MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY
By Jan Null
California State Climatologist, California Department of Water Resources
August 2005

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Overall for California August of 2005 will look like a pretty normal month with statewide average temperatures being close to normal. However, closer scrutiny shows the nearly schizophrenic climate pattern we have seen most of the summer with above normal temperatures in the deserts and interior while coastal sections have seen the June gloom and below normal temperatures persist into July and August.

The first half of August was dominated by high pressure expanding northwest from the deserts and this pushed interior temperatures into triple digits. The first 12 days of August 2005 were at least 100 degrees in Fresno, which combined with the last 9 days of July gave them a record of 21 consecutive days over the century mark. Ending on the 9th, Sacramento had 30 consecutive days of minimum temperatures at or above 60 degrees, a new record. It wasn't hot everywhere, however, as Thermal and Borrego Desert Park both broke records for the lowest maximum temperatures early in the month. Thermal reached only 100 degrees on the 8th, and Borrego only 89 on the 10th.

The latter half of the month saw a bit more variability with several weak troughs bringing some relief from the heat inland and reinforcing the marine layer. Locations in the Southland continued to see high minimum temperatures on the 26th and 27th, with new records on the books in Campo, Thermal, Yorba Linda and Lake Arrowhead. From the 26th until the end of the month Chula Vista, Ramona Fire Department, Elsinore, Camarillo, Lancaster, Imperial, Shelter Cove, San Francisco airport, and Oakland airport met or broke maximum temperature records.

While the monthly was generally dry there were several surges of monsoonal moisture that produced precipitation in the deserts and Sierra Nevada. Thanks to Gary Sanger, the Climate Focal Point at NWS San Joaquin Valley who summarized this activity: "The trough brought enough dynamics to trigger an outbreak of severe thunderstorms over the Kern county deserts and the Kern county portion of the Southern Sierra Nevada during the late afternoon and evening of the 15th. Hail up to 1.75 inch in diameter fell in the California City area, with 0.88-inch hail in Ridgecrest and the Lake Isabella area. An F0 tornado formed in northern Los Angeles County, northeast of Palmdale, and moved into Edwards Air Force Base. This was the first tornado to touch down anywhere in the seven-county Hanford warning/forecast area in August in over 50 years. (Earlier in the month, monsoonal thunderstorms had caused flash flooding in the Southern Sierra Nevada south of the Kern River Canyon during the late afternoon of August 6th, as well as road flooding on the Red Rock-Randsburg Road along the south edge of the El Paso Mountains on the 5th, and again on the 6th.)"


Page last updated 9/23/05.