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

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Enjoy this very telling quote from the San Diego forum just a few days ago:
"I’ve been here since late January. I could have stayed in Seattle for this. I will say before I moved here and I read this thread, I was feeling like I was going to miss having at least some rain. Apparently, that was the last thing I should have worried about."

And yet much of California still has less rain than the average for the country which is around 33 inches per year.

Sacramento is near 25 inches to date. I am about to win a $250 bet with my meteorologist friend. We both wanted Sac to get 2 feet of rain this season (24 inches). But, I bet we would get at least 25 inches. I haven't won yet, but I'm around 0.40 inches away from winning the bet!

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by tstieber

OMG I haven't been able to wear shorts at night since at least September. Maybe time to head to Palm Springs for a day or two.

I'm loving not having to wear shorts or even a short sleeve shirt because in the next 3 months thats all you are gong to want to wear.

I like that this May I've been able to wear a suit, or long pants and long sleeves without feeling uncomfortable. Usually by May a suit is a little too uncomfortable.

Soon, plenty of cloudless, rainless.....endlless Sun will be upon us.

[Omegaraptor]

Portland has been drier than Sacramento this year.

It’s also been drier than San Francisco, and even Los Angeles.

As California repeatedly gets slammed by storms, the PNW has been drier than normal.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by Rob98LS1

I've paid more attention to this wet winter season than any other year and I've recognized a few things.

It rains and is mild from October to May that is 8 months out of the year. That's 2/3 of the year that is either raining, cold, winter, cloudy, with a few weeks of clear sunny warmth. Here we are at May 18th, 2019 with temps in the 40s and 50s and raining. You have to love this mediterranean climate, just rain and cold most of the year and then 4 months of dry 90/100 temps. Can we get some consistency here? Jesus.

You can't extrapolate historical data based on one single year of observation. Statistically, over many decades, Sacramento averages only 60 days of precipitation per year, leaving 305 days without precipitation. That's extremely un-rainy compared to most of the country and the world. The number of sunshine hours per year is extraordinairly high, and historically, seven months of the year average at least in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The notion that Sacramento is cold and wet for 8 months of the year and warm for only four months of the year is not supported by long-term data by a long shot. It's like the person who moved from Seattle to San Diego expecting it to be dry and being surprised by the rain. It's an anomaly. You can't go through one year and say that's how it is all the time. It's just one particular year.

Keep in mind that most of the country has rain spread out evenly over the entire year, and typically far more days than Sacramento. The fact that there would be at least four completely rain free months per year, if not far more during drought years, is part of the charm of the Mediterranean climate.

[mixxalot]

Looks like mother nature played a dirty trick on us recently in Sacramento!

1. First, we get record rains in Feb-April and bone chilling cold.
2. Then we get a week of summer weather

Now we are back to WINTER and heavy rain and cold!

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by mixxalot

Looks like mother nature played a dirty trick on us recently in Sacramento!

1. First, we get record rains in Feb-April and bone chilling cold.
2. Then we get a week of summer weather

Now we are back to WINTER and heavy rain and cold!

OMG, "bone chilling" its rarely "bone chilling" cold in Sacramento. For 2 hours in the wee hours of a winter morning, for a half dozen days is more like it.

[mixxalot]

Well below 65 is cold to me lol

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by tstieber

You can't extrapolate historical data based on one single year of observation. Statistically, over many decades, Sacramento averages only 60 days of precipitation per year, leaving 305 days without precipitation. That's extremely un-rainy compared to most of the country and the world. The number of sunshine hours per year is extraordinairly high, and historically, seven months of the year average at least in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The notion that Sacramento is cold and wet for 8 months of the year and warm for only four months of the year is not supported by long-term data by a long shot. It's like the person who moved from Seattle to San Diego expecting it to be dry and being surprised by the rain. It's an anomaly. You can't go through one year and say that's how it is all the time. It's just one particular year.

Keep in mind that most of the country has rain spread out evenly over the entire year, and typically far more days than Sacramento. The fact that there would be at least four completely rain free months per year, if not far more during drought years, is part of the charm of the Mediterranean climate.

Great post, TS,

I'm loving this May rain because Sacramento is so beautifully green, all the trees with full canopies of green; midtown looks like a giant garden, so much plant life, so many full gardens, tons of flowers in bloom, along with the longer days of Spring.

In NorCal, we usually associate rain with winter only, its a nice change of pace to have the rain in late Spring. Sac looks and feels like Portland and that is usually not the case in May because Sac is usually so sunny in May.

The streets are full of pedestrians, coffee shops, outdoor restaurant patios, cafes and beer gardens crowded. Lately, there have been a lot of street performers/musicians sharing their talents enjoying the cooler weather. It's nice to see Sacramentans enjoying a rainy Spring day the way they do in the Pacific Northwest.

Rain to date, 2018/2019 Season

Portland: 28.03 inches
Sacramento: 24.40 inches

My rain gauge in my Sacramento neighborhood(Tahoe Park) - 26.75 inches!!
I just won the bet with my Meteorologist friend!

[mixxalot]

I fvcking hate rain

[ABrandNewWorld]

"Amount of rainfall" is deceptive when you compare to other parts of the U.S. On the West Coast, rain means, "extended periods of gloom, little or no sun for days, and lots of drizzle, light rain, and chilly temperatures in the 50s for days at a time". In the Southeastern U.S, they get a LOT more rainfall than Sacramento, but also a LOT more sunshine as well cuz the rain is brief, hard, and warm and the sun comes out minutes after the rain ends, rather than days after the drizzle fizzles. Much prefer temps in the around 80 with a brief warm heavy 30 minute downpour of one inch and then the rest of the day being sunny to 3 days without the sun to get that inch over 72 hours of drizzle. And also everything stays green year round without sacrificing sunshine and warmth.

Has Sacramento ever experienced rain above at a temperature above 70 degrees before?