June Gloom Blankets Early Days of Spring

Spring sprung straight into June’s gloom Wednesday, with an unseasonal fog shrouding the season’s second day.

The soupy haze kept pleasure boats in their slips and forced commuters to set off on their morning trek earlier than usual.

Expected to occur intermittently through Monday, the gray chill may be accompanied by a light drizzle. The heaviest fog will occur mornings and evenings, said Bruce Rockwell, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

“It’s a tad early, but we’ve seen it at this time of year before,” he said.

The fog customarily associated with June occurs when hot, inland air rises and collides with cool air coming off the Pacific. Temperatures in Thousand Oaks, Ojai and Fillmore averaged in the 80s earlier this week.

For the rest of the week, high temperatures should be in the 70s inland and in the 60s along the coast. Lows throughout the county were expected in the 50s, Rockwell said.

The weather kept recreational sailors off the water, but some residents donned sweaters and jackets to walk the beaches.

“Attendance is pretty far down because most people don’t have radar [on their boats] and don’t want to go where they can’t see anything,” Ventura Harbor Patrol Officer Merv Larson said.

Commercial fishermen went out to check their traps, and whale-watching trips off the Channel Islands ran on schedule, Larson said.

“They’re not letting the fog slow them down at all,” Larson said.

Clear skies were reported four miles off the coast.

Fog was reported as far inland as Simi Valley.

The cool temperatures gave a welcome break to Southern California Edison, which activated rolling blackouts earlier this week. Fewer customers were using air-conditioning Wednesday, according to the utility.

“The cooler weather played a good part in the demand side of our energy problem,” said Nancy Williams, an Edison spokeswoman.

The California Highway Patrol reported no major traffic incidents. It had advised commuters to leave up to 30 minutes early Wednesday morning to ply fog-blanketed roads, including the Ventura Freeway and California 33.