COLD RECORDS BROKEN IN FEBRUARY
By Miriam Raftery
Photo by Dave Hogan: Deep snow near his home in the Pine Valley/Mt. Laguna area
March 1, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – Across Southern California, February broke records for cold temperatures. Campo averaged just 42.5 degrees for the month of February, the chilliest since February 1956. In Ramona, February temperatures averaged 46.8 degrees, tying the all-time record from January 2007. Alpine’s average 47.7 degrees was the coldest since January 1955 and Palomar Mountain, at a brisk 35.3 degrees, was the coldest since January 1949.
Outside of San Diego County, the desert community of Palm Springs averaged 50.9 degrees, the coldest since January 1937.
“I knew it was interesting when I saw Big Bear Lake was completely frozen over last weekend,” says Alex Tardy, forecaster with the National Weather Service.
He adds, “Our immediate coastal cities have milder and likely due to the above average ocean temperature that has been around the past 3 years. “