This December will go down as the fourth driest on record in San Luis Obispo County weather history.
It will finish as one of the coldest Decembers as well.
John Lindsey, a private forecaster who has monitored Central Coast weather for more than two decades, said only 0.18 inches of rain has fallen this month at Cal Poly, where the city’s climatology records have been kept since 1948. No rain is forecast for today or Saturday, either.
Only two other years — 1999 and 1963 — had less rainfall. The driest December ever occurred in 1989, when there was no rain. The fifth-driest December was 1990, when 0.43 was measured.
December is normally a reliable month for rain. The historical average is 3.79 inches in San Luis Obispo, making December a key part of the region’s rainy season, which runs from December through March.
Hope that the area might get decent rain this winter is not yet lost.
Lindsey, a media relations specialist with PG&E, discovered in reviewing the records that after three of the five driest Decembers, major rains developed to help boost the annual total.
“The December of 1990 was followed by 12.82 inches of rain in March of 1991 (miracle rains of March),” Lindsey wrote in an email. “The December of 1999 was followed by 13.17 inches of rain in February of 2000. The December of 1963 was followed by 3.56 inches of rain in January, 8.08 inches of rain in February, 4.61 inches in March and 3.84 inches in April, 1964.”
Even so, the forecast for today and the holiday weekend is for dry, warm weather, with nary a rain cloud in sight.
Fog may hug the coastline this morning, but otherwise clear skies will prevail. High pressure then builds over the county Saturday, making for a sparkling-clear New Year’s Eve and first day of the new year.
The high in San Luis Obispo today will be 70 degrees, warming to the mid-70s possibly this weekend. Paso Robles will also be in the upper 60s to near 70 today through the holiday period. Lindsey said rain could finally make its way into California later next week, but only as far south as Monterey.
In looking at temperatures, Lindsey said this December will be the coldest since 1990. The month had been trending to be the coolest since 1971, but this week’s warm up has pushed up the average temperature for the month to 50.3 degrees (with the highs and lows added together and then averaged), compared to the normal average of 53.3.
What you should know about comments on SanLuisObispo.com
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
- Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
- Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
- Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
- Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and leave him a public message.
- Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
- Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
- Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
- Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
Our news, your way
Be the first to know what's going on in San Luis Obispo County. Just tell us how you want to find out — we'll take care of the rest.
E-mail »
Twitter »
Facebook »
iTribune »
Subscribe »
RSS »Get breaking news on your cell phone
Sign up for breaking news alerts from SanLuisObispo.com and get the latest news sent to your cell phone via text message.
Terms and Conditions:
By signing up for alerts from this site, you are signing up for a program that may include up to 5 SMS text alert(s) per alert category per day. There is no service fee charged per month but your carrier's standard text messaging and other charges may apply. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending the text message "STOP" to 72737. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use our alert services. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you agree that you have received parental permission both to complete the registration process and to receive SMS content on your cell phone. For help, send the text message "HELP" to 72737. This service will work with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Alltell, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Boost, Virgin Mobile USA, Celluar South, Telos, Centennial, East Kentucky Network, Cellcom, Immix and Rural Celluar.
Quick Job Search
Top Jobs
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.