California Cold Snap Recap With Early Holiday Brief (Credit: Meteorologist Jessica Olsen)12/21/2016  Image Courtesy: Twister Data DISCUSSION: With everyone feeling the chill throughout the country it has been exceedingly difficult to find places that are experiencing seasonal temperatures. Recently California has experienced rainfall, snow in higher elevations, frost, and much cooler than average temperatures, which is no surprise as the rest of the country experiences colder temperatures, and an early start to winter. Californians experienced a cold snap for overnight temperatures beginning Friday, December 16, seeing lows in the mid to upper 20's in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. These cooler than average temperatures lingered into the week making headaches for those traveling for the holidays. Temperatures are expected to rebound today as the previous high pressure system located off the coast of California had pumped cold air moved into the mainland. Some places can expect to see highs in the mid to upper 60's. While locations such as Tahoe can expect snow for the holidays, Californians are crossing their fingers as rainfall is forecasted into Christmas Eve. With the presence of an upper level low churning to the southwest of Southern California, we should expect this precipitation to pull through downstream of the closed low as seen on the 500 mb map. Tonight for the Bay Area, lows will be much warmer and seasonal in the 30's and 40's. Current maps are showing the slight intrusion of a cold front located to the North, still not seen well on models but this will be the next area of concern for the Christmas Eve forecast. Coupled with the low outside of southwest California, moderate precipitation is expected with increased winds with snow possible in North Bay and Santa Lucia mountains. Between Thursday and Saturday totals between .5-1 inch with 2-4 in the mountains. ~Meteorologist Jessica Olsen
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 Image Courtesy: Pivotal Weather DISCUSSION: Rain will remain in the forecast for the next 24 hours as increased humidity lingers in the area coupled with a warm front, bringing warmer morning temperatures in the overnight. Previous day temperatures had readings in the mid-upper 30's with this morning temperatures starting off in the upper 40's to low 50's. Despite wind in the area, overall a mild morning with much of Central/Southern California seeing overcast skies. Coastal California may not have a white Christmas this year, though in higher elevations across the state, snow is not out of the question. However, this late fall, early meteorological winter, Californians are elated to see the consistency in unsettled weather, bringing much needed precipitation to the 5 year drought-ridden state. Forecast models indicated 1-3" of rainfall while most of the area will see 1/4-1", which will be more than welcome in many areas. Increased rainfall within the past 24-48 hours posed some difficulty for local Big Sur area of Highway 1, seeing road closures due to debris. This will likely persist as onshore flow is expected to bring increased moisture tonight and into tomorrow. ~Meteorologist Jessica Olsen  Image Courtesy: Canada-French-Hawaii Telescope DISCUSSION: Into the first day of meteorological winter there has been a Winter Storm Warning issued for Hawai'i. Not a place you'd certainly expect, however Hawai'i island is home to Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, summits standing at 13,803 feet and 13,678 feet respectively. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning, valid until December 2nd, 1800 HST. While O'ahu is experiencing an influx of showers today, Hawai'i is set to experience some of this precipitation in the form of snow. This is all in part due to an upper level trough combined with increased moisture due to occur well into the Aloha Friday evening commute. The upper level low associated with this warning will bring 6-12 inches of snow through Friday, decreased visibility with gusts topping 50 mph. Road conditions are expected to be poor during this period, therefore the road to the summit of Mauna Kea was closed at the Visitor Information Station at an altitude of 9,200 feet. The warning is in place for locations above 8,000 feet, with expected precipitation at 12,000 feet on summits. Wladimir Koppen, a noteable Climatologist who devised a classification system having been used since the early 1900's. His system was based on a "subdivision of terrestrial climates into five major types," according to Britannica. Within each zone of these five climates are sub-categories, as many as 14 that can define global climate more accurately. Various climatologists define Hawaii's climates differently, but what can be said is that an average of 10 different climates are seen, some climatologists indicate as many as 13 out of 14. What makes today's forecast of particular interest is as Hawai'i summits experience winter weather, due to their Polar Tundra climate as classified by Koppen, the nearby island of Oahu experiences precipitation in the form of rain, with temperatures in the mid to upper 80's, while temperatures are expected to be 20's to 30's on the Big Island summits. O'ahu has a tropical wet and dry savanna climate as classified by the Koppen-Geiger classification system. Precipitation on both islands are all attributed to the moisture brought by the upper level instability. Video Courtesy: Canada-French-Hawaii Telescope ~Meteorologist Jessica Olsen |
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