The End Of the ‘Florida Nights’ In California
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Travel Blogger
I kicked off my flops and actually put on shoes.
I grabbed a sweatshirt.
I even contemplated changing from shorts to jeans.
After a too-hot summer – global warming? – the normal Southern California weather has returned to Los Angeles. And that means as the sun goes down, you had better get out of your beach clothes and get on some layers.
There’s a misperception about LA weather for people who have never been here. And that is that it’s like the tropics – sunny, yes but also warm. The reality is that it is indeed both sunny and warm but only in the daytime. It’s actually a desert climate here and deserts cool down dramatically at night.
I vividly recall my parents’ first visit to see me in Los Angeles. I warned them to pack a jacket and a sweatshirt, even tho they were visiting in August. My dad, a lifelong Southerner, scoffed at the idea and arrived with only shorts and short-sleeved shirts in his suitcase. (My mother, who listened to my advice, had put in a sweatshirt without him knowing it.)
We went to the Hollywood Bowl one night and dad was shivering. I’ll never forget his words telling the story to others later: “I nearly froze to death!”
This summer, that was not the case. I was out at night in shorts, sandals and a t-shirt. Even when I rode my bike along the Hermosa Beach Strand, I did not have or even need a long-sleeve shirt. It was “Florida warm” as I call it, and that’s very unusual for Southern California.
But the last week of August heading and into the fall, things have returned to normal. As sunset has approached, the cool ocean breeze has picked up and that caused me to go find my PubClub.com sweatshirts.
It’s cool again at night and while that’s, well, you know, kind of cool, I do miss those warm “Florida nights.” It’s just the days that put me in a daze.
Cheers!
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