Do we underestimate and downplay how Great Sacramento weather really is? (Los Angeles: central, between)

[tstieber]

Well, I heartily echo your enthusiasm, bc I too love the cool mornings with the hot days. I was just clarifying that it's only the 6 am summer temps that Sac consistently shares with PNW cities, but not the clouds, rain, and generally cooler conditions year round. So the climates are overall quite different. Sac has amazing weather IMO. Some of the best in the world, unless you love extreme year round consistency like Hawaii... I grew up in Walnut Creek and still love the climate there (very similar to Sac as mentioned in this thread, particularly in the easternmost section where we lived).

Originally Posted by Chimérique

I'm glad you agree about Sacramento's weather. It makes perfect sense to compare Sacramento with Portland and Seattle regarding cool mornings. It's a fact, often in the summer, Sac/Portland/Seattle will have very similar low temps for 3 to 6 hours. I'm telling you when it is not in the high 50's to low 60's in Sac in the morning we really miss it. It makes a huge difference to me that it's NOT 70-85F degrees on my morning run like in the Southwest and many sections of the USA. If it reaches the high 90's which it hasn't in the last 10 days, it's really nice knowing every morning its going to be COOL.

The vegetation in Seattle and Portland is greener than the Bay Area and Sacramento because it rains 1/3 to twice as much, not because of the difference in temperature and that is why I compare Sacramento/Seattle/Portland because their morning temps are closer to each other than Sacramento/Phoenix/Vegas/Texas/Florida/huge swaths of the South.



The average amount of rain per year nationally is around 30 inches. 2/3 of California is dry by that comparison but again, the reason for this thread is to partially dispell the myths and exaggerations about Sacramento especially the exaggerations that come from the minds of Coastal Californians. Sacramento averages more rain than, all of SoCal, Central Cal, and some parts of the Bay Area.



Yes, Sacramento is the 3rd sunniest major metro in the nation (metros over 2.0 million). I think that is awesome. Denver brags that they get "300 days of sun". Nobody seems to complain about the Phoenix and Vegas sun By the way Denver's claim is bogus as they claim partly cloudy days as sunny days in their 300 day figure.



So this comment is directly why I created this thread. "Downplaying Sacramento's weather" You are downplaying an important feature of Sacramento summers, it's cools mornings and nights.

For 6-8 hours the temperature is 55-70 degrees, giving you at least 2-5 hours of cool comfortable temperatures to perform all kinds of outdoor activities.

It matters a lot to me that I can run, garden, exercise, fix the roof, fence almost everyday in the summer in cool temperatures; whereas, in the deserts southwest, San Joaquin Valley it's 15-30 degrees hotter during these hours.

Same with huge swaths of the nation that stay uncomfortably humid hot 24 hours a day in the summer. No real cool down, no reliable part of the day that is down right cool like Sac's average low temp of 58-62F in the morning in the summer.

[trailtramp]

How close into the city must one be to get the advantage of these cooler nights? Is there somewhat of a boundary where the nights don't cool down as much? Are Carmichael and Fair Oaks too far out to get this advantage?

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by trailtramp

How close into the city must one be to get the advantage of these cooler nights? Is there somewhat of a boundary where the nights don't cool down as much? Are Carmichael and Fair Oaks too far out to get this advantage?

We are in Carmichael and it cools off here at night. From what I've heard Roseville doesn't

[theurbanfiles]

Sacramento is one of my dream cities in which to eventually relocate, and weather is a big portion of why. First, as others have correctly pointed out, it cools down a lot at night during the summer. However, it also balances out by only having a modest temp drop in winter at night. It also is consistently very sunny which is nice.

Tampa and Sacramento often have similar daytime temps. The difference is, the real feel in Sacramento is generally what the temperature is, where its not at all uncommon to have real feel in the 110s for extended periods of the summer in FL. The dew point is also 20ish pts lower in Sac. And again, it actually cools down at night. I can be just sitting and doing nothing, be it at 8 am or 10 pm, and still sweating here in FL. You also have great microclimates nearby for summer and winter, where FL is a little more limited in that regard.

SacTown is a blessed place, and if I could convince my wife and find a good opportunity, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

COL isn't much different (maybe slightly higher) than it is in our part of FL, but I would assume that would partially be made up for by an increase in salary.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by cavsfan137

Sacramento is one of my dream cities in which to eventually relocate, and weather is a big portion of why. First, as others have correctly pointed out, it cools down a lot at night during the summer. However, it also balances out by only having a modest temp drop in winter at night. It also is consistently very sunny which is nice.

Tampa and Sacramento often have similar daytime temps. The difference is, the real feel in Sacramento is generally what the temperature is, where its not at all uncommon to have real feel in the 110s for extended periods of the summer in FL. The dew point is also 20ish pts lower in Sac. And again, it actually cools down at night. I can be just sitting and doing nothing, be it at 8 am or 10 pm, and still sweating here in FL. You also have great microclimates nearby for summer and winter, where FL is a little more limited in that regard.

SacTown is a blessed place, and if I could convince my wife and find a good opportunity, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

COL isn't much different (maybe slightly higher) than it is in our part of FL, but I would assume that would partially be made up for by an increase in salary.

I'm glad you posted!

It was especially nice last night and this morning. Actually the first half of July has been Awesome, 1 or 2 days when it got just a little too hot from 3-7pm.

It's interesting how people only remember the few hot days and they characterize the entire summer, actually the entire year by that one day, or stretch of a few days in the high 90's.

People are just weird about weather, including me, so that is why I created this thread to keep it real!

Some anecdotes, this are real situations:

A Sacramento Barista greets a customer at 7:30 in the morning at a coffee shop, and says, "oh, wow, Is it super hot again? Out there?"

I was shocked and quite happy that the customer said what I was thinking.

Customer said, "no it's absolutely gorgeous, my daughter I and just finished a nice long walk", "It's really beautiful"

Barista: "Oh, I just assumed it was hot cuz its hot all the time".

The customer: "Well, it gorgeous now, like it always is in the morning"..... and it's been really nice for like the last 10 days". "It has not been hot at all".

Barista: "Oh yeah, I guess you're right". "But its gonna get real hot later"

Customer: "I don't think so, mid 80's I think". "And it's gorgeous right now"

Barista: Dumbfounded. In her little mind, it's hot all the time, all day long, all night long, all summer long. 2 weeks of very nice weather is completely ignored. She still thinks its hot because it was for one day, 2 weeks ago. :-)

[Chimérique]

Another Super GORGEOUS Summer Day in Sacramento. Loving it! Over 2 weeks in the mid 80's! (heat index)

Cool comfortable mornings!

8:30 morning July 17, 2016

San Francisco 54F
Oakland 56F
Fairfield, CA 57F - Bay/Delta Microclimate

Sacramento 62F - North Central Valley with Bay/Delta Microclimate
Seattle 62F
Portland 63F

Chico 69F - North Central Valley
Ontario 69F - Southern Cal
Fresno 74F - South Central Valley

Salt Lake City 80F

Las Vegas 93F - Ouch, in the morning!
Phoenix 97F - Ouch, in the morning!

[theurbanfiles]

That's incredible! I'm sure there is, but what is the scientific reasoning for Sacramento having that (where the temp significantly drops off during the summer, but not the winter, I did see there's a fair amount of rain during the winter, and none at all during the summer). Is it just a higher power looking out for the city? Because, generally, the only places where I've seen massive dropoffs like that between day and night is places at elevation (and to a degree, desert, but Phoenix and Vegas don't have massive dropoffs usually.), and while Sacramento is dry-ish, I wouldn't consider it a desert, and the highest point in town is 800 ft., so it's not exactly at elevation either.

That conversation is hilarious. So many people make stereotypes and assumptions like that, and it almost seems like some kind of refusal to analyze the situation. It's the same as many southerners making trips to the Carribean, and northerners making trips to Florida during the summer for extended periods, despite the fact that any reasonable bit of intellectualness would tell someone that to most people, northern states are more comfortable than Florida/Caribbean during the summer.

And yet, even in the midst of all that factual evidence, people will generally just assume that Sacramento is a burning hot place. I'm hoping that holds out though, at least for a few more years as my 5-10 year plan is to move somewhere out west, and Sacramento is at the top of that list right now.

[movinon]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

We are in Carmichael and it cools off here at night. From what I've heard Roseville doesn't

I think it must depend on what part of Roseville one is in. I'm in West Roseville, near Fiddyment, Blue Oaks, and Pleasant Grove and it cools off at night. We also get the Delta Breeze. The breeze was brisk enough this morning that I had leaves on the ground from my trees, which is a frequent occurrence. It was 59 in my yard at 6:30 this AM. I don't have an official "weather station" type of set-up or I'd tell you what the wind speed was but it was enough to need a light sweatshirt when I took the dog for her 3 mile walk at 7. The breeze is blowing right now and it's 79 in the shade (my yard is mostly shady) at 12:10PM. Love it!

[enigma99a]

Originally Posted by cavsfan137

That's incredible! I'm sure there is, but what is the scientific reasoning for Sacramento having that (where the temp significantly drops off during the summer, but not the winter, I did see there's a fair amount of rain during the winter, and none at all during the summer).

Yeah, the Pacific Ocean is 59F right now, little cooler in the winter but not much. When the wind comes off of it, it's pretty cold and most bay cities hit 59 at night or a little cooler when the wind keeps up all night. During the day it usually cuts off but some days like today it keeps up and the days are just about perfect.

In the winter, the Pacific Ocean moderates cold fronts coming down from the north and is generally mild although I wouldn't call it warm. On a rainy year like this one was, there is less sun so that translates into cooler days. Also Downtown and Midtown Sacramento is USDA Zone 10. (Average annual low extreme of 30-40F) Not bad.

[enigma99a]

Marine layer was in this morning