NOVEMBER 2000 Wx Summary
I hope you might remember a now-distant post earlier this fall, where Pacifica had been experiencing a continuing, and progressively colder pattern of bringing cutoff lows down the coast on a near N-S axis. The actual beginning of this pattern using 20-20 hindsight appears to have started way back in Sept. The cold air constantly funneling south produced by far the coldest Nov. in my records. Pacifica's mean temp for Nov. was 51.9F. By comparison, in 1997, I only recorded three days with lo temps below 50F for the entire month. A "typical" Nov. mean is 54-56F. A small difference perhaps temp wise, but the mitigating influence of the ocean on local temps is strong..so any time mean temps fall below SST's (56-58F locally), an anomolous pattern is at work. My lo for the month was 40F on the 13th, with heavy ice on cars/lawns due in part to extremely still air and remnants of frigid northern air pulled down by a series of upper lows diving N-S down the coast. Lows at night were in the mid/lo 40's from 6th - 18th. Heavy frosts were frequent and light freezes occurred with four straight days of ice/frost from the 10th through the 15th. Golden Gate Park in San Francisco reported a low of 31 degrees on the 12th. The same morning, we had to delay teeing off for my regular Sun. golf (dawn patrol) due to "frost" on the greens. The 18th fairway was so heavily frosted it looked like a snowfall. The golf course is adjacent to the coastline, and moist sea air must have infiltrated about 300 yards inland, then froze on the grass. The 15th fairway alongside was 100 yards closer to the ocean, and virtually frost free. A most beautiful and unusual sight anytime of the year to be sure.... But to have it happen in the beginning of November?. So guess what? The xact same conditions on the following Sat(11/18)!!!! If anything, the frost was heavier..and the temp back in the canyon on the 6th hole at 8:15 was 34F. Usually, our rainy season is just starting to get started by now as lows pelt the NW and tails/troughs drags down the coast..with mavericks dipping farther south. Thanksgiving in 1980 brought 78mph wind to Pacifica (I remember..lost a good portion of my roof)..and as a youngster, I can remember many blustery, early season storms this time of year...but never the bone chilling cold like we've seen on/off for the last six weeks. Snow was falling as low as 2,000' locally, and unofficial reports had flurries falling in parts of San Francisco (elev. 1,100'). Despite the wild, crazy weather that often accompanies upper lows in the near vicinity, by month's end only .80" of rain fell despite 6 days of rain and 6 other with trace amounts. The coldness and dryness of the continental airmass over us at the surface, coupled with a strong inversion layer under an increasing SW flow aloft, also resulted in widespread tule fog developing in the inland valleys. Not an unfamiliar pattern associated with such a large dry airmass diving down to the equator ....storms to the north starve for moisture.
MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY for NOV. 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 53.1 60.0 2:15p 47.5 7:30a 11.3 0.0 0.01 1.3 10.0 3:00p E
2 55.2 64.1 1:15p 49.4 7:30a 8.3 0.0 0.00 1.2 9.0 12:15p SSW
3 61.2 70.0 3:30p 54.2 12:15a 2.9 0.0 0.00 3.4 18.0 4:30a NNE
4 54.9 61.6 1:00p 51.3 8:15a 8.6 0.0 0.00 2.1 11.0 3:45p SSW
5 54.7 59.1 2:00p 52.4 7:45a 9.3 0.0 0.00 3.0 20.0 9:30p SSW
6 54.1 60.0 2:15p 49.7 11:30p 10.2 0.0 0.00 3.5 19.0 4:45a N
7 57.3 66.0 1:15p 48.9 12:45a 7.5 0.0 0.00 3.4 20.0 1:45a N
8 52.1 56.0 3:30p 48.6 4:45a 12.7 0.0 0.01 2.9 20.0 3:00p W
9 51.3 56.5 1:15p 48.6 7:00a 12.5 0.0 0.00 4.3 24.0 3:30a WNW
10 49.2 55.7 2:30p 44.3 12:00m 15.0 0.0 0.01 1.8 12.0 2:15p S
11 47.5 55.4 4:45p 42.5 3:30a 16.0 0.0 0.00 1.6 14.0 11:15a N
12 48.6 57.8 1:45p 42.3 4:45a 15.0 0.0 0.00 1.2 9.0 2:00p NNE
13 46.4 53.9 1:00p 40.5 7:00a 17.8 0.0 0.10 2.6 22.0 12:45p SSE
14 47.2 54.9 2:30p 42.6 6:45a 16.3 0.0 0.01 1.3 13.0 1:45p ESE
15 50.0 56.4 2:30p 44.3 1:45a 14.7 0.0 0.05 0.9 13.0 1:00p NNW
16 49.1 55.2 3:30p 44.3 12:00m 15.3 0.0 0.04 2.8 18.0 2:00p NNE
17 50.2 58.6 3:30p 43.7 1:30a 13.8 0.0 0.00 2.5 15.0 11:00a SSW
18 50.7 60.8 2:15p 44.2 8:00a 12.5 0.0 0.00 1.3 13.0 12:15p SE
19 51.7 60.1 4:15p 46.3 7:30a 11.8 0.0 0.00 2.2 13.0 12:45p SSW
20 52.0 60.9 1:45p 46.9 8:00a 11.1 0.0 0.00 2.3 16.0 12:00p N
21 52.4 57.0 3:30p 48.0 12:15a 12.5 0.0 0.19 1.5 12.0 4:15p N
22 51.0 56.1 3:45p 48.1 10:00p 12.9 0.0 0.00 2.0 13.0 7:15a SSW
23 51.5 55.9 4:00p 47.0 7:45a 13.5 0.0 0.00 1.3 10.0 10:45a N
24 52.2 57.5 4:00p 46.3 12:00m 13.1 0.0 0.00 2.1 14.0 4:00a S
25 50.6 59.9 2:30p 45.6 8:30a 12.3 0.0 0.01 1.5 13.0 11:00a SE
26 52.0 60.2 4:30p 46.9 1:30a 11.4 0.0 0.01 2.2 13.0 11:00a N
27 53.5 63.3 3:45p 46.5 12:45a 10.1 0.0 0.00 2.1 19.0 11:30p S
28 52.0 57.8 3:00p 47.3 8:15a 12.5 0.0 0.00 5.1 22.0 8:15a S
29 54.4 58.8 2:30p 48.7 12:00m 11.3 0.0 0.34 7.5 42.0 7:30a S
30 50.6 57.0 2:45p 47.4 6:30a 12.8 0.0 0.02 1.6 11.0 7:15a SSE
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51.9 70.0 3 40.5 13 364.6 0.0 0.80 2.4 42.0 29 N
Max >= 90.0: 0
Max <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 0.0: 0
Max Rain: 0.34 ON 11/29/00
Days of Rain: 6 (>.01 in) 2 (>.1 in) 0 (>1 in)
Heat Base: 65.0 Cool Base: 65.0 Method: (High + Low) / 2