Michael

I lived there in the 1960s driving Interstate 10 daily not realizing that there was a snow capped mountain (My. Baldy) behind Arcadia. Finally 6 months later it appeared.

Even in San Jose there was a yellow haze over the city during most of the summer. However about 5 years ago, the bay area air was so clean for three years in a row that if it made it through the 4th year, it would have been the first major metropolitan area in the US to have federal smog restrictions lifted. Well into the 4th year, everything was fine and then a stagnant air layer hung over the bay area in September and the Livermore sensors went of three times in a week.

Beaverstate

The San Gabriels can be quite spectacular after a cool vigorous winter storm. I remember looking at Mt Baldy and watching the daily retreat of the snowline. There was a ridge of hills 2 or 3 miles from my house that couldn't be seen all summer.

Michael

Although LA air quality has significantly improved since the 1960s, the valley is a big stagnant air trap and will never be like the bay area. I was in LA a couple weeks ago and nothing is real clear where as I could normally see the San Francisco skyline (if it wasn't covered in fog) from my townhouse in the Fremont Hills 60 miles away.

S Folinsky

It used to be that the San Gabriels were only visible in winter time [Every January 1st, the TV broadcast from the corner of Orange Grove & Colorado would mention the "the snow capped San Gabriels" in the background and 10,000 people would decide that they wanted to move to LA for the weather. ]. However, the mountains would be removed for the Summer. Now they are quite visible most days.

Back in January, we took a trip up to the Bay Area -- the San Joaquin Valley had brown air while the LA basis had blue air. It used to be just the opposite.

S Folinsky

Yep, the entire basin is an "air trap" as you call it. There is often an "inversion layer" which acts as a cap and the off-shore wind bottles up everything in the basin. That is why the Santana winds clean out everything. That said, several decades of strict emission controls have had an effect. In one of the other threads there was mention of oil based paint -- you can buy the stuff in L.A. in quart cans and not gallons [there is a black market in smuggling in gallons from Arizona, but I digress]. I remember back-yard incinerators from when I was a kid. Those are long gone. Most cars are post 1990 and the vehicle emissions stuff has really worked and you can't register the damn car without a biannual clean emissions test.

Michael

Maybe with climate change, the LA basin will get stronger winds to push the smog out and rain to clear the air as the winds and rains die out in the bay area trapping the smog.

Bob

Up and down the last couple of weeks but still in the $3.45-65 region.

Local place is currently $3.43G though at the local bulk store.

Pulaski

I paid 44.9¢/gal today.

Bob

One place is $3.43G whilst most places are $3.56-3.68 a G for the cheap stuff.

andrewlohnes

It's $8.65/gal here in Northampton, England.

Bob

Which sucks.

Then again, my mother can get the bus across the county for 10p :/

Pulaski

Bizarrely, a BP gas station near where I live, that had been selling for $3.589 cut prices by 7c about ten days ago, and the price cut has held upto the Memorial Day weekend. Another BP under common ownship across town sells at the same price, and another nearby at 1c more. Competing Shell and Citgo stations match the prices.

Bob

Bulk store a couple towns over, petrol was $3.46G The one in town was $3.56G

Petrol station up the road is $3.66G

So anyone seeing any price changes as we're coming into summer?

Pulaski

The prices here are slowly drifting downwards. The BP's in town were selling at $3.479 and $3.469 when I drove past in my truck yesterday morning. Later when we headed out in the Mustang we paid $3.519 for BP petrol because the cheaper price was way too far out of the way to make it sensible to detour for the lower price. Here in TN the BP near the hotel is selling below $3.409 (update to follow).

Note, the BP stations in NC price to match other brands, even the discount ones like Marathon and Citgo. The BP just outside the nearest BJ's is sometimes selling below the BJ's price.

Guindalf

It's $3.41 typically round here, but using the Walmart credit card, I get 15 cents a gallon discount, making it $3.26.