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Los Angeles Just Experienced A Weird And Rare 'Reverse' Spring
Whoa, 'reverse' spring! (Photo by Alberto Cueto via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
While you've been busy watching movies and drinking outside this spring, you may have noticed that L.A.'s weather has felt a little upside down for the past few months. For the first time in nearly 100 years, downtown Los Angeles just experienced a "reverse" meteorological spring. Instead of getting warmer as we approached summer, it actually got cooler and then cooler again, according to the National Weather Service.
A new report from the NWS shows that the average monthly temperatures from March to May—known as the meteorological spring—actually decreased instead of increasing as, you know, they typically do. This strange phenomenon has only occurred three times since record-keeping began in 1877, and the last time was way back in roaring 1921, according to the L.A. Times. In case you weren't keeping track, average temperatures for for March, April and May this year were 68.2 degrees, 65.8 degrees and 64.2 degrees. Compare that with the average monthly temperatures for March, April and May from 1981 to 2010, and you'll find average temperature increases of 60.6 degrees, 63.1 degrees and 65.8 degrees, respectively.
These past three months have also been unusually warmer and drier than normal across Southern California. And while the NWS focused on downtown Los Angeles for this report, forecasters say that many other parts of Southern California experienced the same, strange "reverse" spring. Eric Boldt, NWS warning coordination meteorologist, told KPCC, "It's just kind of a continuation of our strange weather we've had over the last couple of years, where we've been really warm throughout the winter months."
We may be used to a bit of funky June gloom here in L.A., but when May's average temperatures mirror those of February—as they did this year—we tend to notice that something is off. But don't start canceling your plans for June just yet. According to the NWS, our weird "reverse" spring is not necessarily an indication that the trend will continue in the coming months.
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