New World Record Hailstone Possible

Severe storms raked the upper Midwest and High Plains last Friday.  The Storm Prediction Center recorded 19 reports of hail.  One of the hail stones may have set a world record for size and weight. 

The current record-holding hailstone fell from a severe thunderstorm in southeastern Nebraska on June 22, 2003. The stone found near Aurora measured 7 inches in diameter with a circumference of 18.75 inches.

More Details & Pictures

More Details & Pictures II 

Rain In San Jose

I happen to enjoy your weather facts every day.  Could you tell me if it has rained in San Jose/Campbell (I live near Curtner/Leigh) since April.  I have a leak, the roofers say it is the solar water heater, the solar techs say it is the roof.  I had the ceiling replaced at the end of April.  There is new water damage that I discovered about 3 weeks ago.

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely yours,
Pat Bergman

Hi Pat,

Appreciate the kind words, thank you. 

The closest official reporting station is Mineta San Jose International Airport. 

The last good soaking rain there was on the 20th and 21st of April, 1.10".  It rained again on the 27th, 0.08", and 28th, 0.05". 

May:
0.03" - 9th
0.09" - 10th
0.07" - 17th
0.12" - 25th
0.04" - 27th.

They haven't received measurable rain since the 27th of May.

The National Weather Service does have other weather reporting stations around San Jose.  They keep these measurements in-house.  You can call them, 831.656.1725.

Hope this helps.

Mike

Extreme Summer MicroClimates

Mike, when you say it's going to be 93 in Brentwood, please add at least 7 degrees.  I don't know where you live in the East Bay, but it's nowhere near Brentwood.  Today you said we would hit 93, it's 5:45 PM & 101 degrees outside.  My car & outside thermometer confirm it!!!

Marjorie Fiacco

Miss Marjorie,

You touch upon one of the bigger challenges in forecasting high temperatures during the Summer.  I receive an e-mail like yours several times during the extreme heat of our summer months when our microclimates are most visible. 

Microclimates are everywhere and can vary in size.  It's not uncommon to see a 5 - 7° temperature change over a mile or two near the coast and bay shore due to wind currents.  In our valleys and inland like Brentwood you will find more extreme microclimates based more on the type of ground you are standing on.  Air will be cooler over vegetation and warmer over concrete and, more so, over asphalt.  My own yard, which is not large, has an afternoon microclimate in the summer.  The back of my house, which faces west, is usually 10° warmer than the north side and up to 20° warmer than the front yard.   

The official high in Brentwood was 95° yesterday.  If you read the National Weather Service's guidelines for implementing weather observation equipment, you can see why such a big difference existed.

Thanks for watching.  Appreciate the feedback.

My best,

Mike

RECORD SETTING HEAT - WEDNESDAY

High pressure held court for one last day across the East Coast.  The cooler air we talked about arrived today.  This wind shift is pushing the heat farther south over the Carolinas and Georgia today. 

High Tempertures:
101° (old, 99 in 1993) - Baltimore, MD
94° (old, 92 in 1999) - Blacksburg, VA
94° (old, 92 in 1986) - Cape Hatteras, NC
98° (old, 96 in 1986) - Chincoteague, VA
104° (old, 102 in 1977) - Danville, VA
92° (old, 91 in 1988) - Montpelier, VT
79° (old, 78 in 1988) - Mount Mandfield, VT
100° (old, 98 in 1993) - New York (Central Park)
101° (old, 97 in 1986) - New York (LaGuardia)
103° (old, 98 in 1994) - Philadelphia, PA
101° (old, 99 in 1988) - Reading, PA
104° (old, 103 in 1977) - Richmond, VA
98° (old, 97 in 1993) - Salisbury, MD
103° (old, 99 in 1993) - Trenton, NJ
102° (old, 99 in 1991) - Washington DC (Reagan)
103° (old, 98 in 1897) - Wilimington, DE

Record Temperatures - Tuesday

The East Coast heat wave toppled more record high temperatures Tuesday.  With overnight lows only dropping into the 80s this morning, today should be even hotter.

Record High Temperatures:
101° (old, 100 in 1999) - Allentown, PA
102° (old, 99 in 1999) - Atlantic City, NJ
105° (old, 101 in 1999) - Baltimore, MD
94° (old, 92 in 1989) - Blacksburg, VA
95° (old, 94 in 1995) - Burlington, VT
102° (old, 99 in 1990) - Georgetown, DE
101° (old, 99 in 1999) - Islip, NY
94° (old, 93 in 1999) - Mount Pocono, PA
103° (old, 101 in 1999) - New York (Central Park)
101° (old, 99 in 1999) - New York (Kennedy)
103° (old, 101 in 1999) - New York (LaGuardia)
102° (old, 98 in 1999) - Philadelphia, PA
102° (old, 100 in 1999) - Reading, PA
104° (old, 100 in 1999) - Trenton, NJ
103° (old, 98 in 1999) - Wilmington, DE

98° (tied, previously 1999) - Lynchburg, VA
91° (tied, previously 1993) - Montpelier, VT
76° (tied, previously 1995) - Mount Mansfield, VT
94° (tied, previously 1993) - Syracuse, NY

The June gloom spilled into July and intensified around Los Angeles.  A strong sea breeze brought cool and moist air to Southern California.

Record Cold High Temperatures:
73° (old, 76 in 1963) - Burbank
66° (old, 68 in 1968) - *LAX
74° (old, 77 in 1969) - San Gabriel
79° (old, 82 in 1969) - Woodland Hills

67° (tied, previously 1955) - San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly)
67° (tied, previously 1971) - Santa Barbara

*The high temperature of 66° at the Los Angeles Airport tied a record low maximum temperature for any day during the month of July. 

Daily Rainfall Records: 
0.02" (old, 0.00) - Santa Monica Pier
0.02" (old, 0.01 in 2001) - Oxnard
0.02" (old, 0.01 in 2001) - UCLA
 

RECORD SETTING HOT WEATHER - MONDAY

A hot area of high pressure from surface in North Carolina to the upper troposphere over Pennsylvania continues to bring oppressive heat to the Northeast.  Humidity joins the heat starting tomorrow.  By Thursday, a back-door cold front (moving east to west) brings cooler air from over the Atlantic Ocean.  The transition to cooler air will be bumpy as the cool front will lift the hot and humid air and create strong thunderstorms.

High Temperatures:
98° (old, 97 in 1999) - Chincoteague, VA
90° (old, 88 in 1999) - Montpelier, VT
98° (old, 97 in 1999) - Wallops Island, VA

98° (tied, previously 1990) - Allentown, PA
99° (tied, previously 1999) - Atlantic City, NJ
76° (tied, previously 1971) - Mount Mansfield, VT
98° (tied, previously 1990) - Norfolk, VA
100° (tied, previously 1999) - Reading, PA

Humidity Lowest When?

Dear Mr. Nicco,

I have recently moved to Gilroy from England and I have some questions about humidity and temperature. One of my hobbies is painting toy soldiers and generally step 1 is use a spray paint to prime one of them. However, spray paint, in this application is notoriously fussy and generally the lower the humidity the better and obviously a scalding temperature doesn't help. I was wondering what the best time of day is for the lowest humidity and what times of year historically have the lowest humidity, keeping in mind the temperature can't be too high during the time I'm spraying. I'm planning on getting one of those home weather stations, my father has one and it's cool but until then I could really use your advice.

Thank you very much,
Phill

Good Morning Phillip,

I Hope you experienced a smooth relocation and enjoy garlic.  Lol

In Gilroy you will experience the lowest humidity during the hottest part of the afternoon.  

Dew point temperature is the temperature an air mass needs to cool in order to reach saturation.  In an average weather pattern, the daily diurnal cycle of temperatures means you will find the highest humidity in the morning when the temperature and dew point temperature are nearly the same with the opposite true in the afternoon.

Another aspect to consider is which way is the wind blowing.  When the sea breeze (on shore wind) reaches Gilroy, whether it is day or night, the humidity will be higher.  Our driest days tend to fall in September and October when we experience more land breezes (off shore wind). A land breeze can occur any time of the year.  The fall is exceptionally dry as the ground and vegetation are now parched from a lack of rain for the last 4 to 6 moths.  This is also when we experience our greatest wild fire threat.

From the conditions you require, the best time to spray would be in the morning before 10 during a land breeze event.

Hope this helps.

Btw – would love to see some pictures.

Thanks,

Mike

Mike Nicco
KGO-TV Morning & Midday Meteorologist

Lunar Rainbow in Yosemite

This photograph of a lunar rainbow and blog entry come from Jeff Cable of Jeff Cable Photography.

Enjoy...

 
 I just returned from another quick trip to Yosemite Valley, where I was lucky enough to spend some times with my friends from Canon and also well-known outdoor photographer, Lewis Kemper. I was only able to stay there for two nights since I had other commitments back home, but it was not a wasted trip by any means. This happened to be one of the rare nights where one of the most elusive occurrences in Yosemite can happen. This is called a "Moonbow" and it only occurs when the following things happen:

1. The skies must be clear enough for the moon to shine through (which did not happen on the first night)
2. There must be enough water coming off the falls to create the right amount of mist at the base
3. A bright moon (preferably a full one)
4. The correct angle of the moon from the falls
5. The photographer needs to be at the right angle to capture the moonbow.

Even though we had started shooting at sunrise (5:30am) and had photographed and taught all day, we were determined to get to this shot. So, at 11:30pm we arrived at the meadow across from Yosemite Falls and set up for nature's one hour show.  I had an idea of how I would shoot this event, but two things caught me by surprise. The first was how tough it was to focus the camera in near darkness. At the beginning, I had set the lens to focus at infinity and hoped that it would be sharp. I ended up finding the right distance but I can tell you that the first ten images were useless. The second thing that surprised me was that the moonbow is not visible to the human eye, only to the camera. So...I was looking at the falls and waiting for the "event" to start when, in actuality, it already had. If it hadn't been for the hundreds of other photographers there, I might have missed this. Live and learn!

But...in the end I came up with a couple of images which really show off the Yosemite Falls Moonbow. This one is my favorites. Mother Nature is Awesome!!!!!

Perfect Pet

 
Quito  10 month male Chihuahua

Wow – how cute am I with these eyes and ears?  I may look a little sad, but lemme tell you… I have been through quite a lot! I was probably an outdoor dog (me! can you believe it?!) when I arrived here, I was dirty and limping.... An old injury caused me to only walk on three legs. Fortunately the SPCA saw my great personality showing through all that grime (even on three legs I was a confident playful guy!)! The vet staff got me the care I needed, performed an amputation (which is healing well) and I look forward to bouncing back to be the furry fun friend you would like to bring into your life and home!

San Francisco SPCA

415.522.3564