GILROY
– Cesar Castillon-Rodriguez walks his 20-month-old daughter Ana
to Christmas Hill Park two to three times each week. Less than a
mile from their home, the park’s playground is a perfect place to
spend an hour of quality time together before Castillon-Rodriguez
goes to work in the late afternoon.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Cesar Castillon-Rodriguez walks his 20-month-old daughter Ana to Christmas Hill Park two to three times each week. Less than a mile from their home, the park’s playground is a perfect place to spend an hour of quality time together before Castillon-Rodriguez goes to work in the late afternoon. And his daughter can’t seem to get enough of the swings.
This summer’s unusually moderate temperatures make their regular outings even more enjoyable, he said.
“At this time of year, it’s good: The afternoons are fresh, and the evenings are cool for sleeping,” Castillon-Rodriguez said. “I like this weather.”
Depending on whom is asked, these recent days of cool, foggy mornings, warm, sunny afternoons and chilly, breezy evenings can be a help or a hindrance
A four-year Gilroy resident, Castillon-Rodriguez says California summers also are a nice change from the weather in his native Puerto Vallarta.
“Puerto Vallarta is really humid; all day long you are sweating,” he said.
Organizers of this year’s Garlic Festival also welcomed the mid- to upper-80 degree days, calling them “perfect.”
But the mild temperatures are slowing down some crops, farmers say, and businesses that normally thrive during the summer may be wishing for a heat wave.
The average high temperature for Gilroy this July was 88 degrees, which is well below normal, according to Diana Henderson of the National Weather Service, based in Monterey.
Wednesday’s high temperature was 82 degrees and today was also expected to reach 82 degrees. After a cloudy weekend, Sunday was a temperate 79 degrees, Monday was 80 and Tuesday was 88.
“It should be up into the 90s this time of year,” Henderson said.
Last July, she said, Gilroy was hotter than 90 degrees most days and got over 100 more than once. The last time Gilroy saw a July this cool was 1987.
“We’ve had an upper-level trough coming into the area the past couple days that’s pushed the marine layer inward,” Henderson said. “It’s sort of a stronger onshore flow with a higher marine layer (than usual.)”
Troughs are areas of low atmospheric pressure. Air to the east of troughs rises, and as it rises it cools, creating more clouds.
“Hopefully, after this trough passes in the next couple of days, it should start getting warmer here,” Henderson said.
She said Gilroy’s normal August temperatures could be here late next week.
That’s good news to Steve Emick, owner of Cold Stone Creamery in Gilroy, who has seen sales fall below expectations.
“They’re not as strong as we thought they would be, and I attribute it to the evenings being cold,” he said. “It’s a little disappointing, and I know we can’t attribute it all to weather.”
When the 890 Renz Lane store opened in March, Gilroy was experiencing a heat wave with 80- to 90-degree days.
“We did summertime business in March, and now we’re not seeing it,” Emick said.
Farmers, on the other hand, are having mixed reactions to this summer’s weather.
“What’s good for one is sometimes not good for another,” said Kip Brundage, owner of G&K Farms in Gilroy.
“It can be great for the guys growing bell peppers, because they get less sunburn,” he said. “For us in the hay business, it’s been good for growing, but it’s been very poor for drying the hay.”
Besides slowing down the drying process, the lingering cloud cover sometimes makes a lower quality hay.
One benefit is that farmers are using less water across the board, he said.
Tim Chiala says the squash yield at George Chiala Farms in Morgan Hill is down “big time.”
“I have noticed a decrease in the amount we’re picking,” he said. “The mildew has been pretty bad on the squash – when it’s usually not an issue – because of the cold mornings.”
But, he said, it’s a trade-off.
“Our beans are growing better because they like more of a Watsonville summer: cool mornings and warm afternoons,” Chiala said.
Overall, his crops are growing more slowly than usual, including jalepeños, raspberries and bell peppers.
