Since we talk about record cold events with regularity here, I thought I’d talk about some record heat events that occurred near me.
Here’s a roundup of some highs:
SXUS76 KSTO 210038 AAA RERSTO RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO, CA 530 PM PDT MON APR 20 2009 ...RECORD HEAT ACROSS INTERIOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA... A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE HAS SETTLED OVER CALIFORNIA. THE HIGH PRESSURE...COMBINED WITH VERY LIGHT WINDS AND ABUNDANT SUNSHINE HAS RESULTED IN ANOTHER DAY OF RECORD BREAKING HIGH TEMPERATURES ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. TODAYS HIGH OF 96 AT REDDING RECORD BROKE THE RECORD AT BOTH THE AIRPORT AND AT THE OLD REDDING CITY LOCATION. THE OLD CITY RECORD WAS 93...SET IN 1931. THE HIGH AT RED BLUFF AIRPORT REACHED 95...WHICH ECLIPSED THE OLD RECORD HIGH OF 91 SET IN 1950. THE HIGH AT THE SACRAMENTO CITY STATION REACHED 94 DEGREES... BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 92 SET IN 1931. THE RECORD AT SACRAMENTO EXECUTIVE AIRPORT REACHED 93...THE OLD RECORD WAS 90 SET IN 1950. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 96 DEGREES WAS SET AT STOCKTON CA SUNDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 90 SET IN 1950. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 97 DEGREES WAS SET AT MODESTO CA SUNDAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 92 SET IN 1986. TUESDAY WILL BE ANOTHER WARM DAY WITH NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES FORECAST. TEMPERATURES BEGIN TO COOL BY MIDWEEK...BY THE WEEKEND TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE NEAR NORMAL.
While note mentioned by the NWS, the weather station I operate for my local Newspaper, The Chico Enterprise-Record set a new record high:
There were a bunch set in Southern California also
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 87 DEGREES WAS SET AT LOS ANGELES AIRPORT TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 83 SET IN 1986. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 94 DEGREES WAS SET DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 92 SET IN 1914. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 97 DEGREES WAS SET AT LONG BEACH CALIFORNIA TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 88 DEGREES SET IN 1986. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 96 DEGREES WAS SET AT SAN GABRIEL TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 93 DEGREES SET IN 1999. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 92 DEGREES WAS SET AT U.C.L.A. TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 84 DEGREES SET IN 1999. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 96 DEGREES WAS SET AT CAMARILLO TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 86 DEGREES SET BACK IN 1958. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 96 DEGREES WAS SET AT OXNARD TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 86 DEGREES SET IN 1958. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 87 DEGREES WAS SET AT SANTA BARBARA AIRPORT TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 86 DEGREES SET IN 1958. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 94 DEGREES WAS SET AT SANTA MARIA TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 91 DEGREES SET IN 1938. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 95 DEGREES WAS SET AT PASO ROBLES TODAY. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 93 DEGREES SET IN 1950.
And here comes the requisite mention of “global warming” from the media, such as this story from the Post Chronicle:
California’s Cities Hit Record Hot Tempertures – Global Warming In Effect?
by Jack Ryan
Maybe it’s global warming but a record storm of heat has hit Californians extremely hard on Sunday. According to reports, a record of 101 degrees in Santa Ana was reached. Originally in 1916 apparently, a 94-degree record had been in place.
According to the AP, “Record heat is forecast statewide again Monday with the National Weather Service posting a heat advisory along the coast from San Francisco Bay south to Big Sur. Thermometers registered record highs Sunday across Southern California.”
Note, the headline typo is NOT mine, click link to see the original. By the way, this is what the Santa Ana weather station looks like. It’s a great place to set records. Story here.
Santa Ana Station looking North. Click for a larger image
And finally, I had to laugh at this headline:
Only in California…maybe the headline writer for the Post Chronicle was there?
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Any chances for a thread about the wacky jet stream? I have noticed (I follow the jet stream as the best indicator of weather) the jet stream “predictions” made by Environmental Canada and NOAA’s Ark have been consistently incorrect due to a seeming bias toward warmer patterns. This results in forecasts that are similar in that they predict almost always warmer temps but end up off on the high side. The jet stream has again gone south over the past few days, and it is now snowing in Southwest BC. (My home 60 miles inland. +22 degrees C three days ago) It is snowing hard in the Northwestern Cascades/Rockies/Prairies, and coming soon to the Dakotas and points East. Snow is falling across the Northern Great Lakes, and is spreading South. Temps in Alberta/Western Prairies have been bracing to say the least! I would posit that the cold air over central Canada is not going away due to the jet stream fleeing South every week or so. Why is this happening so late in the year? This pattern is what one expects to see in February. Just what are the main drivers of the jet stream anyway? And could the sun have anything to do with this?
Glad I left the snow tires on the 4Runner!
Thanks
The ocean temps and water vapor may play a part in how the jet stream behaves. It may also be due to trade wind strength. A slower trade wind may result in the back flow jet stream being in a more southerly track and with smoother flow and fewer loops and dips (the jet stream track hasn’t moved South, it has actually moved North, but a turbulent loop has dipped way down).
Here is an experiment: Blow smoke in a stream and have it hit something. There is back flow. Blow it harder and the back flow is turbulent. Blow it slower and the back flow is smoother. Here is another thought: Cars are built to reduce turbulence and back flow which would otherwise reduce gas mileage. Earth and its atmosphere isn’t made like that. The trade winds, especially when blowing hard, are very turbulent along the edges and when they hit something (like different air pressures, land masses, etc).
Do you check the jet stream down South?
“Do you check the jet stream down south?”
Thank you for the response. That is precisely what I am wondering. Is there a strong connection between the North and South? I am a bit surprised that it (the North Pacific jet stream) is so persistently loopy so late in the season. As I mentioned, the pattern currently seems very “wintery” with so much warm air being blown up against an intransigent cold air mass that keeps oscillating over Northern Canada, causing the kinks along the west coast. Normally? at this time the Pacific Northwest is being trampled by successions of Pineapple Expresses as the jet stream flows across the continent more “smoothly”. Not so this year… I guess I am wondering why this cold air is still so dominant; while at the same time the Southern “Vortex” is also so virulent? Is North/South polar weather strongly connected?
Sorry for such silly questions… Believe it or not, I have only just recently begun to look at local weather in such a global way. (If that makes sense!)
Cheers! I’ll have to look back here later. Brake job this am. in the freaking snow!