Outdoors
Leaves Are Beginning to Turn in coastal San Diego County’s riparian woodland and oak woodland habitats. The summer-green crowns of willows and sycamores are already fading to yellow and brown. Beneath the oaks, the deciduous …
The Floss Silk Tree, a conspicuous “autumn bloomer” here and there around San Diego, has been showing off its pinkish or purplish, hibiscus-like flowers for at least a month now. The broad, heavy trunks of …
Chinese Flame Trees all over the San Diego region are displaying colorful clusters of orange, reddish, or salmon-pink seed pods. Good specimens line the south end of Balboa Drive in Balboa Park, and Lake Murray …
Dense Ground Fogs are a trademark of the onset of autumn along San Diego’s coastal strip. Fog materializes during the night and early morning hours when moist marine air that has settled in valleys and …
The Smoggiest Days of the Year are most likely to occur during the next several weeks. Persistent temperature inversions (warmer air overlying cool marine air) are frequent this time of year. These inversions conspire with …
As the Beach Season Winds Down, San Diego County’s coastline is padded by what are likely the deepest and widest accumulations of sand we’ll see this year. Many stretches of the coastline are vulnerable to …
Fall Officially Begins at 12:21 pm local time on Wednesday, September 22. Not just the beginning of pumpkin-spice flavored everything but also a good excuse to throw an evening party to celebrate the occasion. At …
The Time of Sunset changes most rapidly this time of the year. This is mainly because the sun is swinging rapidly south along the ecliptic (its apparent path through the background stars). From the latitude …
Chaparral, the tangled assortment of low-growing, drought-resistant, native shrubs covering most of San Diego County’s lower mountain slopes, has managed to remain fairly attractive this summer. Unlike many of the scrubby natives near the coast, …
Jasmine’s Thick, Sweet Odor wafts on the night breezes this time of year, especially throughout the older, well-landscaped neighborhoods of San Diego. The exotic odor is produced by the flowers of true jasmines (genus Jasminum), …
Thunderstorms have visited the Imperial Valley and parts of eastern San Diego County over the past several weeks. The seasonal arrival of moisture from the east and south, more or less typical for late summer, …