Southern California is known to be very sunny and hot with no snow and little rain, but this past winter has been an outlier in the cycle. Due to global warming, each summer is hotter than the last.

This winter has been much colder than past winters with more rainy days and crazy weather changes. All these changes are terrible and as an adherent of warm weather, I am definitely not here for it.

The first appreciable change between this winter and last winters is the freezing temperatures. Although our cold levels are nowhere near Canada’s or other cold countries and states, it’s still freezing for the average California folk because we’re not used to it.

The coldest month of the year for Southern Californians is December, with an average low of 48°F and high of 67°F, but this year the temperatures got as low as 36°F.  I still remember the day at school where I was freezing, and the teachers’ blasting heaters weren’t enough, and most of my friends’ hands and feet were numb.

What’s even worse than one singular cold month is several freezing ones in a row. Winter usually lasts until February, but usually it gets a little warmer due to our location a little ways from the equator. This year instead, cold temperatures stayed mostly the same through December, January, and February with after effects now in March.

With such cold temperatures, I wore several hoodies every day at school for almost two weeks. I was so miserable that I couldn’t bear to take them off. Even at home, I had to pull out the fuzziest, warmest blankets and PJ’s I could find. It’s very annoying because now I don’t want to get up for school due to the cold temperatures and I can’t even wear a cute outfit because my hoodie and jacket will cover it anyway.

Although cold weather sucks, there is something much more horrible—rain. Downpour may be satisfying and fun to be in, but it also makes it harder to do outdoor activities and go places.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the rain, but only when I’m inside. Imagine you’re inside under your covers feeling nice and warm while you hear the aesthetic sound of rain in the background.

Now imagine you’re outside getting rained on with wet shoes and socks as well as a soaked backpack. Which of those scenarios would you choose?

The rain makes everything harder because you have to try to stay dry while everything around you is becoming wet. You need to find a functional umbrella, some rain boots, and you have to protect your belongings from getting soaked.

Umbrellas are also really annoying to bring everywhere and it makes it hard to multitask. Have you tried getting in and out of a car while it’s pouring rain hard?

Guess what, it’s not easy. It’s even worse when it’s unexpected rain. Sprinkling isn’t a that big a problem, but when you’re unprepared in the pouring rain with no umbrella or hood, there is basically nothing you can do about it—especially because we go to Ayala. This school is mostly outdoors, narrow hallways, and other spots are often very crowded. Rain is horrible to deal with and it gets your socks and shoes wet.

Crazy weather can be defined as many things, but if we’re talking about California, we mean unexpected and rapid weather changes. There’s two parts; if you look at day forecasts, it’s not that bad. You’ll see sunny days, then cloudy, then rain. It’s predictable—it makes sense—but two weeks ago, it was sunny all week and then, out of nowhere, Friday gave us an 80% chance of rain. It didn’t actually rain day though; it was rather sunny. It may not have been a problem in years before, but California is certainly changing.

Living in California, we are no foreigners to warm and hot weather. It’s what Southern California is known for and it’s the best.

The warm feeling of the sun on your face, mixed with cool summer outfits, and bright fun days. Warm weather just makes you feel better and you don’t need to huddle for warmth or wear thirty jackets. All you have to do is sit outside and relax or if you’re going to school, feel the warm, lovely sun rays as you walk across campus.

You have so many more opportunities because you can practically do anything on a warm day because there’s no freezing wind, rain, or snow. It’s just dazzling sun and fluffy clouds.

The other part of California’s crazy winter weather is hourly.  It’s cold every morning starting out in the 50-60s°F. That’s normal, but by late morning, early afternoon, it starts changing and heating up quickly. It’s very hot and it stays like that for most of the day. That’s literally one of the worst things about California’s winters.

Do I wear a jacket and end up taking it off after 2nd or 3rd period? Or do I leave my jacket at home and suffer through a terribly cold morning?  I end up stuffing my jacket into my backpack by 3rd period every single day.

Rain and cold weather are exceptionally bothersome and dreadful to be in. You and your stuff get wet easily, you have to carry around an umbrella, and you’re in the cold the whole time. Warm weather is just better than its icy counterpart, even if California’s weather has become more wonky and random. Although it’s the end of winter and the beginning of Spring, make sure to stay warm, especially if the weather gives you a 180.