Pacific Coast Rainfall Record Update: Focus Shifts to Central California; 133-Year San Francisco Record Broken

The focus of record-breaking rainfall shifted southward to central California on Friday. At downtown San Francisco, where climate records began in 1850, the 1.39" broke a 133-year-old record for November 30 of 1.38" in 1879. (The airport's 1.96" failed to reach the record of 2.39" in 1973, however.) Other record rainfall amounts in the region (previous record and date in parentheses):

Livermore       1.85" (0.75", 1982)
Moffett Field   1.40" (1.31", 1973)
Oakland         1.88" (1.58", 1961)
San Jose        1.14" (0.95", 1997)    
Salinas         2.22" (1.49", 1982)

The 2.17" at Santa Rosa was also a record, but climate data there began only in 1998. Records also extended inland. The National Weather Service reports:

SACRAMENTO EXECUTIVE AIRPORT   
1.68 INCHES...OLD RECORD 1.04 IN 1973  
  
STOCKTON AIRPORT  
1.39 INCHES...OLD RECORD 0.64 IN 1997  
  
MODESTO AIRPORT  
0.80 INCHES...OLD RECORD 0.66 IN 1997  

A RECORD RAINFALL OF 0.62 INCH(ES) WAS SET AT FRESNO CA YESTERDAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 0.50 SET IN 1982.  

Record Northern Pacific Coast Rainfall

Image (click to enlarge): Northern California precipitation for 24 hours ending at 5 am PST, November 30, 2012, from National Weather Service

November 30 Update: Crescent City peaked out at 4.14" of rain yesterday, more than doubling the old record. Ukiah almost doubled its old record with 2.48", vs. 1.42" in 1938.

Other record reports from the National Weather Service:

A RECORD RAINFALL OF 2.22 INCH(ES) WAS SET AT MEDFORD OR YESTERDAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.25 SET IN 1917.  

A RECORD RAINFALL OF 1.6 INCH(ES) WAS SET AT ROSEBURG OR YESTERDAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.43 SET IN 1951.  

Original post:
The heavy rains pounding the Pacific Coast have already set daily records at several locations in northern California and Oregon as of early this evening. The National Weather Service reports:

..RECORD RAINFALL SET AT CRESCENT CITY CA  
A RECORD RAINFALL AMOUNT OF 2.50 INCHES HAS FALLEN SO FAR TODAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE PREVIOUS RECORD AMOUNT OF 2.00 INCHES SET IN 1995.  

Since that report was issued at 4 pm local time, over one and a half inches of additional rain has been unofficially reported. Crescent City climate records began in 1894.

At Mt. Shasta, the 1.69" as of 4 pm was closing in on the record of 1.81" from 1932, and since then at least three-quarters of an inch of additional rain has fallen.

In Oregon, Medford's 1.58" as of 4 pm was enough to break the record of 1.25" from 1917.

Washington's 7th Driest November; Second Biggest October/November Relative Decrease

November 30, 5 PM Update: Added 2012 monthly data and charts.

Original post:
With the mere 0.06" of light rain on Tuesday, November 2012 will close out tomorrow with only 0.60" of precipitation at Washington. That ties it with 1908 as the 7th driest November in 143 years of climate history. The driest was in 1981, when 0.29" was reported.

This exceptionally dry month, following the 5.82" drenching in October, represents slightly less than a 90% month-to-month decrease, second only to the 92% in 1981. In absolute terms, the 5.22" rainfall reduction is the 5th largest on record. The largest absolute October-November decrease was 7.49" in 2005, following the all-time wettest October.

Following wetter-than-average months in September and October, this is now the 9th month of 2012 with below-average precipitation. The November departure of 81% below average is followed by March with a 71% deficit.

The 29.42" total precipitation through the first 11 months is over 7" below the average amount to date. If December rainfall is equal to climatology, the annual amount (marked "Climo" on the chart) will remain the second driest since 2000, behind the 29.95" in 2001. Of the 13 years so far this century, only 4 others have been below average.

November was very dry throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, with nearly all areas below 50% of normal. Large areas from Washington eastward and southward have been below 25% of normal. The 0.71" at Baltimore is less than 22% of normal, and the 1.12" at Dulles is 33% of normal. Richmond's 0.27" is 8% of normal and the 5th driest in records dating back to 1872.

Meteorologists March

Today's Doonesbury:

2012 U.S. Heat Records Exceeding Cold Records at Nearly Double Last Year's Pace

The number of new daily high temperature records in the contiguous 48 states of the U.S. declined below the number of low records in October for the first time in 22 months. Nevertheless, the first half of November has already rebounded to wipe out that deficit. For the month to date, heat records are outnumbering cold records by a ratio of 3.1 to 1. With only 6 weeks left in the year, the 2012 ratio to date of 5.7 to 1 is almost double the 2011 ratio.

Although the ratio of heat records to cold records has declined substantially in the last several months, double-digit ratios in January, March, and July have kept the year-to-date ratio considerably above last year's. Cumulatively, since January 2010 the ratio for the decade stands at 3.4, just slightly below the peak it reached in July of 3.7.

For the year to date, temperatures have averaged above the previous 30-year normal everywhere in the country except along the immediate northern Pacific Coast and part of interior Washington state. Temperatures so far in November have been cooler than normal in most areas east of the Mississippi, particularly from the Ohio Valley through the Mid Atlantic and Carolinas. Temperatures nearly everywhere else have been warmer than normal.

Images (click to enlarge):
- Monthly ratio of daily high temperature to low temperature records set in the U.S. for November 2011 through November 2012, seasonal ratio for summer and fall 2011, winter, spring and summer 2012, and annual ratio for 2012 and 2011.
CapitalClimate chart from NOAA/NCDC data, background image © Kevin Ambrose. Includes historical daily observations archived in NCDC's Cooperative Summary of the Day data set and preliminary reports from Cooperative Observers and First Order National Weather Service stations. All stations have a Period of Record of at least 30 years.
- Cumulative ratio of U.S. high temperature to low temperature records from January 2010 through November 2012 to date (logarithmic scale); CapitalClimate chart from NOAA/NCDC data
- January to October 2012 U.S. temperature departure from 1981-2010 average, from NOAA/ESRL
- November 1-16 U.S. temperature departure from average, from High Plains Regional Climate Center

Wind Power's Health Hazards

Wind turbine syndrome might just seem like a collection of unrelated health complaints to the untrained eye, but untrained eye is also a symptom of wind turbine syndrome. Stephen Colbert reports:

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Heat Records Set in Northern New York, New England

8 PM Update: Mt. Mansfield VT also set a record:

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 55 DEGREES WAS SET AT MOUNT MANSFIELD VT TODAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 53 DEGREES SET IN 1964.  

Original post:
With Thanksgiving a little more than a week away, temperatures from the upper 60s into the 70s have set daily high temperature records from northern New York into New England. A record was also set at Islip on Long Island, but climate history there began only in 1986. The National Weather Service reports:

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 70 DEGREES WAS SET AT BURLINGTON VT TODAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 66 SET IN 1982.  
  
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 69 DEGREES WAS SET AT MONTPELIER VT TODAY. THIS   
BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 62 SET IN 1982...1974...AND 1970.  
  
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 66 DEGREES WAS SET AT SAINT JOHNSBURY VT TODAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 65 DEGREES SET IN 1911.  
  
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 75 DEGREES WAS SET AT MASSENA NY TODAY. THIS   
BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 70 SET IN 1982.  

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 70 DEGREES WAS SET AT WATERTOWN NY   
TODAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 70 SET IN 1964.

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 70 DEGREES WAS SET AT BUFFALO NY TODAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 69 SET IN 1964.  

RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE SET AT BANGOR ME....  
A RECORD TEMPERATURE OF 66 DEGREE WAS SET AT 1258 PM. THIS BREAKS   
THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 60 DEGREES SET IN 1940. 

A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 66 DEGREES WAS SET AT ISLIP NY TODAY.   
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 63 SET IN 2006.