Pomona College - Weather

Quick Stats

College Prowler Take

Well, it’s Southern California. It’s hot, dry, and smoggy, and there are almost never any clouds. Some people love this weather; some hate it. It certainly aids in achieving the coveted “year-long tan,” which is something, but skin cancer is no picnic, and I’ve heard that living in Los Angeles is commensurate to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day due to the air quality (or, more accurately, the lack of air quality). After a while, the weather can get monotonous, and during winter it’s just dry and clear all the time, but not even that warm, and because the Inland Empire is essentially a desert, it can get really cold at night. It doesn’t snow, and it rains about once every few months. When it does rain, it pours. It’s not unusual for the streets around Pomona to turn into raging rivers during a hard rain.

If you love rain and snow and wind and clouds and, well, weather, don’t come to Pomona. You will be sad. Eventually, you may not notice the uniformly-bland lack of weather anymore, but you will still have a nagging feeling in your chest that something is missing. Many people express sorrow over not having seasons; Pomona really just has summer. Sometimes it’s cold, but the leaves don’t change, it doesn’t rain, and the flowers are always in bloom. Some think of Pomona as the Garden of Eden. Silly people. According to my secular understanding of our creation myths, we were all cast out of there a long time ago. Plus, I bet the Garden of Eden wasn’t so smoggy that you couldn’t, two days out of three, see some mountains that were only five miles away. Still, the ability to go to the pool nearly year long, or the beach, or out hiking, can be very appealing. As long as you don’t find the smelly, dry heat too appalling, you’ll have no problem adjusting to the weather.

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Students Speak Out

Anonymous says:

Oh, the weather is fabulous. Bring... Oh, the weather is fabulous. Bring lots of T-shirts, but bring a jacket as well! 12345 Weather Report

Anonymous says:

The weather is about as perfect as... The weather is about as perfect as it can get. I loved walking across sunny green fields of grass barefoot in shorts while ogling an amazing backdrop of snow-covered mountains. 12345 Weather Report

Anonymous says:

The weather is the second-best... The weather is the second-best thing about Pomona. You should bring everything for warm weather, plus almost everything for cold weather, because it gets very cold (in the 40s) sometimes at night. Also, if you want to go camping in the desert, you will need warm clothes. There are many students who insist on wearing only flip-flops. 12345 Weather Report

Anonymous says:

It is hot and sunny. Bring... It is hot and sunny. Bring primarily shorts and skirts and short-sleeves. A few pairs of pants, a few long-sleeves, a few sweatshirts or sweaters, and a raincoat will cover your needs for warmth. 12345 Weather Report

Anonymous says:

The weather at Pomona is always... The weather at Pomona is always gorgeous. Bring shorts, tank tops, pants. Heavy sweaters and sweatshirts are rarely needed. 12345 Weather Report

Did You Know?

The Santa Ana wind occasionally blows through the Inland Empire, and its hot breath can be felt on Pomona’s campus from time to time. Why is this neat? Well, the Santa Ana is one of the world’s few ionized winds. What’s an ionized wind, you ask? A wind with an ionic charge, of course. Duh. These winds blow off of the east side of mountain ranges to the east of a coast, and somehow (I don’t know how this works) pick up a very strong ionic charge. This charge actually affects the brain chemistry of all those it passes over, tending to kick brain activity into overdrive. Admissions to mental hospitals, murder, and suicide rates all increase dramatically in the wake of ionized winds such as the Santa Ana. So if a hot, dry, west-to-east wind is blowing, and people are acting a little strange, you might, for safety’s sake, want to lock yourself up in your room without any sharp objects. Oh, and you should leave your shoe laces and belt outside too, just in case.

What’s that smell? A common question from new students at Pomona. I’ll tell you now: it’s Chino. Chino is about 15 miles from Pomona, and it’s the home to a huge stockyard. On certain days, when the wind is wrong, the rather heady scent of the stockyards descends over Pomona. These days are dreaded at Pomona, and many will forgo classes and social engagements to stay in their room and burn purifying incense and candles. Housing forbids these items, so you better be careful!

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