2020 - 2021 California and Southwest Weather Discussion Thread

[Pn1ct0g3n]

On the bright side, clearing has been good (for now) and it’s a great day to go to the beach.

[Thunder98]

Clouds struggling to clear on the Central Coast today

[Pn1ct0g3n]

3 minutes ago, Thunder98 said:

Clouds struggling to clear on the Central Coast today

You can also see the massive marine push farther north over WA, ending their heat wave.

[Thunder98]

21 minutes ago, Pn1ct0g3n said:

You can also see the massive marine push farther north over WA, ending their heat wave.

Now the sun has finally came out.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

Check out how far out that stratus field goes. Most beaches S of Pt.C are clear but some stray puffs are starting to impinge on SD. It’s the reverse of last year where beaches farther south had great clearing, while everything from LA County northward experienced No-sky July and Fogust.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

Are the hills of PV some sort of wind tunnel? Torrance, immediately north of them, is reporting wind of 22mph W sustained, presumably with higher gusts. Here, in the middle of the bay shoreline, it’s 15.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Warmer day today.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

Ended up being quite nice! Pretty classic early July day. If it holds out this way on the Fourth that’d be great.

[Reg]

My annual rain season review is up tonight, this one covering the 2020-2021 water year: https://weathercurrents.com/temecula/NewsItemDisplay.do?Id=1460

Season total is back to 0.00". Hopefully 2021-22 will be better.

[Thunder98]

[Pn1ct0g3n]

Epic battle unfolding between that mondo monsoon pulse and the marine layer. It looks like our four day eddy worked its SST magic as it’s clearing out pretty fast on the satellite. 
 

Add in a robust Four Corners High and that’s when you get to hang up your wetsuits.

[Thunder98]

Santa Maria really stick out last month in regarding with the extreme minimum temps for coastal areas. A low of 43F while other cities at worst saw temps only 50's or upper 40's.

 

[Pn1ct0g3n]

You had a lot (and still have a lot) of cold La Niña-abetted water out there which keeps the nights chilly. Down here it’s warming up in the coastal waters, but the warm zone is still narrow and there’s vast amounts of upwelled water sticking around offshore. In most of the 2010s we had a lot less of that. Feels more like the pattern we had in the 2000s. 

[Thunder98]

52 minutes ago, Pn1ct0g3n said:

You had a lot (and still have a lot) of cold La Niña-abetted water out there which keeps the nights chilly. Down here it’s warming up in the coastal waters, but the warm zone is still narrow and there’s vast amounts of upwelled water sticking around offshore. In most of the 2010s we had a lot less of that. Feels more like the pattern we had in the 2000s. 

I’m really hope we get an el nino to develop soon to warm up the coastal waters.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

4 minutes ago, Thunder98 said:

I’m really hope we get an el nino to develop soon to warm up the coastal waters.

And put a sock in this drought!

[AquariusRadar]

San Gabriel Reservoir is empty. Pictures here

https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-bathtub-ring-along-a-parched-los-angeles-reservoir-2021-7

[Pn1ct0g3n]

12 minutes ago, AquariusRadar said:

San Gabriel Reservoir is empty. Pictures here

https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-show-bathtub-ring-along-a-parched-los-angeles-reservoir-2021-7

Driest February in 150 years. Oh fudge.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

Low clouds clinging more tenaciously to the first mile from the coast here, but a strong monsoon pulse is also headed our way.

[Thunder98]

Raining in Yuma!

[Anti Marine Layer]

Eddy must be back.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

15 minutes ago, Mr Marine Layer said:

Eddy must be back.

Sure enough wind turned SW at San Diego, a classic sign.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

The animated sat feed looks pretty cool right now as the two air masses duke it out. So far, though, the Pacific is winning.

[Reg]

[Pn1ct0g3n]

19 minutes ago, Reg said:

Beautiful. I was able to catch only a few fleeting glimpses here.

[AquariusRadar]

Megastorm over West Texas. A hurricane on land? Not sure how this happens. Saturday morning 3 July.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

A big monsoon pulse is still flowing right into our area, but it’s clear the inversion is very strong underneath it with an on and off eddy continuing to prevail. The silver lining is, this pattern should continue to push us toward warmer water despite the current No-sky July conditions.

[Thunder98]

I like the el nino like sst anomalies on the equatorial pac. I really hope those below avg ssts off the central California coast disappear as it's causing the marine layer to be way more stubborn to clear out.

 

[Pn1ct0g3n]

Interestingly there’s a really strong warm anomaly between Hawaii and the Gulf of Alaska, right outside of that cold blob.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

Very hazy, poor visibility under the cloud deck today. Inversion must be really strong.

Out beyond San Nicolas Island, the clouds haven’t dissipated for over a week.

[Anti Marine Layer]

It's hot and humid today. 

[Pn1ct0g3n]

Another way you can tell the ocean is warming up is color: the chilly upwelled water will be darker, navy blue or grayish green, while as the water warms it becomes lighter and clearer. In years like 2015 and 2018 it was brilliantly turquoise. You don’t get turquoise waters like that off California too often. It looked more like the Mediterranean.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Nice to see some monsoonal moisture this summer.

[Reg]

Smell of smoke here.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

82 in Avalon now?! Probably the airport and not the harbor.

[Thunder98]

59 minutes ago, Pn1ct0g3n said:

82 in Avalon now?! Probably the airport and not the harbor.

Yeah, it’s only around 70 at the Harbor.

[Pn1ct0g3n]

9 minutes ago, Thunder98 said:

Yeah, it’s only around 70 at the Harbor.

Last year at the height of the bummer summer we had a day when it was 90+ at the airport and 66 at the harbor. Wildest inversion I’ve ever seen.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Looks like Orange County beaches cleared today, but San Diego did not.

[Thunder98]

[Anti Marine Layer]

Some lowlife shot a loud firework around 1 am last night, waking up half the neighborhood and causing my dog to go crazy.

[Thunder98]

Another yucky gloomy morning for much of the coast today.