Credit a buckled jet stream for the strange weather in San Luis Obispo County

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• Oh, what a lovely dry month

  Oh, what a lovely dry month

  It’s been dry, really dry. San Luis Obispo has only recorded 0.18 inches of rain since Nov. 21. According to rain records from Cal Poly, the official home of climatology for San Luis Obispo, December through January is approaching the driest ever. The records go back to the 1860s.

  The driest December-through-January period occurred during the 1976 rain season, which recorded only 0.19 inches of precipitation at Cal Poly.

  Hopefully, the expected rain later this month will keep the 1976 record intact.

• Week's winds were tough, but look at '77

  Week's winds were tough, but look at '77

  John Lindsey

  I knew it was bad when I saw the photographs of overturned semitrailers near Cajon Pass in San Bernardino County. I was stunned to see concrete light poles cracked in half by the wind's force in Los Angeles County.

  Most of the time, Central Coast surfers, kayakers and beachgoers lovingly anticipate the arrival of the northeasterly (offshore) winds with the warmer temperatures and sparkling clear skies they often bring. During late fall and winter, coastal temperatures will often be warmer than the inland temperatures in the North County. However, like many things in life, too much of a good thing can be bad. So it was last week with a strong offshore wind event.

• Santa’s workshop benefits from geothermal activity

  Santa’s workshop benefits from geothermal activity

  You may have heard the sound of rustling bells and hoofbeats on your roof last night as Kris Kringle made his rounds from his home in the far north in a land of perpetual ice and snow.

  From the North Pole, Santa is able to reach the majority of earth’s population with the shortest travel times. He also chose the North Pole because temperatures are relatively warmer than at the South Pole.

  The South Pole is frightfully cold. On July 21, 1983, the air temperature reached minus 128.6 degrees at Russia’s Vostok Research Station. (When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter south of the equator.) The station lies atop a windswept landscape that sits on a 9,000-foot-thick plateau of ice. The climate at the South Pole is desert dry, almost never receiving any precipitation. All in all, the weather is a bit too dry and cold for Saint Nicholas.

• Bizarre weather breaks records

  Bizarre weather breaks records

  East of the Rocky Mountains, temperatures have been hot. Texas, Oklahoma and New Jersey experienced record mean temperatures in July. Oklahoma’s mean temperature in July was 88.9 degrees, the highest for any state since weather records have been kept!

  Throughout north Texas, cities broke records for consecutive days of 100-plus degree temperatures. Since June 30, Waco, Texas, has seen temperatures reach triple digits for 44 straight days. This streak broke the previous record of 42 days set in 1980. Wichita Falls did not have a day below 100 degrees from June 21 until Saturday, when the temperature finally stayed below triple digits.

  Dallas nearly broke its previous record of 42 days, also set in the famous 1980 heat wave, but a few thunderstorms mercifully rolled in from the north Thursday and kept temperatures in the high 90s. One of my co-workers, Sidney Bob Dietz, lived in Dallas during the 1980 heat storm. He said “I spent a lot of time outdoors that summer, and I remember how unrelenting it was

• Week’s winds were tough, but look at ’77

  Week’s winds were tough, but look at ’77

  I knew it was bad when I saw the photographs of overturned semitrailers near Cajon Pass in San Bernardino County. I was stunned to see concrete light poles cracked in half by the wind’s force in Los Angeles County.

  Most of the time, Central Coast surfers, kayakers and beachgoers lovingly anticipate the arrival of the northeasterly (offshore) winds with the warmer temperatures and sparkling clear skies they often bring. During late fall and winter, coastal temperatures will often be warmer than the inland temperatures in the North County. However, like many things in life, too much of a good thing can be bad. So it was last week with a strong offshore wind event.

  Winds are caused by air flowing from high pressure to low pressure, like air escaping from an inflated balloon. When an area of high pressure moves closer to a region of low pressure, the differential gives rise to stronger winds.