By Michael J. Tittinger
Daily Press Staff Writer

CITYWIDE — Santa Monicans can be forgiven for their occasional doom-and-gloom dispositions this time of year, for they know full well the ballyhooed Southern California sunshine can be quite fickle, especially in June.

They know not to get sucked into a false sense of security and disregard their designer coats just yet.

The sun of all fears?

Try “June Gloom” — an annual atmospheric party pooper that locals know all too well. It typically turns the expected clear skies of summer into a veritable wet blanket.

While the sun has been beaming in the city as of late, one area meteorologist insists in a Gen. MacArthur-like manner that the gloomy days “will be back.”

“Eventually, it will right itself, but it could last up to six weeks,” said Henry DiCarlo, a meteorologist with CBS-2 and KCAL-9, of the annual overcast season that has become renowned on the Westside. “Get used to it. It’s not going anywhere.”

According to DiCarlo, a meteorologist of eight years who hails from Orange County, the dark days ahead are a byproduct of temperatures in the desert to our East heating up. The hot air rises and sucks the Pacific marine layer inward, holding it for an extended period in our midst.

While such cloud systems are in place off shore throughout the year, shifts in pressure keep the heavier air hovering over the Westside for a longer duration, often testing the collective patience of those not in the know.

Research on what is scientifically referred to as “Pacific Decadal Oscillation” shows that the extent of the so-called gloomy season seems to go in roughly 25-year cycles. Ocean temperatures can fluctuate between 2 and 5 degrees during that span, resulting in June Glooms that extend anywhere between three weeks to the current six-week variety.

“The last cycle ended about 10 years ago,” said DiCarlo. “So if somebody moved here 30 years ago they may have heard about June Gloom, but not really experienced it. Now they should.”

Taking into account the extended season, wordsmiths have coined a new term to bandy about when they ruminate on the weather. Enter “May Gray” when the overcast skies and mild temperatures begin to occur in the late spring.

Before Al Gore and his Powerpoint proponents allude to the extended periods of Gloom as of late, DiCarlo insists the gray skies have nothing to do with man-made influences. While admittedly not an ozone layer expert, DiCarlo coolly dismisses the cycle as a natural transfer of pressure conditions from the Eastern Pacific region to the Western Pacific.

Still, maintaining a sunny disposition when the weather doesn’t keep its part of the bargain has proven vexing to some.

“It does affect people’s moods,” noted DiCarlo. “People are a little more tired, a little more lethargic. There’s more depression as well.”

While locals have seemingly accepted that June is not the optimum time to make like Icarus, or even retile the roof, the phenomenon has likely not made its way overseas to where tourists are currently planning to take the town by storm.

Sun seekers from across the globe with visions of “Baywatch” lifeguards dancing in their heads aren’t likely to be dreaming up a coastal stay whereby dark skies dim their views of pseudo Pamela Andersons.

Misti Kerns, president of the Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau for the past five years, insists June Gloom has had little to no effect on tourism in the city.

“I think it’s been a non-issue this year,” she said on Friday, which featured brilliant sunshine and temperatures that approached 80 degrees. “It’s really just a locals thing. Most people coming here do not know about it (June Gloom), but I think the allure of the beach itself is all of its different climates, so it’s not necessarily a deterrent (for visitors).”

Asked if she warned visitors of the potential June Gloom pitfalls for a vacation, Kerns said she would … if asked directly.

“Most people know it (the marine layer) will burn out,” she said. “We have more than 300 days of sunshine. No matter how you look at it, our weather is pretty mild. We’re lucky enough not to have a long rainy season …The weather is great.”

Conversely, some retailers might be longing for a little doom and gloom about this time. Saving for a rainy day this Gloom season may leave has left shoppers with a little more expendable income in their pockets.

At Secret Desires, a Lincoln Boulevard store specializing in adult entertainment, business has proven a bit limp as of late.

“It’s been kind of slow,” reported one store representative. “It’s pretty weird in here. You never know when customers will come in. Right now, it’s so hot.”

Secret Desires and their like may be in luck this Father’s Day weekend, however, as little cartoon cloud logos are beginning to creep into the pictures depicting five-day forecasts on web sites such as accuweather.com.

And when they do, acknowledges DiCarlo, those not in the know will most likely look for someone or something to blame aside from the natural recurring coastal pressure systems and Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

Like a weatherman?

“Maybe, but most of the irate calls I get are for not putting someone’s city on the TV weather map,” he chuckled. “How could you not put Lake Forest on the map?”