Atmospheric River Slamming California, Spring Preview For Most

As we enter the final month of Meteorological Winter, it feels more like Spring already.  That got me out doing some yard work as I couldn't stand looking at dead plants.  I know Dan Gill says wait for new growth to sprout, but I had enough seeing my yard dead.  Here are some before and after views.

My ginger looked great before the snow & freeze.  But after...

I cut the ginger back to the ground, but it'll bounce back with warmer weather.  Yeah, the yard still lacks color, but the dead stuff is gone.  Looking back at January found over all, the month was cold, but not top ten cold.

Of course, we'll all remember the snowstorm on the 21st.  Looking at the past ten days, we've gone from way too warm to way too cold and back to way too warm.

So are we done with the cold?  Hardly, as Arctic air has rebuilt across Canada with the super cold (35-40 below) forming over eastern Alaska into northern Canada.

Just seeing so much below-zero cold should send up the red flags for you gardeners.  Don't plant the tomatoes yet!!!  Rule of thumb, wait until after March 15th to be safe.  We're safe from any cold as long as the East Coast upper trough doesn't return.  The current setup has an "Atmospheric River" plowing into the West Coast with a west-to-east flow across the lower 48.  This cuts off the cold from coming south.

Fortunately, for now, northern California is getting slammed with rain & snow.  With all the burn scars over southern California, IF the AR drifts south, there could be some major mudslide issues.  In the short term for us, we'll finish with a sunny & warm Sunday.

 

As we keep warming back into the 70s and low-level moisture increases, dense morning fog could become the main weather issue.

Remember, our "normal" high is 64-65.  Every day will be 8-15 degrees above that.  You snow geeks stop whining.  You had your once-in-a-lifetime fun.  Let us warm-air geeks recover from a cold January.  A final thought.  We'll start off the first 2 weeks of February very warm.  Mardi Gras is March 4th.  How many times do you remember when it was warmer in early February and brutally cold for those late Mardi Gras parades?  Could it be one of those years?  Stay tuned!