By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
A WARM OCTOBER
Temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above normal
WILDART WEATHER3-1--top-LT
Taking advantage of the warm fall weather is Manteca High senior and band member Omar Arias helps tie red ribbons along the Manteca High fence on South Sherman Avenue as part of Manteca Highs Red Ribbon Week activities. - photo by HIME ROMERO

Bob Marley sang about how the sun is shining and the weather is sweet.

And all that anybody in the Northern San Joaquin Valley needs to do in order to see that for themselves is walk out their front door.

T-shirts and tank tops and shorts have replaced the jeans and chinos that are typical from late October through early spring.

That’s because, according to data from the Weather Channel, temperatures have been between 5 and 10 degrees higher than they usually are at this time on average. That’s leaving temperatures hovering in the low 80s in the late afternoon and keeping the bitter cold away in the middle of the night.

But none of that matters to Rachel Rapisura.

The Manteca hair stylist said that she’d rather have the standard overcast days that we’ve come to expect in the middle of the fall over the warm days that have seemed to be perpetual  and unwavering. Last week both the high and low fluctuated by only a single degree over the course of five days.

“It’s just too warm,” she said. “I’m going over to San Jose for the weekend – getting away. It’s not supposed to be like this. I’m ready for the fall weather that everybody expects this time of year.”

 In a sense she’s right.

Back in 2004 some High Sierra ski resorts like Kirkwood were able to open at least a portion of their lifts before Halloween, pulling in droves of skiers and snowboarders from the Central Valley and the Bay Area who donned costumes as they bombed down the hill. 

Today the mountain is completely bare.

Malcolm Mitchell, on the other hand, is okay with the fact that every time that he gets into his car after work he has to turn on his air conditioning to cool it down. He’s okay knowing that the split firewood on the side of his house will be able to season a little bit longer before he runs through it to help curb his PG&E bill during the winter months.

And he’s definitely okay with not having to deal with the rain.

“You talk during the summer about how you wish the heat would just go away until it actually does and it’s cold and you want nothing more than for it to warm up,” Mitchell said. “I’ll take it while it’s here. It’s one of the benefits of living where we do.”

The temperature, according to Accuweather, will stay at 80 degrees through Sunday. It will dip to its lowest point late Saturday night when it reaches 46 degrees. No rain is in the forecast, and the temperature will continue to hover in a temperate range through Nov. 1 – it’s expected to drop to 74 degrees by the end of the month.