2019 California and Southwest Weather Discussion Thread

[Anti Marine Layer]

Currently 64 F right now in the Laughlin area. I've been there when it was 115 F or higher, but that was in the summer.

[Anti Marine Layer]

So they are saying most of the storms are atmospheric rivers. Why is the snow level so low?

[Anti Marine Layer]

Too foggy to determine if there's any snow on Mt Wilson.

 

http://obs.astro.ucla.edu/images/towercam.jpg

 

http://obs.astro.ucla.edu/towercam.htm

[Anti Marine Layer]

Currently warmer here than in Palm Springs.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Been sunny most of the day, but looks like some rain and possibly thunder could be headed our way.

[Reg]

Went from calm and dry to absolutely pouring rain out there right now.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Eujunga, looks like you should be getting some rain unless you're back in Eugene.

[Reg]

Unusually cold for a late-May storm - it's only 52 F here right now and pouring rain. 0.11" and rising just in the last 15 minutes.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Rain is coming down heavily here. 0.68" so far for Fullerton.

[TT-SEA]

Rain is coming down heavily here. 0.68" so far for Fullerton.

That is amazing for late May.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Mayuary is still better than all day May Gray. At least it was sunny for most of the day today.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Sun is coming out. Fast moving storm.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Only 0.04" for Downtown L.A, sadly

[Reg]

0.28" here and still pouring rain. I was out driving in it, a lot of roads are quickly flooding. Several streets were impassible.

[Reg]

Rain finally winding down here. 0.33" for today

[Anti Marine Layer]

Looks like Fairbanks, AK only reached 70 F instead of 75 F, but currently they are warmer than Bullhead City, AZ where the rain dropped temperatures down to 57 F. High in Bullhead City was 72 F. However still a few hours of daylight left for Fairbanks.

[TT-SEA]

Looks like Fairbanks, AK only reached 70 F instead of 75 F, but currently they are warmer than Bullhead City, AZ where the rain dropped temperatures down to 57 F. High in Bullhead City was 72 F. However still a few hours of daylight left for Fairbanks.

Still 73 in Seattle at 7 p.m.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Quite surprisingly Fullerton made it to a rather comfortable 70 F today before the thunderstorms hit and dropped it into the 50s. Probably about the same in Irvine, as it was mostly sunny and pleasant around 1 PM with a cool breeze, but not quite as strong as yesterday. Palm Springs was dropped into the 50s by the thunderstorms by midday with parts of the day in which some areas near the coast were sunnier and warmer than the desert.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Apparently the high was 73 F in Fairbanks, AK yesterday with Bullhead City, AZ showing nothing above 72 F. Las Vegas, NV was only 67 F.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Heavy marine layer made a sudden return. Back to May Gray.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Marine layer is 10000 ft deep. That is one heck of a marine layer

[Reg]

Ended up with 0.34" yesterday and 0.04" today (since midnight).

[Anti Marine Layer]

Sun came out very late, but skies are still looking black towards the foothills. Downtown L.A. was only 64 F. Slight chance they could reach 70 tomorrow if the day is warmer.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Sunday is now looking colder than any day we've had so far this crazy May. It is really Memorial Day next Monday or is it President's Day?

 

After that it looks like we could finally get close to normal by the middle of next week.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Downtown L.A. rank to date is for 20th coldest May with an average high of 69.52. It's looking quite likely that this May will end up as the coldest in 42 years. Should we manage to fall below 69.16, it would be the coldest May in 73 years.

 

Rank,Year,AvgHigh
1,1921,65.13
2,1917,65.77
3,1914,67.26
4,1909,67.97
5,1919,68.16
6,1946,68.35
7,1933,68.58
8,1903,68.61
9,1906,68.74
10,1901,68.84
11,1899,68.94
12,1918,69.13
13,1908,69.13
14,1977,69.16
15,1905,69.19
16,1913,69.23
17,1898,69.26
18,1935,69.29
19,1891,69.39
20,2019,69.52
21,1915,69.81
22,1911,69.87
23,1894,70.00
24,1916,70.06
25,1950,70.10
26,1975,70.32
27,1920,70.35
28,1999,70.39
29,1964,70.39
30,1982,70.42
31,1980,70.42
32,1930,70.42
33,1907,70.48
34,1925,70.52
35,1904,70.58
36,1897,70.81
37,1963,70.90
38,1902,70.90
39,1944,70.94
40,1995,71.00
41,1945,71.00
42,1955,71.03
43,1971,71.06
44,1961,71.06
45,1962,71.10
46,1998,71.23
47,1937,71.23
48,1928,71.39
49,2015,71.45
50,1932,71.48
51,1966,71.58
52,1938,71.58
53,2016,71.61
54,1912,71.61
55,1939,71.74
56,1922,71.84
57,1957,71.87
58,2018,71.97
59,1965,71.97
60,1878,71.97
61,1954,72.03
62,1994,72.10
63,1892,72.13
64,1976,72.16
65,1942,72.16
66,1991,72.23
67,1890,72.29
68,1910,72.43
69,2002,72.48
70,1974,72.48
71,1947,72.48
72,1884,72.65
73,1956,72.71
74,1924,72.71
75,1888,72.77
76,1959,72.81
77,1951,72.90
78,2003,73.03
79,1893,73.03
80,1927,73.10
81,2012,73.19
82,1968,73.29
83,1889,73.32
84,1953,73.55
85,2010,73.58
86,2007,73.58
87,1949,73.61
88,2011,73.65
89,1926,73.68
90,1979,73.71
91,1929,73.71
92,1923,73.77
93,1895,73.87
94,1879,73.87
95,1936,73.94
96,1880,73.97
97,1989,74.00
98,1985,74.10
99,1973,74.13
100,1948,74.23
101,2006,74.26
102,2008,74.29
103,1969,74.29
104,1900,74.35
105,1896,74.48
106,1943,74.81
107,1990,75.00
108,1881,75.13
109,1940,75.29
110,2017,75.35
111,2009,75.35
112,1931,75.42
113,2001,75.52
114,1883,75.74
115,1992,75.84
116,1981,75.84
117,2005,75.90
118,1882,76.00
119,2000,76.19
120,1970,76.26
121,1988,76.42
122,1885,76.45
123,2013,76.48
124,1972,76.48
125,1967,76.48
126,1934,76.58
127,1952,76.77
128,1987,76.87
129,1993,77.00
130,1996,77.13
131,1960,77.13
132,1986,77.19
133,1958,77.39
134,1983,77.61
135,1887,77.74
136,1941,77.97
137,1886,78.58
138,1978,78.87
139,2004,79.00
140,2014,80.03
141,1997,81.45
142,1984,82.23

[Reg]

Sunny and warmer today.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Warmer than it has been it quite some time, but still a bit cool and breezy. Fullerton tied their average high for the day, but they also had a record low this morning.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Nice day today followed by what will hopefully be the grand finale of "Mayuary" this Memorial Day weekend. It would be nice to have a near average summer or one that is slightly cooler than normal as long as it's not as cool as 2010, but what's going to happen is anyone's guess. My dad's friends in Portland said consistent summer weather did not not start until after the 4th of July up there most years, which also seems to be the case down here sometimes.

 

Also wouldn't mind getting some more rain this summer as long as it's from a warm monsoonal source.

 

Despite the persistent troughing, the sea surface temperatures remain near normal and even slightly above normal some areas just offshore. Some say the unusual May weather is being caused by El Nino, but I would think late El Nino storms would come from a tropical origin rather than the Gulf of Alaska.

 

As for similar years to 2019, 1999 was pretty similar so far with a very cool May and cold storms as late as first half of June. 1983 is the year I came to California from the East Coast and that was a major El Nino year with lots of rain from February to May. However those months were all above average for temperatures and the following summer was a blowtorch despite all of the spring rain. This gives me more reason to believe this unusual May is a result of climate change (more persistent blocking patterns, strong troughs coupled with strong ridges) rather than El Nino.

[Anti Marine Layer]

High temperatures may not even reach 60 tomorrow! Are you kidding me? It's possible some places could have the coldest day ever recorded for the month of May.

[TT-SEA]

High temperatures may not even reach 60 tomorrow! Are you kidding me? It's possible some places could have the coldest day ever recorded for the month of May.

 

Same here today... but a high below 60 is not that crazy up here.

 

The interesting part is that this storm was near Anchorage yesterday... off the WA coast today... and in your backyard tomorrow.   And its hugging the entire western North America coastline perfectly.

 

Also interesting how it quickly it warms up behind the low in western WA and OR tomorrow...

 

[Anti Marine Layer]

Same here today... but a high below 60 is not that crazy up here.

 

The interesting part is that this storm was near Anchorage yesterday... off the WA coast today... and in your backyard tomorrow.   And its hugging the entire western North America coastline perfectly.

 

Also interesting how it quickly it warms up behind the low in western WA and OR tomorrow...

 

 

Could the warmup be due to offshore flow behind the storm?

[TT-SEA]

Yes... because the storm is dropping straight south there is no onshore flow behind it.    The flow turns offshore up here tonight.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Stratus explosion is a bit behind schedule this morning, but still looking like the afternoon could become mostly cloudy despite a sunny start to the day.

[Anti Marine Layer]

It almost cleared up, but now clouds are backfilling and still rather thin. However they could thicken up later as the marine layer skyrockets in depth today.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Already deep enough and inversion weak enough for reverse clearing.

[Anti Marine Layer]

70 F so far for Downtown L.A, which is a few degrees higher than what was forecast.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Even with the cooler and cloudier weather today, it felt much more like May than February. Much of the time the clouds were thin enough to allow the warmth of the sun to come through. That all changes tomorrow.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Looks like there was quite an intense thunderstorm in the mountains north of Ventura.

[Reg]

Sunny today until sunset, a bunch of clouds just moved in.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Started out mostly sunny then got mostly cloudy but never fully opaque and the rest of the morning went between partly to mostly cloudy but still not overcast, with the warmth of the sun through the thin clouds keeping it pleasant. By afternoon clouds mostly thinned out and there was reverse clearing which made it sunny and quite warm in Irvine while some clouds hung further inland near the Santa Ana Mountains.

 

Clouds are now filling back in towards the coast.