Whether you’re enjoying the recent cloudy skies or are waiting for a typical sunny Southern California day, June gloom has been in full effect much of the month.

What might have been unexpected is recent thunderstorm activity last week and over the weekend, which experts say is rare given that June is typically one of the drier months of the year.

Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, explained that it’s normal to have cloudy conditions linger into the afternoon hours in June, thus the name June gloom.

So when might Southern Californians expect a break from the clouds?

“It looks like this weekend might be a little bit better, in terms of a better clearing in the late morning, afternoon hours, but looking into next week, it looks like maybe we’ll have a return to very persistent gloominess,” Kittell said. “Typically we get into July, especially July and August, the waters start to warm, start to get more monsoonal influence, we usually get better, more sunny days, especially in the afternoon hours.”

Additionally, the early arrival of El Niño can impact Southern California weather this year.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, El Niño conditions were already present last week and are expected to grow stronger in the coming months.

That means the above-average sea-surface temperatures are expected to keep building and remain strong through the 2023-2024 winter, potentially bringing more wet weather to California later this year.