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Anyway, I'm certainly grateful to have central heating for next week.
Tuesday and Wednesday will be cold and wet. I think even coldies would turn on the heat (if they had it and they weren't struggling with finances to pay the heating bill) on Tuesday and Wednesday given there will be no daytime sun to heat the house by opening the curtains.
I don't like cold much, but I wouldn't think central heating is necessary. Perhaps there's much less insulation in houses there, but old homes here often are badly insulated. A space heater would probably be fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABrandNewWorld
If you grew up in L.A. or Miami's warm climate, you will probably feel the need to turn on the heater if nighttime lows are in the low to mid 40s OR if you get a rainy overcast day with highs in the 50s. Bear in mind that the houses here are not as well insulated as the houses in colder climates.
Except I haven't grown up in either. I still find the poll question unanswerable, there should be a third choice.
55F and snow to 2000 ft sounds feasible. It would be a pretty standard maximum for here, if there were snow to that level, even warmer - late winter could see snow at that level with maximums around 64=68F.
Something doesn't add up there. Either there is an extremely strong lapse rate (15°F/1000 ft?!) or it's snowing much warmer than freezing, where the snow is unlikely to stick. And for coastal California lapse rates tend to be weaker than usual and often negative in summer.
I don't like cold much, but I wouldn't think central heating is necessary. Perhaps there's much less insulation in houses there, but old homes here often are badly insulated. A space heater would probably be fine.
Except I haven't grown up in either. I still find the poll question unanswerable, there should be a third choice.
A space heater would be also be fine but the fact is that it does get cold enough to desire a source of heating; if there were no central heating, either a space heater or fireplace would be viable alternative but I'd want to be near those to keep warm when we get those cold spells. In Miami, I'd only want that source of warmth maybe once or twice during an average winter. Here, I want it on a good number of winter nights as well as occasionally (maybe 6-10 times per winter) during the day as well. Contrary to what L.A-Mex may lead you to believe, highs in the 50s are more common than highs in the 80s and 90s during our winter months.
Here's our forecast from the NWS:
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 925 AM PST SAT DEC 27 2014 .SYNOPSIS... NEAR THE COAST...NEAR NORMAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS HIGH PRESSURE SURFACE AND ALOFT DOMINATES THE LOCAL WEATHER. CHILLY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE INLAND AREAS THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEKEND WITH FROST IN SOME WIND-SHELTERED LOCATIONS AGAIN FOR TONIGHT. OTHERWISE...CLEAR SKIES. INCREASING CLOUDS BEGINNING LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY WILL RESULT IN WARMER NIGHTS IN THE VALLEYS EARLY IN THE WEEK AS A STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES. AROUND TUESDAY...THE STORM WILL BRING RAIN...WIND...AND SNOW TO THE REGION. THIS STORM WILL DROP DOWN FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA...AND WILL BE A COLD STORM ...WITH SNOW LEVELS POSSIBLY DOWN AROUND 2000 FEET AT TIMES AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK.THE STORM SHOULD MOVE OUT LATE THURSDAY...BUT TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS.
Something doesn't add up there. Either there is an extremely strong lapse rate (15°F/1000 ft?!) or it's snowing much warmer than freezing, where the snow is unlikely to stick. And for coastal California lapse rates tend to be weaker than usual and often negative in summer.
I would think lapse rates can be high at times. Falling snow at 1000m/3000ft, while the temperature at the same time down here is 16-20C , would be reasonably common in late winter.early spring.
I think it's easy underestimate the speed at which one system replaces another, if you don't experience it often. What happens in the morning, is often quite different to what's happening in the afternoon.
Also mild foehn effect is a strong player here. Not big swings like Christchurch, but 2-4 C of heating, which has a big bearing when average winter maximums are around the 13-14C range.
A space heater would be also be fine but the fact is that it does get cold enough to desire a source of heating; if there were no central heating, either a space heater or fireplace would be viable alternative but I'd want to be near those to keep warm when we get those cold spells. In Miami, I'd only want that source of warmth maybe once or twice during an average winter. Here, I want it on a good number of winter nights as well as occasionally (maybe 6-10 times per winter) during the day as well. Contrary to what L.A-Mex may lead you to believe, highs in the 50s are more common than highs in the 80s and 90s during our winter months.
Here's our forecast from the NWS:
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA 925 AM PST SAT DEC 27 2014 .SYNOPSIS... NEAR THE COAST...NEAR NORMAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS HIGH PRESSURE SURFACE AND ALOFT DOMINATES THE LOCAL WEATHER. CHILLY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE INLAND AREAS THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEKEND WITH FROST IN SOME WIND-SHELTERED LOCATIONS AGAIN FOR TONIGHT. OTHERWISE...CLEAR SKIES. INCREASING CLOUDS BEGINNING LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY WILL RESULT IN WARMER NIGHTS IN THE VALLEYS EARLY IN THE WEEK AS A STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES. AROUND TUESDAY...THE STORM WILL BRING RAIN...WIND...AND SNOW TO THE REGION. THIS STORM WILL DROP DOWN FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA...AND WILL BE A COLD STORM ...WITH SNOW LEVELS POSSIBLY DOWN AROUND 2000 FEET AT TIMES AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK.THE STORM SHOULD MOVE OUT LATE THURSDAY...BUT TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS.
false, 80s happen more often than 50s.
and 2 days of 50s out of the year wont require heat.
ill bet anything that it wont drop below 5000 feet. i even think santa anas wont see snow.
Meaning about half of all winters will get below 40 F at some point and half won't. Some winters in Miami don't even get below 45 F ever which I don't think has ever happened in L.A.
Anyway, I'm certainly grateful to have central heating for next week.
Tuesday and Wednesday will be cold and wet. I think even coldies would turn on the heat (if they had it and they weren't struggling with finances to pay the heating bill) on Tuesday and Wednesday given there will be no daytime sun to heat the house by opening the curtains.
meaning that every winter drops to at least 40 F on average.
you have been blessed by God to have heating, the millions in LA that don't have it envy you enormously, those two days of 50s will be hell for the millions of the people in LA that dont have heating.
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