00:00If you've been waking up to gray skies along the southern California coast, you're experiencing May gray and June gloom
00:08in action.
00:08This is caused by something called the marine layer, and here's how it works.
00:12In the late spring and early summer, hot desert air over the southwest rises, leaving a bit of a vacuum
00:18in the low levels.
00:20Cooler, moist air from the Pacific Ocean is drawn inland to replace it.
00:24Overnight, that humid ocean air cools near the coast until saturation occurs, forming low clouds and fog.
00:30The result, gray, gloomy mornings at the beaches, while inland areas just miles away begin much brighter with sunshine.
00:37Gradually, the coast warms, fog vanishes, and afternoons are much brighter even along the coastline.
00:42And despite the name, June gloom and May gray aren't restricted to those months.
00:46It can actually happen pretty frequently from May into September.
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