how cold does sacramento get in the winter? (Los Angeles, San Diego: 2014, live in)

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

I agree with you, Sacramento winters are mild compared to 3/4 of the nation.

This is true, compared to all except the Gulf Coast and Florida, a Sacramento winter is warmer than anywhere east of the Rockies; though yesterday we had a high of 57° and a low of 43° here, cold by our standards, but would be a typical winter day in Sacramento, and it felt cold to me most of the day. All depends on what you're used to

[mxcolin]

Originally Posted by DougStark

What?? you think Sac winters are sunny, dry and mild? Were you just born or something? Winters in Sac are often damp, cloudy, some rain, and some stretches of nasty tule fog that may last for days on end. Some days are sunny and mild in Sac like you say, but head to LA if you want winters like that.

No, Sac's not cold by eastern standards, but winter mornings in Sac at 35 degrees with a damp atmosphere make wearing a warm coat a must IMO.

BTW, the chilly, wet winters there are the reason why fruit trees do so well there. They need that cold weather in order to flower and fruit in the spring.

I grew up in Scotland. Describing the winters here as wet are laughable. It has rained once in the last 30 days.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by mxcolin

I grew up in Scotland. Describing the winters here as wet are laughable. It has rained once in the last 30 days.

Rain is hit or miss in this semi-desert climate, and obviously it is nowhere near the dampness of the heaths and moors, but when it does rain from November to April, it can really pour at times.

[Chimérique]

4:00 a.m. this morning, Dec 22, 2017

Western Cities and a few others

Denver 09F

Salt Lake City 14F
Reno 19F
Kansas City 22F
Tucson 23F
Fresno 27F
Spokane 27F
Las Vegas 28F
Portland 29F

Santa Rosa 30F
Sacramento 30F
San Jose 31F
Phoenix 34F
Riverside 37F
Seattle 39F

Los Angeles 42F
Dallas 43F

[Chimérique]

I like that a Sacramento Winter is a bit colder than it's sister cities on the western coast.

It makes for a much more distinct winter look and feel.

Still quite comfortable, but with more fall leaves, crisp cold mornings, usually more rain, occasional fog, certainly takes away that endless monotonous weather of SoCal or Arizona.

A lot of Sacramento is oriented towards the Sierras for outdoor recreation and if you spend a day in Tahoe, the Sierras or Reno and then come back home the same day or next day, you quickly realize how mild and comfortable Sacramento really is in the winter.

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by NickB1967

Rain is hit or miss in this semi-desert climate, and obviously it is nowhere near the dampness of the heaths and moors, but when it does rain from November to April, it can really pour at times.

Sacramento doesn't have anything close to a desert climate. You are thinking of a steppe climate. You have to go down to Fresno for that, but it still isn't a desert. Bakersfield comes very close. If you go west of Bakersfield there are a few areas that are classified as desert.

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

What fog, there has not been any significant long lasting fog in Sacramento in the last 5 years. Try walking around in 45F in Sacramento in winter layers, as if you were in a 20F snowy day, light wind. You will burn up.

I think its psychological. I've tested the theory. We've waked around Tahoe(stateline for at least 30 mins in the winter as we would dress in Sacramento in the winter, jeans, long leave shirt, no under shirt, no hat, no gloves, a sweater, but no heavy jacket. And we froze are puhtokahs off. We did the same in Reno when it was 15F, no snow, and in 10 mins we could not stand it, too cold.

It felt a lot warmer and more comfortable in Sacramento even when it when it is "damp". I can't even remember an all day long term foggy day in Sacramento; it literally has not happened in over 5 years.

There is a term called the "bone-chill factor" the Okies used when they came to the San Joaquin Valley. It was an expression used to describe the feeling as if it is colder than it really is when it is foggy. There is some truth to it. Your body creates a layer of warm air around it. In the case of wind-chill, the wind blows away that warm air. In the case of fog, the water moving through that warm air absorbs the heat, and it can absorb a lot of of it. Think of it being the opposite of a heat index. So, yes, it does have a physiological cooling effect and once in a while someone gets a case of hypothermia from it, although usually because they haven't bother to dress properly. So, at 40 degrees you are going to feel colder if it is foggy than if it is dry. My experience with working outdoors in it is a few layers beneath a jacket and I'm fine. Sometimes a bit warm. However, I'm one of those people who will have warm hands and feet if I'm getting any exercise in cold weather.

Fog lasting all day occurs in Sacramento. What is much more common is fog will settle in with a deep inversion overnight. The following day the sun will warm the ground just enough to warm the surface to just above dewpoint and the afternoon will end up overcast and misty with some drizzle. If you go up several hundred feet you are back into a situation where dewpoint and temperature meet. People in California have always referred to that low stratus as fog.

[Robertfchew]

The lows have been in the mid 30s every morning for a few weeks now. Seems like it is raining a lot less this year.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

This is true, compared to all except the Gulf Coast and Florida, a Sacramento winter is warmer than anywhere east of the Rockies; though yesterday we had a high of 57° and a low of 43° here, cold by our standards, but would be a typical winter day in Sacramento, and it felt cold to me most of the day. All depends on what you're used to

Actually, 57/43 would be a few degrees above the long term average for December.

The average high/low for Sacramento for December is 54/40 and that's near downtown Sac. at the warmest of the 3 stations.

https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?casacc+nca

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by KC6ZLV

Sacramento doesn't have anything close to a desert climate. You are thinking of a steppe climate. You have to go down to Fresno for that, but it still isn't a desert. Bakersfield comes very close. If you go west of Bakersfield there are a few areas that are classified as desert.

That's true. Sacramento is a Mediterranean climate. But Mediterranean, Steppe, and Desert climates all typically have erratic rainfall patterns.