Dry eye relief in San Luis Obispo, California

San Luis Obispo’s air swings between fog and dryness. At the Cal Poly weather station, NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals show 22.42 inches of rain a year, yet June through September together add only 0.32 inches, and September is the warmest month. Quell is a lubricating eye drop that ships to Central Coast addresses, while sorting out dryness that won’t settle is an eye doctor’s call.

What the Cal Poly and airport stations record

NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information keeps 30-year normals for two stations in town: one at Cal Poly, on the north side near the foothills, and one at the county airport on the south edge of the city. They agree on the shape of the year and disagree on the details, which is worth knowing if you split your days between the two ends of town.

• Cal Poly averages 22.42 inches of precipitation a year; the airport averages 17.94.
• January is the wettest month at Cal Poly, with a normal of 5.07 inches.
• The summer months are close to rainless there: 0.13 inches in June, 0.07 in July, 0.01 in August and 0.11 in September.
• September’s normal high, 80.1°F, is the warmest of the year. January’s normal high is 64.9°F and its normal low 44.0°F.
• The airport averages 8.0 nights a year at or below freezing, compared with 2.6 at Cal Poly.

Foggy mornings, dry afternoons

NOAA’s humidity table has no San Luis Obispo row, so the nearest station it lists, Santa Maria, is the closest official guide. There, relative humidity averages 75 percent in the morning and 62 percent in the afternoon across the year. August mornings average 80 percent, the dampest of the year, which matches the marine layer that rolls up the valley from Morro Bay and Avila after dark. November mornings are the driest, at 69 percent.

The daily swing is what people notice. A gray, cool start can turn into a bright, breezy afternoon once the fog lifts off the morros, and your eyes go from comfortable to scratchy within a few hours. Dressing in layers is second nature on the Central Coast; it helps to plan your eye care the same way, with the afternoon in mind.

Valley wind, vineyards and the morros

Afternoon breezes funnel through the valleys around town, across the vineyards of Edna Valley and up the trails on Bishop Peak and Cerro San Luis. A hike to the summit or a long tasting-room afternoon puts you in moving air for hours, often in strong sun. A few things help:

• Wraparound sunglasses cut both glare and side wind on exposed ridge trails.
• A brimmed hat shades your eyes, which makes you less likely to squint against the light for hours.
• Bring the bottle in a daypack rather than leaving it in the car at the trailhead.
• Wash or sanitize your hands before using drops on the trail, since dust and sunscreen both end up on your fingers.

Campus life at Cal Poly

Students and staff spend long stretches in lecture halls, labs and the library, often in front of screens. Concentration cuts down on blinking, and the tear film thins between blinks. Add a breezy bike ride up the hill to campus and a heated dorm room in winter, and eyes can feel dry by evening. Anyone 18 or older can order Quell online with guest checkout; a student under 18 would need a parent or guardian to place the order. Dry eyes while studying for exams has more on long study sessions.

Cold valley nights and storing the bottle

Those eight freezing nights a year at the airport station matter for anything you leave in a car. Quell’s label gives the storage range: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). A bottle left in a glove box on a frosty January night in the south end of town can fall below that range, and one left in a sunny lot on a September afternoon can rise above it. Keep it in your bag or a drawer, and see how to store eye drops for the rest.

Where Quell fits on the Central Coast

The tear film is a thin sandwich: an oily outer layer, a watery middle and a mucus layer against the eye. The oil slows evaporation, and Quell is designed to reinforce the tear film’s oil layer to help reduce moisture loss. The carton’s directions read: Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye.

Because San Luis Obispo days often start damp and end dry, many people place their drops later in the day: one mid-morning, one after lunch and one in the early evening, for example. The label sets the count, not the clock. Before each use, check the solution looks as it should. The eye drops have a naturally milky-brown appearance. This is normal and does not indicate a problem with the product.

Ordering to San Luis Obispo

Quell ships across the US from Brentwood, Tennessee, including to homes, offices and campus mailrooms in San Luis Obispo. Shipping is $10.00 per order, or free once the order reaches $89.00, which 3 bottles do. No arrival date is promised. The San Luis Obispo page has local ordering details, and the California page covers the rest of the state.

When to see an eye doctor

If dryness hangs on through the foggy weeks as well as the dry ones, or your vision changes, book a visit with an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They work out what’s causing it and what to do; a drop can’t. Quell’s label lists the signs to stop: Stop use and ask a doctor if you feel eye pain or changes in your vision, if irritation or redness continues, or if the condition worsens or persists for 72 hours.