't see any grills. It finally dawned on me that I was smelling the smoke from the fires up in the mountains, maybe 20-30 miles away. That was definitely strange.

Yes, San Francisco is foggy. I've been out in the fog maybe once or twice a week in the morning or evening. However, it's only rained twice since I've been out here, and both times it was just a light sprinkle. Apparently we get some significant rainfall in the winter, and that's about it.

Thunderstorms are very rare out here! I will miss those. But I won't miss the snow. :)