how cold does sacramento get in the winter? (San Jose, San Francisco: appointed, 2015)

[tstieber]

Bingo as to what KC6ZLV said. The air flow and jet stream in the northern hemisphere usually goes from west to east, so California is generally moderated by the Pacific, *especially* in the winter during our rainy season. The Central Valley is not far enough inland to have a 'continental' climate. It's kind of the best of both worlds in the sense that the climate is more continental during the dry season, which makes the Central Valley temps much hotter than the coast, but in the winter, the prevailing storms and jet stream only make it a little bit colder than the coast. So the coastal moderation happens the most during the coldest times of year, which is why California isn't prone to, say, arctic outbreaks that can penetrate deep into the South and Southeast.

Redding is actually the hottest city in the WORLD at 40 degrees latitude from the equator or greater. That means no other city between 40 degrees north or south latitude and the North and South Poles is hotter, including pretty much most of mainland Europe.

So is Sacramento getting in on some of these warm temps like the Bay Area at the moment? Lots of mid to upper 70s in the Bay lately, meaning I can't gloat about my usual San Diego advantage!

[ragnarkar]

I was at UC Davis for 2 years over a decade ago. Typical winter lows are in the upper 30s. Temperatures may dip below freezing about one night every week on average. Never saw any snow there but I've seen ice on the ground and frost on the windshields early in the morning more than a couple of times. One time I was coming home late at night in the dead of winter and i did recall seeing ice pellets (probably sleet) fall from the sky.

I did live through a couple of winter storm warnings where snow was being forecasted but none actually fell (or maybe it was flurries late at night that melted as it hit the ground.) But in any case, actual snow accumulations occur maybe every 5-10 years as other posters have mentioned and I did hear about a snowstorm that brought maybe 6-12 inches back in the 70 from the old timers.

[citizensadvocate]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Bingo as to what KC6ZLV said. The air flow and jet stream in the northern hemisphere usually goes from west to east, so California is generally moderated by the Pacific, *especially* in the winter during our rainy season. The Central Valley is not far enough inland to have a 'continental' climate. It's kind of the best of both worlds in the sense that the climate is more continental during the dry season, which makes the Central Valley temps much hotter than the coast, but in the winter, the prevailing storms and jet stream only make it a little bit colder than the coast. So the coastal moderation happens the most during the coldest times of year, which is why California isn't prone to, say, arctic outbreaks that can penetrate deep into the South and Southeast.

Redding is actually the hottest city in the WORLD at 40 degrees latitude from the equator or greater. That means no other city between 40 degrees north or south latitude and the North and South Poles is hotter, including pretty much most of mainland Europe.

So is Sacramento getting in on some of these warm temps like the Bay Area at the moment? Lots of mid to upper 70s in the Bay lately, meaning I can't gloat about my usual San Diego advantage!

Interesting the Ocean is not the only influence, but the mountains as well. It appears the mountains both coast/Cascade range and Sierra Nevada had taken the brunt of the cold arctic air masses coming from the north shielding the urban heat islands of the valleys where much of the populations live in. Though east of the continental divide it appears the lack of mountain barrier to the north east of the Rockies exposes normally warm southern areas to be vulnerable to unexpected extreme cold. Meaning its a rare but a real serious threat every winter. Theoretically based on temps on other parts of the country SoCal cities should be getting 50 year all time lows in the low to mid teens. And NorCal should be in single digits. As unimaginable as it seems even normally hot Florida, which is surrounded by two very warm bodies of water(even in January) surrounding it on three sides had gotten single digit temps(just hundreds of feet above sea level) which is hard to believe in the land where even the most dead of winter days are in the 70s and 80s highs with sweltering humidity. Interestingly saying Redding is the hottest city at its northern latitude as it seems hotter than even Bakersfield on the south end of Central Valley and probably hotter than many Texas cities as well.

Though another matter of interest is that the pacific off California always stays in the 50s year round whereas in the Atlantic temps change from season to season. In northern areas it can range from 30s in January to 70s in July. In Florida it can range from 70s in January to near 90 in July. or 22-32c.

The 50s ocean temps influence also causes temperatures to reach the 50s at least once in a twentyfour hour period in pretty much any time of the year, at least in Norcal below 3000ft. i.e In the summer the lows are often in the 50s while in the winter the highs seem to be in the 50s or 60s on most days. There are rarely days when lows stay above 60 even in the hottest days of summer(at least in areas seabreeze) or winter highs that don't reach 50 even in the coldest winter days with 20 degree nights.

[citizensadvocate]

Interestingly I heard the Capital of Florida, Tallahassee which is about 200ft above sea level just got their first snowfall in 30 years.

https://www.livescience.com/61321-wh...e-florida.html
How cold is it? Snow is falling in Florida - Sun Sentinel

Snow and ice close roads and schools in Tallahassee | Miami Herald

Interesting one can ask how many freak snow events occurred in Disneyland California compared to Walt Disney World in Central Florida in the last 100 years?

[KC6ZLV]

I don't know, but it probably snowed there in 1962.

https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/w...les-since-1962

[ragnarkar]

Fyi, this is what Davis has gone through (which tends to be a tad warmer than Sacramento):

https://daviswiki.org/Snow

[citizensadvocate]

Originally Posted by KC6ZLV

I don't know, but it probably snowed there in 1962.

https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/w...les-since-1962

Interesting does parts Florida get more snow events in a 100 year period than Los Angeles, Florida is all lowland and surrounded by 80f waters of both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Its hot and humid enough for tank top shorts and swimsuits to be worn most all year and for the A/C to get a work out 330 days out of the year. I actually went swimming late December early January there and the Atlantic felt warmer than a heated indoor pool in 24 hour fitness in California. You’d think LA being much colder should get
Much more incidences and Florida shouldn’t not see snow for over a hundred years per occurence.

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by citizensadvocate

Interesting does parts Florida get more snow events in a 100 year period than Los Angeles, Florida is all lowland and surrounded by 80f waters of both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. Its hot and humid enough for tank top shorts and swimsuits to be worn most all year and for the A/C to get a work out 330 days out of the year. I actually went swimming late December early January there and the Atlantic felt warmer than a heated indoor pool in 24 hour fitness in California. You’d think LA being much colder should get
Much more incidences and Florida shouldn’t not see snow for over a hundred years per occurence.

Cold air moves across land on the way to Florida. Cold usually moves over the water as it comes into California which moderates temperatures.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by ragnarkar

Fyi, this is what Davis has gone through (which tends to be a tad warmer than Sacramento):

https://daviswiki.org/Snow

Looks like 1972 and then maybe a half inch in 2002. 2009 didn't materialize, and the other photo was just frost on the windshield. So twice in 46 years... Not too impressive IMO...

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Looks like 1972 and then maybe a half inch in 2002. 2009 didn't materialize, and the other photo was just frost on the windshield. So twice in 46 years... Not too impressive IMO...

Here is a list of the snow events in Sacramento. There have been quite a few times when it has snowed outside Sacramento (Folsom, Citrus Heights, Roseville), which isn't included in this list.

When did it snow in Sacramento? See all the dates, amounts | The Sacramento Bee