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Pre-Reading Activities

A: Interview

How does the weather affect you? Ask your partner the following questions.

How do you feel when...

...it is sunny and very hot?...it is sunny and warm?...it is cloudy and hot?...it is cloudy and cold?

...it has just begun to rain?...it has been raining for a long time?...it has just begun to snow?...there has been snow on

the ground for a long time?What is your favorite kind of weather? Why?What is your favorite season? Why?

B: VocabularyToday's article has some words about the weather. Match the words in bold from the article with their meanings.

Words

________________The balmy weather in early summer is very nice for going to the beach.

________________The clouds caused it to be a very gloomy day.

_________________We had to drive slowly because the fog made it difficult to see.

_______________When the weather is chilly, I prefer to sleep-in rather than get up.

_______________The blustery conditions made it very difficult to serve the ball during the tennis match.

Meanings

A low thick cloudCold weatherLittle sunlight, darkMild and warm weatherWindy weather

C: PredictingLook at the headline of today's article: "Cool Summer Has Southern Californians Feeling Gloomy". We learnt one

definition of gloomy in the vocabulary activity above, but there is another definition. With a partner discuss what you

think gloomy in the headline might mean.

Reading Activities

A: ComprehensionRead the questions below then find the answers in the article.

Why are people from Los Angeles (LA) complaining about the weather?

What is the reason for this unusual weather?

How do people in LA feel?

What have the average temperatures been?

What is the temperature normally in June?

What usually keeps the June mornings cold along the coast?

How long do weather experts predict the La Nina phenomenon to last?

Who is not unhappy about the cold weather?

Why is the air temperature over the sea-water cold?

Where does the television show "Baywatch" do its fi lming now?

Cool Summer Has Southern Californians Feeling Gloomy

By Dan WhitcombLOS ANGELES Friday June 4 (Reuters) - It's a bummer, dude.

This city of sun-worshippers, beach goddesses, surfers and sun-seeking tourists is doing something it seldom does --

complaining about the weather.

Normally balmy Los Angeles is enduring a spell of unusually cool and cloudy weather, courtesy of a weatherphenomenon called La Nina -- and predictions are that it could last all summer. It is the talk of the town.

"Weird weather has suddenly become the norm," local KNBC weatherman Fritz Coleman told tense TV listeners

recently.

The natives are restless, feeling more gloomy than groovy, and they all seemed to have donned sweaters and coats to

battle a "June Gloom" they fear will never lift.

The cloudy weather has been the second or third item on the evening TV news for days and the staple of radio talk

shows, pushing such issues as Kosovo off the map for Angelenos.

Temperatures have averaged 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (10 and 21 degrees Celsius), five to 10 degrees Fahrenheit

(two to five degrees Celsius) cooler than normal.

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"It's a big topic down here," said John Moryl, a lifeguard at Santa Monica's beach. "All the patrons complain about it

It's not every June that it rains all night," he said referring to a winter-like storm earlier in the week.

Southern Californians are familiar with "June Gloom" -- the low clouds and morning fog that can keep the coast chilly,

especially in the morning. As any dedicated surfer knows, the fog usually lifts and weather gets warm by afternoon.

And the fog disappears by July.

But some weather experts are predicting that this year La Nina -- a sister to the El Nino phenomenon which unleashed

unusually rainy weather on Southern California last year -- will blot out the sun for much of the next three months.

"Today looks like February down here," Moryl said, looking out over the Pacific Ocean. "It's very blustery and there's acold wind out of the west. Its more like January or February and it's June 3rd already."

Lifeguards, who are using heaters in their wooden towers, have had complaints from unhappy beach-goers, said

Moryl.

"Oh, yeah, they casually remark to the lifeguards that it's not very summer-like down here," he said.

The only people who don't mind the gloomy weather are surfers who hope the storms will kick up a few good waves

and keep the beach bums at bay and out of their way.

"Dude, its been totally gloomy, and the water's totally cold. But everybody I know could care less if it was super cloudy

all year, as long as the waves are good," said surfer Jason Regehr, 25.

Dave Danielson, a spokesman for the National Weather Service, said the "Summer of Gloom" can be blamed on La

Nina, which cools the water temperature off California's coast. That, in turn, cools the air temperature over the water,

creating an "inversion layer" beneath the warm air of the upper atmosphere. As a result the clouds and fog on the

coast are trapped.

"Basically in a La Nina year it's not unusual to have colder-than-normal temperatures along the coast," he said. "And

you'll also see a stronger than normal sea-breeze, which tends to bring clouds in and make them persist a little

longer."

Danielson said his office has not predicted a summer-long trend. "You can't say something is going to happen for the

next three months.''

Meanwhile, that famous TV program celebrating Los Angeles sun and surf, "Baywatch," has moved out of town -- to

Hawaii, where the skies are blue and sunny all day. It must have known that "June Gloom" was headed this way.

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.