It reminds me of 2002. There is a mild El Nino brewing up for this winter, a warm current that develops along the California coast peaking around Christmas and bestowing us with beautiful weather for the winter. So far, that pattern has begun to take shape and we are bathed in what feels like summer weather - calm and sunny with patches of fog in the mornings quickly burning off to reveal clear skies and spackled ocean.

This afternoon, I took some time to sit in shirtsleeves at Pebbly Beach and read for a whiloe, as if it were summer. In fact it feels like spring, with a bit of chill on the breeze but warmth in the sheltered places.

A glance at the weather maps shows high after high piling up along the coast, keeping the fall storms deflecting northwards. It won;t be long before these highs collapse, unable to be sustained by the ever sinking sun, and soon enough the storms will arrive, drenching us in wind and rain and filling the creeks for the salmon to return too. I can't imagine this weather will hold for more than a couple of weeks, and indeed the 14 day forecast has average or above temperatures and just showers rather than full storms. The chum will be late this year, but we're relishing it while we have it.