Forecasters say it's "Graypril" in San Diego. What does that mean?

The weather is so awry in San Diego that it's prompted the local National Weather Service office to write a poem. And that poem has spawned a term that might not be very familiar for many in the usually sunny region – Graypril. 

The haiku, posted during National Poetry Month, provides the first and most important clue about what that means: "Oh sun, where are thee? Graypril, May Gray, June Gloom... ugh Gray clouds, BE GONE (please)," NWS San Diego tweeted this week. 

Normally sunny San Diego has been experiencing a week with lots of clouds — and ocean conditions could lead to more. 

On Monday, soon before the weather service tweeted out its haiku, the office issued a forecast saying that San Diego will see fog and drizzle, with "multiple low cloud layers" combined with a coastal eddy to limit sunlight. High temperatures in the area were also "well below normal." 

"Temperatures will remain quite cool the next several days," the agency said in a weekly weather briefing on Monday. "In fact, highs will generally top out 5-10 degrees below normal region-wide, with highs as much as 15 degrees below average in the mountains." 

NWS meteorologist Dan Gregoria told CBS San Diego that "Graypril" is "a prelude to May Gray." 

"I think we're seeing it more this year because the sea surface temperatures of the ocean waters are near record cold levels and that's causing more gray for us," he said, adding that the conditions could make May and June gloomier than usual.

"That's typically our peak in the cloud cover that marine level deck near the coast and I think we're going to see a lot of days of that in May and even into June," he said.  

But most of the current "dreary" weather will be gone by Thursday, the agency said, "as skies clear out and winds briefly turn offshore." At that point, the highs will be back to normal, and in some cases, slightly above, and "sunshine will be abundant." 

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• San Diego
• California