SLO rainy season? (Sacramento, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo: college, mold, best time) - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

willmackinley · 09-11-2011, 04:14 PM

Hello SLO people,
We're planning a trip to the area for early December. Looking at the City Data weather chart for the city, it looks like Dec-March gets a lot of precipitation. We're from Ohio, and the rain we get here lasts all day and then some, without any let-up. What about in the SLO area? We'd like to spend quite a bit of time outside - are we in for some bad weather for that? Thanks for your time!

jaijai · 09-11-2011, 04:24 PM

It's chancy.
The central coast gets a lot of rain typically beginning around November and continuing through April and sometimes even into May although patterns have really changed in the last few years and rain has come earlier and even lasted a bit later it seems.
Some winters are wetter than others (it was incredibly rainy last winter) but December isn't the best time to visit if you want to make sure that there's no rain.
You may get lucky and have a nice long stretch of rain free days but you never know.
And the rain could be heavy and continuous or not ... you just can't predict.
September and October are often the best months along the coast as there is little to no fog (depending how late into the season it is) and the rain has not arrived yet.
But last October we had rain in Santa Cruz county (north of SLO ... "top" of the central coast) around the 3rd week of October and the fall before that there was record breaking rainfall on the 14th of October.

.highnlite · 09-11-2011, 05:40 PM

We just had a rainy season, yesterday.

As was said, it could be nice, it could be pouring for a week. If it is nice, it is really nice, day temps 65 to 70, clear no fog.

I watch the whiteman's wood piles, it seems that the whitemen are putting up a lot of wood for the winter, so I expect a hard winter.

trixie09 · 09-13-2011, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willmackinley

Hello SLO people,
We're planning a trip to the area for early December. Looking at the City Data weather chart for the city, it looks like Dec-March gets a lot of precipitation. We're from Ohio, and the rain we get here lasts all day and then some, without any let-up. What about in the SLO area? We'd like to spend quite a bit of time outside - are we in for some bad weather for that? Thanks for your time!

I moved from San Luis Obispo County to the Pacific Northwest. I assure you, it's a rare thing in SLO that we'd have rain for days without letup. The majority of Christmas' I can remember there, were in the 70s. Most of the rain truly falls around February and March. and it's rare that it lasts very long. Storms come through, but you'll probably have some nice days during your visit.

willmackinley · 09-27-2011, 05:04 PM

Thanks to all of you!

Shawn_Estrada · 09-28-2011, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trixie09

I moved from San Luis Obispo County to the Pacific Northwest. I assure you, it's a rare thing in SLO that we'd have rain for days without letup. The majority of Christmas' I can remember there, were in the 70s. Most of the rain truly falls around February and March. and it's rare that it lasts very long. Storms come through, but you'll probably have some nice days during your visit.

Agreeded. Back in my college days i remember leaving San Luis with shorts and T on because it was in the 70's just to hit the wall of fog and bitter cold of dreary Northern Sacramento Valley. Mom would always ask what the hell was i thinking, I would respond, "well it was 70 something when i left."

As others have said it is a crap shoot. December may be dry, it may be wet, but certainly it doesn't rain for days on end. The real rainy months are truly Jan-March with Oct, Nov, Dec getting rain here and there. It really just depends on our weather patterns and the type of storms that drop in from Alaska during that time. Overall plan for at least a warm jacket, jeans, and a hoodie should do you just fine.