WEATHER SUMMARY FOR MAY 1999
In marked contrast to the wild El Nino May of 1998, May of 1999 was much calmer rain-wise. However, after a relatively mild April and it's two spells of mid-70's temps, May showed a return to much below temps. Early in the month, Sea Surface Temps were reported as low as 46F off the Marin Coast (about 6-8F lower on average most everywhere), and SST off Pacifica was hard pressed to break 50F. Hence, mean air temps for the month were the coldest in decades at 53.3 F, or -4.2 degrees departure from normal. SST's by month's end had crept back to slightly above 50F, mostly as a result of prolonged south winds along the coast during the third and fourth weeks of the month .The south winds, blowing warmer water northward, broke 30mph on the 22nd and 23rd. Winds significantly higher than normal occurred most of the month, with the dominant direction being SSW at my house. Frequent troughs and upper lows are still influencing our pattern, but the cool waters have provided little moisture to work with and no decent rain has fallen after the 3rd. Total rain for the month was 0.32", about 50% of normal, a marked decline after last year when 3.58" fell. It now appears highly unlikely that any more significant rain will fall until next season. Since April 12, we have had only one rain event, which occurred during the first three days of May. As long as SST's remain as they are, a cold, foggy and blustery summer seems at hand for the coast. Another impact of the cold water has been the marginal Salmon season to date, as the water is so cold that fish are deep and farther off the coast seeking more favorable water despite abundances of bait closer to shore. Not only Salmon has been impacted, but Stripers, Halibut and other species are not showing in typical numbers for this time of year. Coyotee, bear and mountain lion sightings and problems have all been reported within the last week. A sick mountain lion was put down after it was tranquilized while wandering erratically in a parking lot near Livermore in the East Bay. A bear was removed from the Fort Ord area north of Monterey, and returned to more familiar surroundings deep in the hills. Coyotee(s) have been observed in my backyard three times this month alone. Flora too continues to suffer, as fruit trees are just now in bloom, and the fruit growing season will be short again this year. Molds and fungus have invaded shrubs at my house, and other similar occurrences elsewhere have been reported.
MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY for MAY. 1999
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 50.7 53.1 3:30p 48.6 11:30p 14.2 0.0 0.01 5.6 24.0 2:30p SSW
2 50.7 56.2 2:00p 48.2 2:30a 12.8 0.0 0.08 6.0 24.0 6:30p SSW
3 51.3 55.0 2:00p 47.8 11:00p 13.6 0.0 0.19 5.8 19.0 2:30a SSW
4 51.6 58.7 1:00p 45.9 12:00m 12.7 0.0 0.00 3.8 19.0 3:00p W
5 55.2 67.8 9:00a 44.3 3:00a 8.9 0.0 0.00 2.4 11.0 11:00a S
6 52.9 59.7 3:00p 47.4 5:00a 11.4 0.0 0.00 4.3 20.0 4:00p S
7 51.6 60.6 9:30a 46.3 5:00a 11.6 0.0 0.00 4.9 28.0 6:30p W
8 50.8 62.2 9:00a 43.4 5:30a 12.2 0.0 0.00 4.0 25.0 2:30p W
9 50.3 61.1 9:00a 42.3 6:00a 13.3 0.0 0.00 3.8 22.0 4:30p SSW
10 52.6 61.8 9:00a 43.8 5:00a 12.2 0.0 0.00 3.1 16.0 6:00p SSW
11 54.3 62.5 3:00p 48.6 6:30a 9.5 0.0 0.01 3.4 16.0 6:00p SSW
12 50.7 55.6 3:30p 46.8 12:00m 13.8 0.0 0.02 4.3 20.0 4:30p SSW
13 50.9 60.4 9:30a 45.4 5:00a 12.1 0.0 0.00 5.4 25.0 2:30p W
14 51.0 58.8 8:30a 45.4 5:30a 12.9 0.0 0.00 4.7 25.0 11:30a W
15 51.6 59.5 9:00a 44.8 6:00a 12.8 0.0 0.00 4.0 19.0 5:00p W
16 52.8 59.3 1:00p 47.8 5:30a 11.5 0.0 0.00 3.7 16.0 2:30p SSW
17 55.1 65.3 9:00a 48.3 12:30a 8.2 0.0 0.00 3.8 16.0 6:30p S
18 54.7 59.8 2:00p 50.8 12:00m 9.7 0.0 0.00 4.2 22.0 3:30p SSW
19 51.8 57.0 1:30p 49.6 12:00m 11.7 0.0 0.00 6.8 24.0 10:00p SSW
20 52.3 57.4 3:00p 49.0 5:00a 11.8 0.0 0.00 6.5 28.0 1:30a SSW
21 56.3 67.5 11:00a 47.2 4:30a 7.7 0.0 0.00 2.0 10.0 11:30a W
22 58.4 71.8 11:30a 49.7 2:00a 4.3 0.0 0.00 5.4 34.0 4:30p ESE
23 57.4 63.9 11:30a 52.4 5:30a 6.8 0.0 0.00 7.7 30.0 1:30p S
24 56.0 63.3 2:00p 51.6 12:00m 7.6 0.0 0.00 3.7 17.0 12:30a SSW
25 55.5 66.3 1:00p 50.6 5:00a 6.5 0.0 0.01 2.8 12.0 2:00a SSW
26 56.2 66.1 1:30p 49.8 4:00a 7.1 0.0 0.00 2.9 17.0 12:30p NNW
27 51.5 54.5 3:00p 49.9 6:00a 12.8 0.0 0.00 5.0 16.0 11:30a SSW
28 51.2 53.8 1:30p 49.0 6:00a 13.6 0.0 0.00 6.1 19.0 12:30p SSW
29 51.3 54.6 4:30p 49.3 4:00a 13.1 0.0 0.00 5.8 28.0 3:30a S
30 57.1 65.4 9:00a 49.0 2:00a 7.8 0.0 0.00 4.8 27.0 12:30p S
31 57.4 65.7 9:00a 51.9 5:30a 6.2 0.0 0.00 5.3 22.0 11:30a S
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
53.3 71.8 22 42.3 9 330.2 0.0 0.32 4.6 34.0 22 SSW
Max >= 90.0: 0
Max <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 0.0: 0
Max Rain: 0.19 ON 5/03/99
Days of Rain: 3 (>.01 in) 1 (>.1 in) 0 (>1 in)
Heat Base: 65.0 Cool Base: 65.0 Method: (High + Low) / 2