Acorn Fever 2007

In some parts of the world, it is hurricane season. In Southern California it is Acorn Fever season, and this year it looks like we may have dodged a bullet.

Acorn Fever is serious. It happens when we get our first little cool snap. In Southern California, near the coast, that can happen anywhere from mid-August on. After weeks of heat and monsoon humidity, temperatures will drop overnight into the 50s at the coast and the 60s inland, with cloud cover and a thick, drizzly cloud deck we call the "marine layer."

The danger is in feeling a need to pull on sweaters and sweat pants, first thing when you get out of bed in the morning. That is the first symptom of Acorn Fever. Other symptoms include oatmeal for breakfast, a compulsion to build a fire, an urge to rake leaves, a sudden craving for apple pie, and an impulse to get into the car and drive to one of our nearby mountain (low mountains) towns and drink apple cider.

When it hits, a person with Acorn Fever will wear tweeds, woolens, sweaters and scarves to work. People may even turn on their car heaters. It is very dangerous. It feels good at first, and there is a strong suggestion of welcome coziness on downtown streets, watching workers entering buildings with their chins snuggled into Burberry scarves.

The problem is, by noon the temperature may be back up to 80-85 degrees, and even warmer inland. Acorn Fever victims get caught in the heat, and pretty soon the emergency vehicles start to roll, the responders looking for heaps of soggy woolens on the sidewalks, and smoke curling from chimneys, or residents in Pendletons out on the lawn, raking imaginary leaves.

Some years are worse than others, of course depending on weather conditions. This year, it looks like we'll get away easy. Two or three weeks ago, we had a hot spell that drove temperatures into the 90s even at the coast. In that scenario, Acorn Fever could be sparked by temperatures dropping into the low 70s. Two days after the hot spell broke, I in fact wore my sweatshirt outside to get the papers. I checked the temperature on the porch. It was 71 degrees. The virus can't exist in temperatures above 67, so I knew this was a faux fever.

Warm, but not hot, days, followed, with lower humidities. Thank goodness. An August outbreak can be critical, with September traditionally being one of our hottest months of the year. Now it is Sept. 17, and temperatures are trending down again. It was very cool and breezy overnight. This morning I thought about, but didn't don, sweat pants. The weather bureau says tomorrow will be slightly warmer, but then a system coming down the coast could bring very cool weather – even some rain – by Friday. I can guarantee the smell of woodsmoke over the city on Saturday, and an increase in mountain-bound traffic. It will be a day to watch weather patterns developing for next week. If we get through that, I think we may get home scot-free.