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Old 01-09-2010, 12:16 AM
 
Location: Pasadena
7,411 posts, read 10,319,435 times
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California weather is boring but beautiful if all you want is sun & warmth. Never need more than a light jacket and occasionally an umbrella [but not often enough]. Its spoiled to complain but the same weather does get boring at times.

As far as cold weather, it can happen and frosts do occur in some of the inland valleys. The freezing cold happening in Florida can also happen here but, like Florida, it is a very rare event.
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Old 01-09-2010, 06:25 AM
 
Location: Sacramento, Placerville
2,511 posts, read 6,263,750 times
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Severe weather takes many different forms.

The west coast of continents have milder climates due to the moderating influence of the ocean. The same pattern occurs in Australia (Perth), Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, Ireland), South America (Chile) and southwestern Africa.

If you have ever taken a weather/climate course worth anything one of the rules you will quickly learn is an air mass takes the characteristics of the surface it is over. In the case of California, the air mass moves from over the Pacific Ocean onto land, so the storms are typically mild, as far as temperatures goes, so no blizzards are going to move in from the west. This is true for the entire West Coast until you are are far enough north that it is just cold enough to support severe winter weather. In those rare instances when the air mass dives straight south the mountain ranges usually buffer the severity of the weather. Additionally, the Pacific Slope (the areas west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada) is in a rain shadow, so little precipitation falls when this occurs. But, many parts of California will receive some chilly temperatures when this occurs. Typically, the coldest temperatures at the low elevations will drop down to the 15-20 degree range where there is little moderating influence from the ocean. The coastal cities will see temperatures down to about 30 degrees, and the rest of the country gets to see footage of frozen oranges in California.

Once in a while a cold air mass will move off the coast of Washington and come back in over California and pick up just enough moisture for some snow at the low elevations. This happened during the beginning of December. Several places received a light snow. It snowed here in Sacramento for about 15 minutes one morning. These conditions occur several times every year, but when it gets that cold in California there is usually very little moisture in the air, and when there is you have to be under the right cloud to see snow.

Of course, this is for the low elevations. California has some of the highest elevations in the country and blizzards are fairly common in the mountains. You don't hear much about them because there aren't many people living in these areas.

We do have severe weather. We have a problem with flooding in many areas, especially Northern California. Although it may seem dry, the drier areas of Northern California receive about 20 inches of rain in about 5 months. That is a fairly decent rate of precipitation. This is just the valleys. The elevated areas receive 35 to 70 inches of precipitation in about the same timespan. About 80 percent of that is snow in the mid and higher elevations. We have had a very wet years that started out cold and packed the snow in the mountains, then the jetstream brings a warmer air mass into California, the warm rain melts the snow and all the equivalent of 25 inches of precipitation is melted in a day or two, combined with the runoff at the lower elevations, and it all heads straight into the valleys.

We don't get a lot of high winds. Once every few years we get enough wind in some areas of Northern California. San Francisco has experienced 80 mile an hour winds a few times. In the Sacramento Valley, it will peak around 70 miles an hour. It doesn't last long, but it is enough to cause damage when the ground is saturated and the trees uproot.

We actually have tornadoes here. The difference between the tornadoes here and in the Midwest is we have small tornadoes and they only stay on the ground for a mile or two at a time, so there is rarely any damage. I actually do a little storm chasing when I have the opportunity. Tornadoes aren't uncommon at all here, but most of them occur in the same areas The Sacramento Valley between Sacramento and Butte Counties, the San Joaquin Valley from Kings to Merced Counties, and the Los Angeles Basin are the hot spots. They have been observed in many other locations.


Sacramento Tornado, 21 February 2005

Google searches will bring up many past tornado warnings and articles.

sacramento tornado warning - Google Search

fresno tornado warning - Google Search

Sunnyvale

and the highest elevation a tornado has been documented:

Tornado, Rockwell Pass, Sequoia National Park, July 7, 2004

You could also argue that heat waves are severe weather. In 2006 we had a severe heatwave that killed 163 people, according to Wikipedia. Heat combined with drought and windy weather is the cause of so many of the wildfires in Southern California. The term used for these conditions in Southern California is "the Santa Ana winds."

And I'm going to throw in fog. I know it sounds crazy because fog by itself is harmless. But the combination of fog and people makes it a very big problem. Fog + people + cars is kind of like guns + beer + rednecks. You never know what the outcome is going to be.
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Old 01-09-2010, 10:00 AM
 
Location: SW MO
23,593 posts, read 37,308,419 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadow Dude View Post
California gets about all kinds of weather, just it is so big compared to the other U.S. states, and certain weather events only occur in certain parts of the state, The northern part gets snow and perhaps some blizzard like conditions and low temps, the southern part gets hot temperatures and the desert gets 120 degree days in the summer, tornados have touched down before, we get left over pacific hurricanes from time to time, earthquakes of course but they aren't a weather event, the desert can get serious T-storms and flooding, the coast gets landslides, lightning also occurs, California gets just about every natural event imaginable just they dont cover the entire state like everywhere else because it goes from forests to beaches and coastline to farms and grass to deserts.
And the lightening can result in horrific forest fires which occur in both the north and the south.
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Old 01-09-2010, 11:13 AM
 
3,431 posts, read 5,202,740 times
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Still, all in all, despite some variation in weather from location to location and year to year, we get far less variety than most of the country, and not many extremes. Our coast rarely gets hot or cold, our valleys do get hot but it's dry, and when they get cold, it's still not that cold or for that long. It rains in the winter, but it's sunny most of the year, even in NorCal. At pretty much any low elevation near sea level, you can grow palm trees and citrus in this state. So while some weather seems exciting to us by comparison, we just don't even know what it's like in other places.
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Old 01-09-2010, 11:48 AM
 
Location: San Diego, California Republic
16,581 posts, read 27,254,765 times
Reputation: 9002
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tnt-User View Post
Your half right. California has many different weather regions. However they usualy stay that way. for example here 90 degree days and 30 degree nights. I go 4 hours east and it's 126 degrees and 80 degree nights! Ever went to Death Valley? Now go to Big Bear. Both completely different but they both stay that way.
That would be a mega rarity!
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Old 01-09-2010, 11:53 AM
 
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
17,531 posts, read 24,594,662 times
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I guess the words "Donner Party" mean nothing. California has more extreme weather than the east.
Death Valley to the Sierras, you can see the snow in the mountains from the desert.
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Old 01-09-2010, 11:56 AM
mlb
 
Location: North Monterey County
4,971 posts, read 4,422,662 times
Reputation: 7903
Two weeks after I moved to the Bay Area from Wisconsin (circa 1976) it snowed.

With climate change - I'd expect ANYTHING.
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Old 01-09-2010, 01:07 PM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,628 posts, read 67,146,871 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fontucky View Post
I included the North with the Diablo mention. I'm nothing if not fair and balanced towards my Northern brethren.
Your Northern bretheren appreciate it.
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Old 01-09-2010, 01:17 PM
 
Location: Southeast
249 posts, read 391,140 times
Reputation: 266
Water has a high heat capacity. Put a large body of water on the side where the prevailing winds originate and you have your own heater in the winter and air conditioner ( esp. with summer updwelling- cold water comes to the surface) in the summer. I'm sure it's way more complex than this but I'm a simple person. It's 18-20 degrees at night here in North carolina right now with this cold artic blast. Can't wait to go home to Coastal California.
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Old 01-09-2010, 01:27 PM
 
Location: So. Cal
277 posts, read 624,755 times
Reputation: 172
California gets just about every kind of weather anywhere else gets, we don't have tornadoes often or even big ones like some areas get but it can snow like crazy here in the mountains, it also can get much colder than just freezing. I don't know what the official lowest temp for the state is but I would guess it is around -50 F, and as mentioned it gets way past 100 F in some areas.
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