Weather Summary- FEB1998
A record month by any standards for Pacifica, with 13.53" of rain and 23.88" since Jan 1,'98, AND 38.56" for the climatological year (July-Jun).Average YEARLY rainfall in Pacifica is about 23", so we have received more than a typical year's worth of rain in the last two months alone. El Nino fueled storms pummeled the coast in a seemingly constant parade for the entire month. By my count, 12 separate storms hit the Pacific coast, with many more embedded troughs and squalls. Only the last two days, the 27th and 28th, did we get two consecutive days without rain (in fact,only.02" has fallen for the last five days. Peak winds were frequently in the 40mph category, and twice hit 60. Much destruction along the coast due to surf constantly in the 15-25' category and coupled with high tides, eroded local cliffs at record rates. Over 30' of erosion has been frequently noted and even more in hardest hitareas. Many areas of the Bay Area are running 200-250% of normal rain..and most areas are forecast to have received over 250% of rain once the rainy season is over in May. We had 19 days of measurable rain, and 2 others with drizzle. With still 3 full months left in our rainy season, this is now regarded as the third wettest year ever. A new annual record is not out of the question but unlikely (49+" in 1861-62 in San Francisco ...current rain total in SF is 38.5"- normal annual rain is 20"). A peculiar characteristic of storms this month was the amount of convective activity and snow levels actually lower than normal. I noted pea hail 9 times and genuine hail in T'Storms twice. T'storms were noted on 7 different days in the immediate area, and is likely conservative overall. This can mostly be attributed to the track many cold cores followed, which brought many vortex max very near the Bay Area supported by 140-185kt jet streams (reaching 200kt). In one waywe were fortunate as ground saturation has reached a critical stage where any rain becomes runoff - these storms didn't linger as some "pineapple connections" do (when the front line runs 90 degrees to the coast then stalls). Most of these February storm fronts and squall lines maintained a more parallel axis, thus rains were intense and frequent, not prolonged.
MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY for FEB. 1998
NAME: HOME CITY: Pacifica STATE: Ca ELEV: 540' LAT: 37.36'N LONG: 122.27'W
TEMPERATURE (°F), RAIN (in), WIND SPEED (mph)
HEAT COOL AVG
MEAN DEG DEG WIND DOM
DAY TEMP HIGH TIME LOW TIME DAYS DAYS RAIN SPEED HIGH TIME DIR
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1 55.4 57.5 2:00p 52.3 7:30a 10.1 0.0 0.70 7.7 39.0 10:45a S
2 55.6 58.4 2:45p 53.0 12:00m 9.3 0.0 2.63 8.9 60.0 4:45p S
3 51.5 53.3 2:15p 49.1 10:30p 13.8 0.0 1.27 4.6 22.0 12:30a S
4 51.8 56.9 1:45p 47.9 3:00a 12.6 0.0 0.26 4.7 30.0 7:45p S
5 53.5 55.7 12:45p 49.9 5:15a 12.2 0.0 0.30 7.5 41.0 12:15p SE
6 52.5 55.4 12:15a 50.3 3:30p 12.2 0.0 1.88 9.3 47.0 8:15a S
7 52.8 56.2 3:30p 50.2 5:30a 11.8 0.0 0.95 9.3 40.0 8:15a S
8 49.2 52.4 12:15a 45.5 12:00m 16.0 0.0 0.30 2.4 20.0 1:00a NNE
9 48.0 55.2 2:45p 42.2 7:30a 16.3 0.0 0.00 1.2 11.0 11:45a N
10 49.9 51.9 9:30a 45.4 1:30a 16.3 0.0 0.19 6.3 46.0 1:45p S
11 53.3 59.5 2:00p 49.3 10:30p 10.6 0.0 0.10 1.9 14.0 1:00a SE
12 52.4 57.1 2:00p 49.1 8:30a 11.9 0.0 0.16 4.6 32.0 3:30p SSW
13 54.3 59.0 2:00p 50.1 6:00a 10.5 0.0 0.00 2.1 19.0 9:15p ESE
14 51.6 55.1 10:00a 46.9 10:15p 14.0 0.0 0.66 7.9 43.0 3:30a S
15 50.4 56.1 1:15p 46.6 6:30a 13.7 0.0 0.00 2.1 13.0 12:00p SSE
16 48.9 51.3 4:15p 45.9 1:45a 16.4 0.0 0.53 5.6 46.0 1:45p S
17 51.1 56.8 2:15p 46.6 4:30a 13.3 0.0 0.08 2.5 17.0 3:15p S
18 52.1 59.3 1:15p 47.0 2:30a 11.8 0.0 0.03 3.1 23.0 10:30p S
19 50.2 54.0 10:00a 45.5 11:30p 15.3 0.0 1.01 6.3 39.0 11:00a SSW
20 48.5 54.2 12:30p 41.7 7:00a 17.0 0.0 0.02 2.5 18.0 12:00m ESE
21 51.7 55.7 10:15a 48.0 11:15p 13.2 0.0 1.52 8.1 47.0 10:30a S
22 50.4 55.5 12:45p 46.0 6:00a 14.3 0.0 0.01 3.4 19.0 2:00p S
23 50.0 52.7 7:30a 45.6 12:00m 15.8 0.0 0.91 7.0 36.0 1:45p S
24 50.1 56.1 1:45p 44.0 5:45a 15.0 0.0 0.00 3.8 31.0 7:15p N
25 52.2 55.7 11:00a 50.2 3:00a 12.0 0.0 0.01 5.1 23.0 12:45a N
26 51.5 55.6 1:00p 47.4 6:45a 13.5 0.0 0.01 4.1 24.0 4:00a N
27 54.1 58.1 12:45p 52.1 3:15a 9.9 0.0 0.00 2.2 13.0 4:00p SSW
28 52.2 55.6 10:00a 50.8 7:15a 0.0 0.0 0.00 2.5 14.0 1:45a N
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51.6 59.5 11 41.7 20 358.7 0.0 13.53 4.9 60.0 2 S
Max >= 90.0: 0
Max <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 0.0: 0
Max Rain: 2.63 ON 2/02/98
Days of Rain: 19 (>.01 in) 15 (>.1 in) 5 (>1 in)
Heat Base: 65.0 Cool Base: 65.0 Method: (High + Low) / 2