First Snow In California In 36 Years!

[Backtrack]

A large storm has moved southwards across California bringing some very rare, albeit light, snowfall to San Francisco this weekend.

The last time San Francisco had significant snow was February 5th 1976, that's 35 years ago!

This storm is being driven by the jet stream, a core of strong winds high in the atmosphere.

The jet stream has plunged a long way south taking the storm and some unusually cold air with it, lowering temperatures well below average.

Some of the hills around the city have seen a couple of feet of snow, which is expected to remain on the ground for a day or two after the storm has passed.

And as the storm pulls away from California into Nevada there is even the chance of seeing some snow falling in Las Vegas.

Rare indeed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/hi/climate/newsid_9406000/9406614.stm

[Mesoscale]

Its not the first time las vegas will see snow this year either an inch or two fell on the 3rd Jan!!!!

I think that being surrounded by water moderates our weather not allowing it to get too cold in winter or two hot in summer which in my opinion sucks!

we would fare alot better if we where landlocked with spain, france, belguim, netherlands etc. we would get warmer summers and colder winters.

[Summer of 95]

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/25/san-francisco-snow-update-on-the-waiting-game/

So far, the only thing falling this afternoon are rays of sunshine.

From the Surge Desk West Coast offices overlooking San Francisco Bay, one can practically feel the collective disappointment of residents. With the forecast calling for the first sea-level snowfall to hit the Bay Area since 1976, today's weather has brought morning rain, afternoon sun and temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s. In other words, not a trace of snow has been seen so far.

Now that sounds familiar :lol:

[knocker]

They are probably stll looking. Surface chart at 0600z for the SW US.

[Backtrack]

They are probably stll looking. Surface chart at 0600z for the SW US.

Hmm. I don't understand that chart.

[Terminal Moraine]

Hmm. I don't understand that chart.

Here's a brief explanation. Each station is represented by a square or a circle, if it's completely filled in it's cloudy, if it's empty it's clear.

The arrow with the feathers on it is the wind direction and speed, the arrow points to where the wind is coming from. Each full line at the end of it represents 10mph and each half line is 5 mph so an arrow with 3 full lines at the end would mean a wind speed of 30 mph.

The figure to the top left of the station square or circle is the air temperature in farenheit and the figure below it is the dew point.

The figure to the top right of the station square is the last two digits and decimal place of the air pressure, so for instance 014 would indicate an air pressure of 1001.4 hpa, 997 would mean 999.7 hpa.

The figure below the air pressure is the pressure trend. Normally these are plotted in black and red, black for rising pressure and red for falling but I notice on this chart they're all in black which seems a bit odd.

Anyway, a figure of 12 would indicate a pressure rise or fall of 1.2hpa since the last observation.

On some stations there is a symbol such as ** between the air temperature and the dew point, these are the international 'weather at time of observation codes' and the one I've quoted means continuous light snow. Two dots next to each other, like large full stops, would mean continuous light rain; there are about 90 in all.

[johnholmes]

Hmm. I don't understand that chart.

best you Google to have the station circle explained, which is what each of those reports shows

here you are-first one shown on Google-keep you occupied for a bit!

http://weather.unisys.com/wxp/Appendices/Formats/SYNOP.html

[Thundery wintry showers]

Its not the first time las vegas will see snow this year either an inch or two fell on the 3rd Jan!!!!

I think that being surrounded by water moderates our weather not allowing it to get too cold in winter or two hot in summer which in my opinion sucks!

we would fare alot better if we where landlocked with spain, france, belguim, netherlands etc. we would get warmer summers and colder winters.

In fact San Francisco has somewhat less temperature variation than anywhere in Britain barring perhaps some extreme coastal fringes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco#Climate

...so in some coastal parts of the world even being landlocked with a large continent doesn't overcome the tempering effects of the sea!

Recent reports suggest a dusting of snow in some of the hillier parts of the region but nothing in San Francisco Bay:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F02%2F27%2FBAQA1HVCAQ.DTL

[Ja23]

snow falling in Las Vegas.

Cause its winter.

[4wd]

Also snowing in parts of desert Arizona, which is described as a "Once in a lifetime event"

http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=10797.0

[Backtrack]

Here's a brief explanation. Each station is represented by a square or a circle, if it's completely filled in it's cloudy, if it's empty it's clear.

The arrow with the feathers on it is the wind direction and speed, the arrow points to where the wind is coming from. Each full line at the end of it represents 10mph and each half line is 5 mph so an arrow with 3 full lines at the end would mean a wind speed of 30 mph.

The figure to the top left of the station square or circle is the air temperature in farenheit and the figure below it is the dew point.

The figure to the top right of the station square is the last two digits and decimal place of the air pressure, so for instance 014 would indicate an air pressure of 1001.4 hpa, 997 would mean 999.7 hpa.

The figure below the air pressure is the pressure trend. Normally these are plotted in black and red, black for rising pressure and red for falling but I notice on this chart they're all in black which seems a bit odd.

Anyway, a figure of 12 would indicate a pressure rise or fall of 1.2hpa since the last observation.

On some stations there is a symbol such as ** between the air temperature and the dew point, these are the international 'weather at time of observation codes' and the one I've quoted means continuous light snow. Two dots next to each other, like large full stops, would mean continuous light rain; there are about 90 in all.

best you Google to have the station circle explained, which is what each of those reports shows

here you are-first one shown on Google-keep you occupied for a bit!

http://weather.unisy...mats/SYNOP.html

Thanks very much guys for taking the time to answer! I've saved both posts for future reference!