I heard from family members that the weather in Iowa has been a little on the “uncomfortable side” with the heat and humidity.
Before leaving for California, people told me that I was headed there during the wrong time of the year. They recommended that I go during the winter season, not summer. I also heard the old quote, “The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco.”
After hearing reports on Iowa’s weather, I am happy to be in California. Winter I can handle. I loathe the heat and humidity of summer.
The temperatures here at Point Reyes are much more to my liking. It was 60 degrees in my apartment when I woke up Saturday. I don’t think the outside temperature topped the low 70s at any point in the day.
About Point Reyes Weather
The weather can vary significantly between the east and west sides of the park. As the crow flies, it is only about 12 miles from my apartment located by the lighthouse to park headquarters located by Bear Valley Visitor’s Center. (Although, it is 21 miles via a rough and winding road.)
The west side is typically cooler, windier, and foggier than the east side. Temperatures at this time of the year can easily be 5 – 8 degrees cooler. Winds can be much stronger. Fog is most likely. Rain anywhere in Point Reyes is not very likely until September.
It seems like the wind never stops blowing at the lighthouse. I copied the paragraph below from iWindsurf.com.
“The forecasts provided by iWindsurf.com seem to be rather reliable, with a bit of an adjustment. Park staff have observed that the wind speeds provided by these forecasts frequently need to be multiplied by a factor of 1.5 to obtain the approximate average wind speed recorded at the Point Reyes Lighthouse and by a factor of 2 to obtain the approximate speed of maximum gusts.”
As an example, if the Forecast Table is indicating the wind speed is 10 mph, the average wind speed recorded at the Lighthouse will be approximately 15 mph and the gusts will be approximately 20 mph. If the Forecast Table is indicating wind speeds greater than 25 mph, visitors should be prepared to find that actual wind speeds at the Lighthouse are in excess of 40 mph.
The forecast for the next ten days predicts wind speeds in the range of 11 – 39 mph. So, if you multiply these numbers by a factor of 1.5, then we should see wind speeds of 16 – 59 mph, not to mention the gusts.
So, is it worth it to drive 50 minutes on a rough road twice a day to get to the work shop when wind and fog are fairly constant at the lighthouse apartments? You be the judge.
Both of the images below were taken out of my kitchen window at sunset this past week.
