Weather Talk

It's mid of April now and still wintry in the UK. The other day I tweeted: "I take back everything I said about spring is near. It's snowing again." and had so many retweets and replies as never before. On my flight yesterday the pilot mentioned the rumour that it's supposed to get warmer this weekend and added: "I believe it when I see it!"

Well, the English like to talk about the weather. Dr Samuel Johnson, an English writer of the 18th century, already said 250 years ago:
"It is commonly observed, that when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather; they are in haste to tell each other, what each must already know, that it is hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm."
Of course, no one is actually interested in the weather itself. The weather talk is more of a ritual greeting, conversation-starter or default filler. Almost every small talk situation starts with a comment on the weather.

Therefore, I was quite shocked when an American guy from L.A. told me recently that they never talk about the weather. I mean it does make sense, since it's always sunny and warm in California:

But imagine you just met someone and you don't really know what to talk about, you start feeling really awkward because of this ongoing silence, but you don't wanna start a conversation about politics or personal matters either. So, seriously Californian people, how do you strike up a conversation and socially bond?