Jan Null of Golden Gate Weather writes:
Based on hourly weather observations a number of minimum temperature records were either set or tied in the Bay Area this morning.
Today Previous 2/26 record
City Min Temp Min Year
San Rafael 28 32 in 1996
Napa 27 30 in 1945
San Francisco 37 37 in 1962
SF Arpt 36 36 in 1971
Oakland 35 38 in 1987
Oakland Arpt 32 34 in 1962
San Jose 33 33 in 1897
These are unofficial values and some sites could be a degree or so lower when the official minima are collected later today.
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The cold storm did little in the way of snow, and has moved south:
Is it true that ex-VP Al Gore lives in that area?
These record lows were a direct result of everyone leaving the bay area in their SUV’s and hybrids to head off to Tahoe for a weekend of skiing in fresh new powder.
The sudden drop in CO2 emissions resulted in less greenhouse effect for the area, and the sudden cooling.
The impact to the Tahoe region has been abnormally high temperatures, higher by roughly 0.6degC according to computer models. (a model on my computer, wherein I cleverly spliced a .6 after a zero in a program I call “Calculator”)
My equipment here in the hills east of Richmond recorded a low of 26.4F.
Not much snow in Shangri-La (NW Ca.) but the cold is near-record with 18 degrees (record 16 in 1945).
Tonight is supposed to be far colder, so this is not over yet.
Al Gore doesn’t live here, last Pres. type visitor was Herbert Hoover.
Yes, I believe so. He moved there to save on the high cost (CO2 cost) of air conditioning his massive home in Nashville, although he still keeps the air conditioner running in case he happens to dash home on impulse on his private jet. On those occasions, he sometimes is so anxious to get home, he has to send the jet back to CA to pick up his staff–he just couldn’t wait for them to get ready. /sarc off
Who knew that AGW cold cause such a cold spell in 1962? Or is it only current cold spells are caused by AGW? All so confusing.
But the models know.
Meanwhile, out here in Flyover Territory, Anthony’s favorite meteorologist, WGN Chicago’s Tom Skilling reports:
“February might be the shortest month, but it has packed a wintry punch this year. The snowfall overnight set a new record for the month of February. As of this morning, the snow total for this month was 28.6 inches, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Wilson said.
The previous record was set in 1896 at 27.8 inches. And the month isn’t over yet.
I see you have a hard freeze warning for the higher elevations. Too funny. We will beat that hard freeze by a mile but don’t get the warnings. Why? Cuz we are used to a hard freeze in February/March. If the NWS just went by hard freeze temperature criteria instead of location, the upper US would be colored all dark blue.
The San Jose record is impressive – 33F not reached since 1897!
I’m visiting Calgary just now, 2 nights ago it reached -30C.
I guess this will eliminate those fears that, with AGW, the temps wouldn’t drop far enough for the plant life to detect winter conditions.
Instead, we will hear endless droning about the Q10 effect.
This was just an unusual weather pattern (more common in La Nina years though) that spun a low pressure out of Canada while we already had a Northerly jet stream coming out of the Yukon.
I think you’ll find a lot of records in both Oregon and Washington this morning as well (Portland, OR was 19 degrees this morning, with the previous record being 20 degrees 1962).
Yeah, I was 16 degrees outside of Portland.
Perhaps a dumb question – is there any danger that the crops grown there during winter could be damaged ? Or the growing season shortened ? I would think the grape industry does not like freezing weather.
All those CFL light bulbs people have been using have had the desired effect.
I say we declare success and not take any further measures to halt global warming lest we overcorrect and make it too cold!
Can grapevines survive very cold weather?
Oh well, now you know why the saxons brewed beer when the Romans went home
So how much CO2 must the climate boffins remove from “the model” to duplicate this much cold and snow? Inquiring minds need to know.
CRS Dr.P.H
“The previous record was set in 1896 at 27.8 inches. ”
and February 1896 had 29 days.
Even with UHI…it’s an impressive Winter. Can’t wait until the AMO goes cold.
phlogiston says: ……I’m visiting Calgary just now, 2 nights ago it reached -30C.
just south of Calgary, i recorded -32.5C that night/morning, we are going to get a blast of warm air now and scream up to close to -5 before we head right back to -20 C again…..but this is just weather thank goodness!
Oregon Interstate 84 just might have to shut down East of Troutdale. It is witch-tit cold and a bit of rain is on the way. I wonder when the last time I84 closed in Feb/March?
It sleeted in Pasadena this morning. That’s got to be pretty rare.
Dave Springer says:
February 26, 2011 at 9:59 am
Good question: How much CO2 must be removed from the models to make them match current observations?
I’d say 200 – 600%.
Dear god I hope the grapes in Sonoma Valley weren’t badly damaged. What will I drown my AGW angst in if I can’t get my favourite shiraz?
Grapevines, grapes, wine, and cold weather:
The deal is that the vines’ cold hardiness varies by type to a certain degree so some varieties come through a cold spell less damaged than others. However, the main thing is that they need to “harden off” before the cold settles in. If their roots reach sufficient water they will remain green and a quick freeze can kill buds and entire plants to ground level and even the root systems. For vines not on their own roots (most places except Washington State and Chile), if the plant is killed to ground level it has to be replaced as the rootstock’s own grapes are not wanted for wine.
Once hardened off and protected by snow, vines do very well in cold winters. Early spring warm temperatures followed by below freezing temperatures can harm buds and reduce yields. Wet and windy during the flowering is bad because grapes are self-pollinating and nasty weather and inhibit pollination and lead to “shot-clusters” – bunches that are not filled out, or are “open.”
Once ripened in the nice warm and sunny weather of fall, grapes can be left on the vines until the temperature does drop far enough below freezing (to about -8°C or 17° F) to crystallize the water and then picked and crushed. This concentrates the juice and allows the production of ice wine. (#2)
General ref:
http://www.canr.msu.edu/vanburen/grpcold.htm
#2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_wine
Friend up in the Mendocino hills is snowed in. Friend said they experienced a few flakes this morning near Los Altos.
@Anoneumouse
The vines are dormant right now, and anyone who’s been awake for anytime at all this past week, knew to take precautions with their plants.
It was 30DegF this morning in LosGatos. (Borders San Jose’s southern border.)
He has a house SanFran, a house here in Nashville TN, and a ranch in Carthage TN (among others)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada just set record overnight lows. Several other places in BC set record lows. It might be interesting to look at some summaries for the whole (N. American west) coast. Record snowfall rates in the mountains this winter too.
rbateman says:
February 26, 2011 at 10:21 am
Dave Springer says:
February 26, 2011 at 9:59 am
Good question:
Maybe we could tinker with the models until they output snow in San Francisco. But we still wouldn’t know what amount of co2 change would produce snow in the real world since co2 doesn’t control climate.
I was hoping there would be snow here in the low elevations of the San Francisco area. But nothing, so far. A guy on the radio called it, “The big snow let down”.
🙁
Lance says:
February 26, 2011 at 10:05 am
“phlogiston says: ……I’m visiting Calgary just now, 2 nights ago it reached -30C.
just south of Calgary, i recorded -32.5C that night/morning, we are going to get a blast of warm air now and scream up to close to -5 before we head right back to -20 C again…..but this is just weather thank goodness!”
The best thing about Calgary weather are the chinooks. After a brutal cold snap and one of those comes over the Rockies that sudden warming seems anything but catastrophic. Indeed, the incredible variations in the temperature there should be an example of how resilient things can be. If we took the AGW hyper-sensitivity story seriously, everything would be dead in that region – or in some catatonic state due to climate confusion.
The dunderheads were correct. Global warming DOES cause global cooling. We in the engineering business call that “a self-regulating system” with “negative feedback”. With global average temperature now well below the 20-year average, according to the satellites, I see absolutely no sign of the “positive feedback” on which the AGW computer modelers have rested their case.
crosspatch says:
February 26, 2011 at 10:35 am
“Friend said they experienced a few flakes this morning near Los Altos.”
Hmmm. “flakes.” I’m so tempted to make a predictable joke, but I won’t. Because almost all the people I know from CA aren’t.
Meanwhile, here on the south-central west coast of Florida it is a balmy 78F with clear skies. And no State income tax or high speed rail (yeah!).
… it’s going to be a bit harder to hide this decline…. 😉
All this cold and snow is unprecedented since (fill in the blank).
Even the Alberta capital got some of the Calgary chinook. Must be the weather.
ew-3 says: “Perhaps a dumb question – is there any danger that the crops grown there during winter could be damaged?”
The fruits and nuts in the San Francisco area will be as prevalent as ever.
Well, when the Thames River freezes over above Teddington Lock where they use to hold the Frost Fairs on the ice, THAT WILL BE NEWS and the final nail in the coffin of AGW.
Bruce says:
February 26, 2011 at 9:51 am
“I think you’ll find a lot of records in both Oregon and Washington this morning as well (Portland, OR was 19 degrees this morning, with the previous record being 20 degrees 1962).
Yeah, I was 16 degrees outside of Portland.”
That’s the mad Dhog’s country. How’s this ‘global warming’ suiting you Dhog?
I don’t believe any of these photos. It was staged by Bush and NASA to further their wicked aims.
Oh, wait…Bush is out of office and NASA are in the pockets of the warm-earthers now?
As Roseanne Roseannadanna would say, “Never Mind”.
Amino Acids in Meteorites says:
February 26, 2011 at 11:30 am
“I was hoping there would be snow here in the low elevations of the San Francisco area. But nothing, so far. A guy on the radio called it, “The big snow let down”.”
Of course had it not been for AGW it would have snowed…
Jimmy Haigh says:
February 26, 2011 at 3:30 pm
That’s the mad Dhog’s country. How’s this ‘global warming’ suiting you Dhog?
Oh, I’m sorry. I haven’t seen any warming. See the raw data of the nearest GISS station to my house. http://data.giss.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/gistemp/gistemp_station.py?id=425726980010&data_set=1&num_neighbors=1
Doesn’t Gore spend most of his time between trips at his mansion in Montecito? It’s reported that there is still a lot of oil in the Santa Barbara field. A good question would be is there enough for all of his travel?
San Francisco ‘Snow’ not enough to count.
No snow was observed in downtown San Francisco and AccuWeather.com meteorologist Dave Samuhel said the dusting would not count toward official records that show the last measurable snowfall in the area 35 years ago.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41793089/ns/weather/41793089
I will definitely look for another activity.
The question is simple it is snowing ( ) Y …. ( ) N
I think it was Emily Litella who said usually said “Nevermind”, not Roseanne Roseannadanna. But as Chico Escuela said ‘They both be berry berry good to me.”
It’s snowing at my sister’s house in Burbank, California, right now. Enough snow to build a snowman.
So SF wasn’t hit with snow. I think I can guess why. Apparently, AGW causes record low temperature and dry air.
It’s still warm in Sunny / cloudy / rainy Sydney, although Autumn is almost upon us.
Why don’t you folks all come over and visit us?
(We don’t have any global warming here either but I must confess that our good and wise government are about to tax our catbon dioxide emissions right out of our cotton picking socks, if you get my meaning – if so please explain that to me.)
My fingers thought that catbon was more beautiful than carbon – you decide – either is fine with me.
This is a bit off topic, but I don’t know how to get this information to you otherwise. I just got word via Google Alert for Ross Ice Shelf of an emergency. The ice shelf used as their landing strip is separating from Ross Island and everyone is being evacuated as of right now.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/world-news/4708428/Emergency-airlift-at-McMurdo-in-strife
I have grape vines in southern New Brunswick, mostly Marechal Foch (from pinot noir), some Minnesota vines, and some I-don’t-know-whats. They were bred to live through Canadian (and Minnesota) winters, so far down to minus 26°C (-15°F) here. The problem is that between raccoons and a variety of birds I haven’t yet had a harvest in 15 years…..
IanM
There was significant ice on the roads and bridges of the Napa Valley during the very cold days of Feb 15-16-17 earlier this month.
That earlier ice may, or may not, mean the vines are additionally damaged by this regional snow, or may mean they were already cold-adapted and not too badly harmed.
What will the Futures market purchases/sales on early Monday morning for Napa/Sonoma/Central Valley wines be?