We examined variability in growth rate during the larval stage of northern anchovy ( Engraulis mordax ) in response to physical and biological environmental factors in 2005 and 2006. The onset of spring upwelling was anomalously delayed by 2–3 months until mid‐July in 2005; in contrast, spring upwelling in 2006 began as a normal year in the northern California Current. Larval and early juvenile E. mordax were collected in Augu...