Ugh! Late February should feel like spring around here and instead we're having a blizzard? Eff this.
The low temperature early this morning in San Francisco broke a goddamn 132-year-old record. So if you want evidence that it should never be this cold this late in February, it actually hasn't been this in cold in late February since 1891! And this is the third day of this misery, with records having been shattered on Wednesday and Thursday as well.
As the Chronicle reports via the National Weather Service, the mercury hit 39 degrees early Friday, and the previous record low for February 24 was 40 degrees set in 1891. The NWS also notes that San Francisco proper hasn't had a 39-degree day in six years — the last low of 39 was on January 6, 2017.
Winter storm warnings went out across the Bay Area this week for the first time since 2006. And last night, snow fell in multiple, relatively low-lying areas of Sonoma County — with significant snow falling along Sonoma's ridges and even in Cloverdale, which sits at around 400-500 feet and saw up to four inches of snow overnight. As NWS meteorologist Sarah McCorkle told the Press Democrat, their local office in Monterey isn't even equipped to track snowfall accumulations, and the last time any trace of snow fell below 1000 feet in Sonoma County was in 2011.
"“It’s very noteworthy," McCorkle said.
The maximum temperature in San Francisco on Wednesday was also a record — hitting a high of 48, it was a full 13 degrees below average for February 22nd, according to the weather service. It beat the previous recorded lowest high temperature for the day of 49, which had been set back in 1880.
And Thursday's maximum temp of 49 also broke the previous record, which had been 50 degrees, and was set in 1890 and tied in 1969.
We're still waiting on rainfall totals, and the weather service has put out a call for citizen snowfall accumulation reports, since they're at a loss there.
Things are expected to be similarly chilly and rainy in SF this weekend, with highs in the high 40s, and Saturday has another predicted low of 39 degrees, likely in the overnight hours tomorrow morning. And that will likely break another record.
Oft-quoted climate scientist Daniel Swain of Weather West is doing an "open office hours" and Q&A this afternoon (Friday) live on YouTube at 2 p.m. PT, if you're interested. He'll be taking questions about both the low-elevation snow in NorCal and the major storm impacts in SoCal as well.
Previously: Snowfall Shuts Down Roads, Delights Kids Around the Bay; Lightning Hits SF