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Warmer Temperatures and increased humidity coincide with the subtle onset of San Diego's spring season. By April's end, the intermittent showers, Santa Ana winds, cold nights, and crystal-clear, sun-drenched days of winter will likely be distant memories. The nocturnal, low overcast hugging the coast, which may linger until the late morning, will gradually build into "June gloom" -- the days-long episodes of perpetual overcast most common during May and June.
A Less-than-Spectacular Rainfall Season this year on top of a string of drought years has resulted in rather low springtime water levels in the county's reservoirs. At Lake Hodges (70 percent capacity), surface waters have withdrawn to a point west of the I-15 bridge in Escondido. The big El Capitan Reservoir near Lakeside currently holds 56 percent of its capacity. Lake Morena in far East County is a comparative puddle at 13 percent capacity. Some fishermen are happy with the situation. Less water means more fish in a smaller pond, and that makes for easier catches.
Fremont Cottonwoods along the San Diego River in Mission Gorge will show off their best iridescent green foliage this month. The Old Mission Dam parking area on Father Junipero Serra Trail, off Mission Gorge Road (west of Santee), is a good place to begin a stroll on trails near the riverbed. Be careful -- rattlesnakes may be out and about on warm days this time of year.
The Annual Green-to-Golden Transition of San Diego's wild grasslands typically starts during early April. North-facing hillsides and canyon slopes retain the green color longer, as they are less exposed to drying sunshine, Locally, most of the wild grasses are naturalized (non-native) annuals, the seeds of which were introduced along with hay and other grains brought in by the Spaniards during the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the mountain meadows have remnants of native grasses, which remain more or less green almost the year round. These rare native grasslands can be found in certain parts of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and more widely distributed at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in the Santa Ana Mountains west of Temecula.
Warmer Temperatures and increased humidity coincide with the subtle onset of San Diego's spring season. By April's end, the intermittent showers, Santa Ana winds, cold nights, and crystal-clear, sun-drenched days of winter will likely be distant memories. The nocturnal, low overcast hugging the coast, which may linger until the late morning, will gradually build into "June gloom" -- the days-long episodes of perpetual overcast most common during May and June.
A Less-than-Spectacular Rainfall Season this year on top of a string of drought years has resulted in rather low springtime water levels in the county's reservoirs. At Lake Hodges (70 percent capacity), surface waters have withdrawn to a point west of the I-15 bridge in Escondido. The big El Capitan Reservoir near Lakeside currently holds 56 percent of its capacity. Lake Morena in far East County is a comparative puddle at 13 percent capacity. Some fishermen are happy with the situation. Less water means more fish in a smaller pond, and that makes for easier catches.
Fremont Cottonwoods along the San Diego River in Mission Gorge will show off their best iridescent green foliage this month. The Old Mission Dam parking area on Father Junipero Serra Trail, off Mission Gorge Road (west of Santee), is a good place to begin a stroll on trails near the riverbed. Be careful -- rattlesnakes may be out and about on warm days this time of year.
The Annual Green-to-Golden Transition of San Diego's wild grasslands typically starts during early April. North-facing hillsides and canyon slopes retain the green color longer, as they are less exposed to drying sunshine, Locally, most of the wild grasses are naturalized (non-native) annuals, the seeds of which were introduced along with hay and other grains brought in by the Spaniards during the 18th and 19th centuries. Some of the mountain meadows have remnants of native grasses, which remain more or less green almost the year round. These rare native grasslands can be found in certain parts of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and more widely distributed at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in the Santa Ana Mountains west of Temecula.