NOVEMBER 1998 WEATHER SUMMARY
November is generally the month when the early season weather pattern
takes hold. With this year's La Nina in full swing, (but not yet a major
event), the pattern is a bit less well etablished. The Pacific Northwest
was battered with up to 20" in some coastal areas in Oregon, and more along
the Olympic Peninsula in Wash. The area of above average rains extends down
to about the Eureka/Redding line, and drops off the farther south. While
monthly rain totals were above normal in Pacifica, (4.6" or 1.75" over historical
norms ('61-'90)the monthly totals were locally enhanced by the proximity
of the most significant event to date on the 29th-30th, when 1.18" fell.
Santa Rosa, to our north, is still below average for the year. With
15 days of rain, 4.6" isn't really a lot. Last year for example, we had 11
days of rain but 7.93" of rain for Novemeber. Early this month, zonal
flows centering on the NW became entrenched, with occassional errosion of
the EPac ridge which allowed tails to sweep through. This latest storm however,
marked a change in the pattern with a deep, cold core low coming onshore
just north of the Bay Area, bringing gusty wind to 58mph here and generally
gale force winds elsewhere. Surf was very high with >25' sea/swells
reported along the coast. The Pacifica shoreline was hit hard by waves on
the night of the 29th. The next 4-6 days will likely feature more cold storms,
with a chance of snow in the local hills down to 2-3K' in 4-5 days. This
cold air streaming south also should bring an enhancement to the dry stable
air of the EPac High, and we should go dry for a while. In weak La Nina years,
as the Winter progresses, the ridge should build ever stronger and rain events
subside. Stronger La Nina years can steer storms down the coast and bring
colder, windier event to Central California. With the ENSO index not
looking exceptional, I currently tend to go with the weaker La Nina scenario.
Temps overall were quite mild, with a low of only 44.4F. The high for the
month was set on the 26th (66F), and temps in general were a bit cooler early
in the month under mostly cloudy skies. Many trees have not completed their
fall drop, due in part to the mild fall temps and the very late bloom last
spring. As a result of the altered growing season, many fruit trees, while
loaded with fruit, were generally undersized. Particularly hardhit were apples
and pears. Other harvests, such as the wine vinyards had lower than average
yieds, but the quality is said to be very good.
MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY for NOV. 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 55.1 61.9 2:00p 49.4 12:00m 9.3 0.0 0.03 1.8 11.0 6:30a W
2 53.7 60.2 2:00p 48.3 3:30a 10.8 0.0 0.01 1.9 13.0 2:30p E
3 55.4 62.7 12:30p 51.6 2:00a 7.8 0.0 0.03 1.1 7.0 1:00p S
4 53.2 55.8 12:30p 49.0 5:30a 12.6 0.0 0.01 1.7 9.0 5:30p E
5 54.1 59.7 1:30p 49.9 12:00m 10.2 0.0 0.00 4.5 25.0 12:00p N
6 53.1 57.7 3:00p 47.9 4:00a 12.2 0.0 0.07 3.9 21.0 10:00a S
7 53.5 56.9 10:00a 48.5 11:00p 12.3 0.0 0.78 7.8 43.0 5:00a SSW
8 51.6 57.6 12:00p 46.4 12:00m 13.0 0.0 0.11 1.7 13.0 12:30p SSW
9 50.3 58.5 2:00p 44.4 5:00a 13.5 0.0 0.01 1.4 11.0 12:30p SW
10 51.3 53.5 10:30a 48.3 12:30a 14.1 0.0 0.13 3.9 24.0 6:00p S
11 51.6 55.9 2:00p 47.3 12:00m 13.4 0.0 0.00 2.2 16.0 10:00a ENE
12 51.7 60.2 3:30p 46.7 6:00a 11.5 0.0 0.00 1.6 13.0 1:30p NNE
13 53.9 61.6 2:30p 48.6 12:30a 9.9 0.0 0.00 2.6 13.0 11:00a SSW
14 53.7 61.0 2:30p 47.1 8:00a 11.0 0.0 0.01 1.5 13.0 11:30a W
15 56.5 61.0 11:30a 51.4 11:00p 8.8 0.0 0.04 1.7 12.0 7:30a SE
16 55.6 62.2 3:00p 51.8 6:30a 8.0 0.0 0.04 3.7 25.0 11:00p S
17 54.0 58.6 1:00p 50.8 9:00p 10.3 0.0 0.08 4.4 25.0 12:30a S
18 52.0 59.0 1:30p 46.9 7:30a 12.0 0.0 0.00 1.8 18.0 4:30p S
19 51.6 60.9 1:00p 46.5 7:30a 11.3 0.0 0.01 1.4 11.0 1:00p SE
20 52.2 61.4 2:30p 45.1 5:30a 11.8 0.0 0.01 1.1 8.0 10:30a NE
21 56.6 62.0 11:30a 52.8 1:00a 7.6 0.0 0.23 4.4 24.0 6:30p S
22 56.5 61.1 12:00p 51.2 7:30a 8.8 0.0 0.00 1.9 17.0 12:00m SSW
23 56.4 58.6 12:30a 53.0 12:00m 9.2 0.0 0.91 14.5 48.0 1:00p S
24 53.0 58.6 2:00p 49.5 9:00p 11.0 0.0 0.00 2.0 17.0 1:00a SSW
25 53.6 61.4 1:30p 47.9 5:00a 10.3 0.0 0.00 1.8 11.0 1:30p ESE
26 56.7 65.7 11:30a 52.1 12:00m 6.1 0.0 0.12 3.8 26.0 12:30p S
27 53.5 55.9 1:00p 51.3 12:00m 11.4 0.0 0.12 0.9 9.0 3:30p N
28 50.8 54.1 1:00p 47.5 8:30a 14.2 0.0 0.01 2.9 21.0 12:00p SSW
29 53.4 57.6 12:00m 50.3 3:00a 11.1 0.0 0.72 14.0 45.0 6:30a S
30 54.6 59.1 5:00a 51.0 12:00m 10.0 0.0 1.12 11.9 58.0 7:30a S
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53.6 65.7 26 44.4 9 323.6 0.0 4.60 3.7 58.0 30 S
Max >= 90.0: 0
Max <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 32.0: 0
Min <= 0.0: 0
Max Rain: 1.12 ON 11/30/98
Days of Rain: 15 (>.01 in) 9 (>.1 in) 1 (>1 in)
Heat Base: 65.0 Cool Base: 65.0 Method: (High + Low) / 2