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JUNE 2000 WEATHER REVIEW
June 14th. 0545hrs. Already, it is a record 81F outside after a low of 52F at 2100 during the previous night (or, an astounding 30F rise in temp overnight). By 0900, temp is now 91F, on the way to a new alltime record high of 95.8F. Throughout the Bay Area, and Central California, this day would be remembered as the hottest overall in recorded history. Most places on the Peninsula recorded readings well over 110F, with an unofficial 117F in Foster City. Official all-time record readings were recorded in San Jose and downtown San Francisco and over 20 other locations. The pattern responsible was a continuation of one that has been noted in my postings all Winter long: i.e. a major low/trough digging N/S down off the coast then inland instead of a more typical NW-SE or W-E track. The leading edge of the trough brought our entire monthly rain of 0.33" to Pacifica on the 7th and 8th as it passed by then stalled off the South Cent coast before finally swinging inland on the 11th. The heat spell was well forecasted as the strength of the building high was readily apparent and the pattern quite familiar. News reports said 21 people died, mostly from heat related problems...11 of them in San Mateo County alone. Usually by this time, Winter patterns are over and our typical summer fog in the morning is well entrenched.....but not in this La Nina fueled season. A very curious paradox is that despite the heat, Sea Surface Temps were slightly below normal. And in light of a pronounced below normal onshore wind pattern for most of the month, which fosters upwelling and SST cooling, the lower SST's are obvious signs of the continuation of the La Nina that has dominated our weather for the last two years. For the just ended climatological year (July-June), our total rain amounted to 34.34". It was a record 6th consecutive year of above normal rainfal and 8 out of the last 9 years.
By month's end, fog and low clouds had finally returned, and drizzle had actually started to fall along the coast..much more typical for this time of year. Lower pressure and troughiness developed over the coast and the NW, and below normal temps into early July at least are now being anticipated...a pronounced shift from the heat of earlier in the month. Historically, La Nina patterns are punctuated by extremes in both temp and precipitation, and certainly this two year La Nina event is no exception. From the near record cold of December 1998 to the all time record high of June 2000, this La Nina is indeed fitting the classic pattern. As for flora and fauna, due to the late Spring rains and absence of a significant Winter freeze, wildflowers and most other flora are in great abundance, and many wildflowers remained much later into Spring, especially on north facing hills. Fishing in the ocean has been on/off, as good schools of both Stripers and Salmon were found near the coast until mid month, then moved out and south. Baitfish in particular have been curiously absent with only minor schools noted, however the size of the bait, especially Anchovy, is exceptionally large (what bait there is). Also, in seeming response to now 6 straight years of above normal rain for California (and 8 out of 9), Striper numbers are way up compared to the last 20 years or so, and fishing in the Bay has been especially outstanding. Surf fishing also has been excellent on occasion with many more big fish noted despite no real runs to speak of (mostly due to a late exodus from the Bay and lack of nearby bait). On a sadder note, all along the California Coast unusually large numbers of whales continue to be washed up dead along beaches and in the Bay, and many seals are reported dead/dying along the SoCent coastal areas. Many animals appear malnourished, but experts believe that lack of available food (as might be caused by population increases) may not be the real culprit, but water born toxins, such as plankton or bacteria...as other non-mammalian animal life does not appear seriously affected at this time.
MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY for JUN. 2000
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 58.0 70.9 2:15p 46.5 5:45a 6.3 0.0 0.00 2.0 9.0 11:45a NNE
2 56.0 63.1 1:45p 52.0 7:00a 7.5 0.0 0.00 3.2 16.0 4:00p SSW
3 55.3 61.0 2:00p 51.6 6:15a 8.7 0.0 0.00 2.8 12.0 2:30a SSW
4 54.9 61.3 1:45p 50.8 6:00a 9.0 0.0 0.00 3.8 16.0 3:00p SSW
5 59.3 68.0 2:00p 54.2 12:15a 3.9 0.0 0.00 4.6 21.0 3:45p S
6 58.6 64.8 3:15p 54.1 6:00a 5.5 0.0 0.00 3.9 15.0 4:15p S
7 60.3 68.1 3:00p 54.8 12:00m 3.6 0.0 0.14 5.6 19.0 7:30p S
8 54.0 55.4 3:30p 52.8 2:30a 10.9 0.0 0.19 4.2 19.0 8:15p SSW
9 57.6 64.0 2:45p 52.2 6:15a 6.9 0.0 0.00 4.7 21.0 4:45p SSW
10 55.9 62.0 12:00p 51.4 4:00a 8.3 0.0 0.00 4.3 20.0 3:45p SSW
11 56.7 63.7 2:15p 49.8 4:30a 8.3 0.0 0.00 4.0 19.0 5:15p SSW
12 60.0 68.0 12:30p 54.2 5:00a 3.9 0.0 0.00 4.5 21.0 7:15p SSW
13 64.5 75.8 2:15p 52.7 6:15a 0.8 0.0 0.00 1.8 9.0 11:30a S
14 82.5 95.8 1:15p 66.5 12:15a 0.0 16.2 0.00 2.8 18.0 11:30a SSW
15 72.0 84.7 11:30a 58.5 12:00m 0.0 6.6 0.00 2.5 18.0 1:45p SSW
16 64.9 78.3 2:15p 54.6 5:00a 0.0 1.4 0.00 2.5 18.0 3:00p SSW
17 63.6 70.5 3:15p 56.4 1:30a 1.5 0.0 0.00 4.4 23.0 3:45p S
18 61.8 67.4 3:15p 56.8 12:00m 2.9 0.0 0.00 3.7 20.0 8:30a W
19 62.3 70.8 12:00p 53.8 7:00a 2.7 0.0 0.00 2.4 15.0 11:00a N
20 63.1 75.0 2:45p 52.9 6:15a 1.0 0.0 0.00 1.8 9.0 11:30a N
21 63.4 76.2 1:15p 52.6 6:30a 0.6 0.0 0.00 2.1 10.0 2:30p SSW
22 58.2 66.2 11:00a 53.7 12:00m 5.1 0.0 0.00 3.6 18.0 1:45p N
23 57.7 64.7 1:30p 52.7 2:45a 6.3 0.0 0.00 5.0 25.0 11:15a S
24 60.7 70.3 2:30p 53.5 6:00a 3.1 0.0 0.00 4.2 20.0 1:15p S
25 60.3 67.0 2:15p 56.3 6:30a 3.3 0.0 0.00 2.1 10.0 1:45p W
26 60.7 69.6 1:45p 54.5 7:00a 3.0 0.0 0.00 2.0 10.0 2:45p NNW
27 60.0 69.3 1:45p 52.6 5:45a 4.0 0.0 0.00 2.1 9.0 1:30p ESE
28 61.0 70.7 11:45a 54.9 7:00a 2.2 0.0 0.00 2.1 10.0 12:30p NNW
29 60.0 68.5 12:00p 55.5 11:45p 3.0 0.0 0.00 3.0 16.0 6:00p N
30 56.3 59.9 4:00p 53.5 7:15a 8.3 0.0 0.00 5.4 18.0 3:00p S
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60.7 95.8 14 46.5 1 130.5 24.2 0.33 3.4 25.0 23 SSW
Max >= 90.0: 1
Max <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 0.0: 0
Max Rain: 0.19 ON 6/08/00
Days of Rain: 2 (>.01 in) 2 (>.1 in) 0 (>1 in)
Heat Base: 65.0 Cool Base: 65.0 Method: (High + Low) / 2