Outdoors
Liquidambar Trees, or sweet gums, the deciduous trees gracing front yards, parks, and campuses throughout the San Diego area, have been putting on an exceptionally colorful show. The leaves of some varieties turn to purple …
Monarch Butterflies arrive along the California coast this month, migrating from their summer homes in the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. Some 25 of the 260 wintering sites on the West Coast lie within …
Local Temperatures should be declining most rapidly during this time of year, according to more than a century of local meteorological records. With every successive week, daily maximum temperatures are declining by about three quarters …
Solitude (n): the quality or state of being alone or remote from society. The word “solitude” has a negative connotation, as if being alone equates to loneliness. Today’s society encourages overstimulation and overcommitment, even in …
Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday morning, November 1 at 2 a.m. With the resumption of standard time, midday (the time when the sun reaches its maximum altitude in the south part of the sky) …
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 …
October’s Lowest Tides, coinciding with afternoon hours several days in a row, usher in several months of excellent tidepooling opportunities to come. A -0.7 foot tide occurs at 4:27 p.m. on the 17th; a -0.8 …
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 …
Late September brings Santa Ana winds, which may continue intermittently through the winter. Early Santa Anas are often responsible for coastal San Diego’s hottest and driest days of the year. Records show that 62 percent …
Fall Officially Begins on Tuesday, September 22 — possibly good enough to throw a premature, after-work celebratory party. The event is also known as the “autumnal equinox.” Technically, this means that at that on this …
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 …