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Santa Maria, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The night temps for the whole year is colder than Portsmouth, England's, par Feb and March, and London's average July max's beats the average maximum July temperature of the Californian town. (Though to be fair, extreme highs are probs more extreme than England's though?)
Why is this?
It's near the Paciifc Ocean, it's not going to get that hot near the Pacific Ocean north of Mexico no matter what the latitude. How would it get hot?! Seabreezes (or at least airflow from the sea) increase at night keeping the nights chilly. Its winter nights are rather chilly, might also be in a local radiational cooling spot, obviously sea temperatures aren't in the low 40s something else must be adding to it. Note night temperatures increase quickly going south — southern California sea surface temperatures warm up to something actually swimmable.
Extreme max is 110°F. The nearby station immediately on the coast has very slightly warmer nights:
One weirdness is night temperatures increase with elevation in the summer due to less Pacific Ocean influence. Mt. Hamilton at 3700 feet has July mins 7°F warmer than San Jose below the mountain at sea level. Winter nights are slightly chillier on the mountain, though. But still less than expected than the usual change with altitude.
I have relatives that really like living there. The Pac ocean is cool especially north of Santa Barbara (which SM is) and the mountains to the east keep the continental air from getting there. It's just cool and pleasant there year-round.
I have relatives that really like living there. The Pac ocean is cool especially north of Santa Barbara (which SM is) and the mountains to the east keep the continental air from getting there. It's just cool and pleasant there year-round.
Dunno, I need a bit of heat now and then! The nights are just to cold... How can one have a BBQ in such hypothermic conditions during summer nights? (Soz a little over exaggeration but you know what I mean!)
It's near the Paciifc Ocean, it's not going to get that hot near the Pacific Ocean north of Mexico no matter what the latitude. How would it get hot?! Seabreezes (or at least airflow from the sea) increase at night keeping the nights chilly. Its winter nights are rather chilly, might also be in a local radiational cooling spot, obviously sea temperatures aren't in the low 40s something else must be adding to it. Note night temperatures increase quickly going south — southern California sea surface temperatures warm up to something actually swimmable.
Extreme max is 110°F. The nearby station immediately on the coast has very slightly warmer nights:
Seabreezes/airflow from the sea increasing at night, must only be a feature of climates experiencing hot weather inland. Where I live, a seabreeze is strictly a daytime event, usually stopping completely by about 5.00pm at the latest.
Santa Maria does have cold minimums for it's latitude, and Portsmouth has warm ones for it's latitude. I'm guessing cloudier conditions in Portsmouth, would explain a part of it.
I worked in Santa Maria once in the month of June, and was cold the entire time! Pismo Beach was rather miserable with the cold wind. But I was coming from San Antonio and already adjusted to living in miserable heat.
It's a beautiful area and rather inexpensive to live so near the ocean. Just checking the forecast for SM, it looks like highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s and lows upper 50s to lower 60s. Sounds pretty nice to me.
Seabreezes/airflow from the sea increasing at night, must only be a feature of climates experiencing hot weather inland. Where I live, a seabreeze is strictly a daytime event, usually stopping completely by about 5.00pm at the latest.
Yea, though I have no evidence, I do notice the sea breezes do become quite light at night here. So basically only places by the sea located near to hot conditions inland, will get sea breezes at nigh? Why does this happen, do you know?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe90
Santa Maria does have cold minimums for it's latitude, and Portsmouth has warm ones for it's latitude. I'm guessing cloudier conditions in Portsmouth, would explain a part of it.
Well Portsmouth being in England and Santa Maria being in California, I would think that Santa Maria has a hell of a lot more sunshine compared to us! So I would think cloud cover would be one reason during Autumn and Winter. Though Portsmouth usually gets clear nights in summer, I guess nights being much shorter in the UK during summer may be an effect as well. We can get clear nights with temps in the low 20s, though this usually in a heatwave. Also, and this is just guessing, I think the more humid air from the European continent and the fact that Pompey is moderated from the sea may have an effect on why nights are warmer in Portsmouth during some parts of the year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by denverian
I worked in Santa Maria once in the month of June, and was cold the entire time! Pismo Beach was rather miserable with the cold wind. But I was coming from San Antonio and already adjusted to living in miserable heat.
It's a beautiful area and rather inexpensive to live so near the ocean. Just checking the forecast for SM, it looks like highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s and lows upper 50s to lower 60s. Sounds pretty nice to me.
Seabreezes/airflow from the sea increasing at night, must only be a feature of climates experiencing hot weather inland. Where I live, a seabreeze is strictly a daytime event, usually stopping completely by about 5.00pm at the latest.
Santa Maria does have cold minimums for it's latitude, and Portsmouth has warm ones for it's latitude. I'm guessing cloudier conditions in Portsmouth, would explain a part of it.
The airflow increasing at night might be a warm season pattern, a local might be able to give more information. Santa Maria looks like it gets a lot of clear nights in the winter, and many of its night temperature are too cold for having any Pacific influence. You can get rather chilly nights in the winter despite being an oceanic climate and not that far from the sea? I suspect Santa Maria is in a similar situation, the local airport isn't right near the sea, if the air is still radiational cooling high. And low mountains block the ocean influence unless the airflow is directly from the northwest. A weather station right on the Pacific Ocean would be helpful for comparison. There isn't one, because it's a stupid place to put an airport. Arcata, CA has an airport next to the Pacific because it was originally built by the airforce to test defogging equipment. A horror film called the fog was filmed on the north coast of California… Santa Maria won't be as by the sea, as it's further south.
Dunno, I need a bit of heat now and then! The nights are just to cold... How can one have a BBQ in such hypothermic conditions during summer nights? (Soz a little over exaggeration but you know what I mean!)
Locals would wear a sweater on the beach on a summer night.
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