Does it ever snow in SF?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

And for the record, the coldest I ever experienced in Berkeley was December 1990 into early Jan 1991. The fountain at Santa Fe Grill was frozen solid and there was a skin of ice on the bay a few mornings. However, there was no moisture - it was dry cold. I also remember the 1976 major sea level snow event. That was the granddaddy.

Precisely opposite of R4T, in fact, even though the 1974 - 1978 period had a La Nina and was at the tail end of Negative PDO, the 1976 low elevation snow event was the only one that touched sea level during that minor cold period. Then in 1978 the PDO started to swing positive and there was an El Nino. The 1980s and 1990s were overall warm and wet, with a low intensity drought superimposed during the 1987 - 1991 period. That drought mostly hit SoCal but did influence annual precip up here.

The wet and warm 90s' final hurrah was the 1997 - 98 El Nino. By the end of 1998, we had the worst cold snap since 1990 - 91, during the week of the Winter Solstice. The system that brought it on was moisture starved and yet did manage to produce sea level flurries in a number of locations (including the bayside of San Mateo County, personal observations). Nothing stuck.

The 00s were a mixed bag but by and large were cold and dry, punctuated by El Ninos to prevent a drought disaster. The PDO had flipped negative and exerted its force. In the midst of the 00s were a few low elevation snow events but no sticking. With the exception of the Feb 2000 one the events were mostly grouped toward the end of the decade. A bad drought happened 2006 - 2008.

Thus far the 10s have been, other than 2010, dominated by drought and generally coolish conditions. It is hoped the current outbreak of cP is not a portent of an ongoing Rex Block and continuation of the severe drought.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Sorry, Gent. I was there. On College Avenue. Oh well.

I'm sure you were.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Is it the out of control, killer global warming meme?

(disclaimer - I am not denying climate change however at this point the measured changes are less than 1 degree C)

While I also believe in Climate change, that can only be compared as you know to very long term data and CA's climate shifts between warmer and colder every 30 years or so. We're currently in a warmer trend.

But that emoticon is from a forum I used to run some years ago.