sacramento weather? (Winters: house, tornado, living)

[chitowner]

We are interested in relocating to Sacramento from Chicago.How are the winter temps in Sac? I've heard that the summers get a little hot...I'd rather have hot with no humidity,than hot with nasty humidity and totally oppressive misquitos.P.S are there misquitos in Sac?

[Guingirl]

Well the joke here is...yeah..its hot...but its a DRY heat!

Actually, this Thursday it might snow. It might think of snowing every few years, but it hasnt stuck in about 40 years. I remember seeing pictures of my sister who is a few years older than me out playing in it.

Generally in the winter, it has a cold patch. Cold = 30's usually with maybe a 20 here and there, but not common. Generally it is about 40-50. We get most of our rain September through May, with our spring storms maybe producing a thunderstorm, but those are few and far between.

The really hot months are July - September. Where we get mostly 90s but have a few weeks of over 100. I remember going to a golf tournament in Chicago one year and it being 87 and thought I would die because the humidity made it so flippen hot there. Our 100s are much more tolerable than your 90s+.

We had a few days of 110 and it was really hot. Especially since we were outside moving my Mom's house. For the most part, everyone has air conditioning and have it in your cars. If you are lucky, you work inside and are out of it most of the time.

I think that is pretty much a good overview of the weather in the area.

Yep, there are mosquitos pretty much everywhere. As long as you don't have any standing water around your house and your neighbors are good about keeping everything dry too, then you don't really have too much of a problem. Mostly mornings and evenings are when they come out but there are candles and those mosquito magnets that prevent them from doing much.

[corduroyboy]

Hot is just hot, no matter what way you take it. I live in Sacramento now and came from Upstate NY. Cold winter, hot muggy summers. This stuff out here is freaking hot. For a while I was just thawing out, now I can't stand the heat. Dry heat is still heat, and lots of it. Winters are nice though. This winter has been awesome. Oh don't forget the layer of fog that can set in for 3 weeks straight in which you don't see the sun.

[Guingirl]

Actually the fog hasn't been too bad out in Natomas this year and it normally sets in around Christmas for a few weeks.

[looking4home]

I am interested in checking weather stats for the Sac area over the past 20-30 years. I've been living here that long, and in that time, I think the weather has changed, but has not gotten warmer, as many who believe in the global warming theory would think.

While the summers have remained about the same (hot and dry), the springtime has gotten colder and wetter. I remember being able to swim as early as Easter (April) but the past several years, the spring has been cold, very wet and rainy, often with the threat of severe weather from hail storms and a few tornado warnings. We had that F-1 tornado a couple of years ago that touched down in Natomas and did some damage.

But this winter is the coldest I can remember, except for one winter in the early 90's. Many old timers concur, saying that while Sac gets its share of freezing temps, especially at night, it has never been this cold for this long. It has been going down to below freezing every night since Thanksgiving, and this weekend, they predict night time temps in the mid-20's!

[chitowner]

Thanks everybody for the weather input. My family and I are looking for more moderate weather to move to. It seems like Sacramento has some cloudy winters and spring.A friend wants us to move to the Dallas area ,but its too hot and humid there for my taste.

[Guingirl]

Hehe..Im moving to Ft. Worth. I agree Looking, it does seem colder every year, but every 10 years we get a really wet winter with some flooding. We had some pretty heavy flooding in the mid-90s and I remember 1986 was a huge year and that is when they really started looking at flood controls.

[dusesean1986]

Originally Posted by Guingirl

Our 100s are much more tolerable than your 90s+.

Our 100's are less tolerable than your 80's. Humidity makes a world of difference in comparision to dry heat.

[Californiaguy2007]

Most of the Central Valley has a Hot Summer with Low Humidity,Clear Skies and rarely any rainfall during the Summer.

The Sacramento Area isn't very far from the Bay Area,so the summers there are relieved when cooler marine air occasionally flows through to give the area some comfortable evening temperatures.

[looking4home]

You are right about the Delta Breeze in the summer. But, oh, those warm Sacramento nights! There's nothing quite like going for a swim in the evening, or enjoying an outdoor activity, like a Little League or a RiverCats game. It is so nice not to have to wear a sweater, but be sure to put on plenty of mosquito repelent! Although with all the aerial spraying and people being more careful about standing water, that problem has gotten soooooo much better in the past few years.