Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:
It's Saturday Night again -
Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!
(Photo courtesy of footnoteMaven)
Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision. Here's your chance to sit on Genea-Santa's lap (virtually) and tell him about your Christmas weather experiences:
1) What Christmas-time weather have you experienced? Does it snow at Christmas-time where you live? What are the likely temperatures at Christmas time??
2) Tell us about them in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook Status post. Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.
Here's mine:
We have experienced warm and sunny, mild and cloudy, cool and rainy, but not cold and snowy in San Diego at Christmas time.
The short answer to the second question is "Yes -- on television - on the weather report, the national news and the football games. Not outside our window ever."
Our weather in San Diego at sea level on Christmas Day is typically partly cloudy, with a high in the low 60's and a low in the high 40's. We have had sunny and warm (highs in the 80s) Christmas Days before, and have had rain all day on occasion. We don't usually have real cold (for us - temps in the 30s) weather in December - it usually happens in January. The record low temperature in San Diego is 25 F, which happened in 1923 - the water froze in the fountain at the downtown Plaza. The temperatures on the coast are always warmer than inland - if you go 10 miles inland, the low temps are always 5 to 10 degrees colder than the San Diego city temperature.
Our weather in San Diego at sea level on Christmas Day is typically partly cloudy, with a high in the low 60's and a low in the high 40's. We have had sunny and warm (highs in the 80s) Christmas Days before, and have had rain all day on occasion. We don't usually have real cold (for us - temps in the 30s) weather in December - it usually happens in January. The record low temperature in San Diego is 25 F, which happened in 1923 - the water froze in the fountain at the downtown Plaza. The temperatures on the coast are always warmer than inland - if you go 10 miles inland, the low temps are always 5 to 10 degrees colder than the San Diego city temperature.
The Laguna, Cuyamaca and Palomar Mountains to our east and north (all are over 6,000 feet high) get snow occasionally, even at Christmas time. The TV stations always show folks parked on the sides of the roads, sliding down hills and throwing snowballs. Every 5 years or so, we get a snow fall down to 2,000 feet elevation but rarely at sea level.
It has snowed several times in my lifetime in San Diego. At sea level. In January 1949, it snowed while I was walking to school (I was in kindergarten and it made a big impression on me). In December 1967, it snowed on my way to work. This time, the snow stuck for most of the day in the suburbs, and many San Diego kids (including the 25 year-old Randy) had a lot of fun. It snowed again in late December 1987 in San Diego, but we were on the way home from San Francisco and missed it. In every case, it snows at sea level early in the morning when a fast-moving cold front follows a clear and cold night.
In all the years that we went to San Francisco at Christmas time, it never snowed on us there, much to my disappointment. In 1987, it did snow on us at King City (south of Salinas) on Highway 101 and we stopped and had a wonderful snow ball fight in the McDonald's parking lot. In 1985, we went to Yosemite after visiting San Francisco, and stayed several nights in that icy wonderland. We marveled at the frozen ponds, the waterfalls shedding ice, and had a glorious day sledding and snowballing at Glacier Point, a ski resort.
I have been in snow on occasion on trips to Portland in 1968, Boston in 1968, Cincinnati in the 1990's, Topeka in 1987 and 1996, Salt Lake City in 2011 and 2018 (?), and Palm Springs (really on Mt. San Jacinto) in the 2005 to 2015 time frame. Each time, I am filled with wonder. Others (the natives) laugh at me - my lack of preparation (no hat, no gloves, no boots), my giddiness, my sliding on ice (unaware of the dangers). For me, snow is really special - a treat.
Our daughters lived in areas that have snow occasionally, but we weren't there at Christmas time when it snowed. At least my grandchildren will have some memories of playing in the snow as children. We traveled to their homes at Christmas time every other year and hoped we might get lucky and really have a fun snow time with the little ones.
As a kid, I was very jealous that we did not have snow, at least on occasion, just so I could enjoy what other kids all over the country enjoyed. We didn't even have snow clothes, and still don't. We got Flexible Flyers (sleds with wheels) for Christmas, not snow sleds. When there was snow in the mountains, my folks never took us because of the crowds. I did go several times with the church youth group when I was 10 to 12 years old - it was cool! Wet. Cold. Fun.
We don't have snow tires, or tire chains, or ice scrapers in the San Diego coastal area. We try to avoid driving where it is snowy and icy. We didn't take the kids to the snow when they were young because of our lack of proper equipment. The kids did go with their youth group several times, so they weren't totally deprived.
These days, I look forward to the absolutely clear days that follow a storm that dumps snow on the mountains. We can see Mount Cuyamaca (an Indian name, pronounced "kwee-ah-mack-ah") from all over San Diego County, and it occasionally has a snow mantle down to 4,000 feet. It is majestic and beautiful.
And I yearn for one more snowfall in my backyard before I leave this mortal coil. I'll take photos and write a blog post about it!
It has snowed several times in my lifetime in San Diego. At sea level. In January 1949, it snowed while I was walking to school (I was in kindergarten and it made a big impression on me). In December 1967, it snowed on my way to work. This time, the snow stuck for most of the day in the suburbs, and many San Diego kids (including the 25 year-old Randy) had a lot of fun. It snowed again in late December 1987 in San Diego, but we were on the way home from San Francisco and missed it. In every case, it snows at sea level early in the morning when a fast-moving cold front follows a clear and cold night.
In all the years that we went to San Francisco at Christmas time, it never snowed on us there, much to my disappointment. In 1987, it did snow on us at King City (south of Salinas) on Highway 101 and we stopped and had a wonderful snow ball fight in the McDonald's parking lot. In 1985, we went to Yosemite after visiting San Francisco, and stayed several nights in that icy wonderland. We marveled at the frozen ponds, the waterfalls shedding ice, and had a glorious day sledding and snowballing at Glacier Point, a ski resort.
I have been in snow on occasion on trips to Portland in 1968, Boston in 1968, Cincinnati in the 1990's, Topeka in 1987 and 1996, Salt Lake City in 2011 and 2018 (?), and Palm Springs (really on Mt. San Jacinto) in the 2005 to 2015 time frame. Each time, I am filled with wonder. Others (the natives) laugh at me - my lack of preparation (no hat, no gloves, no boots), my giddiness, my sliding on ice (unaware of the dangers). For me, snow is really special - a treat.
Our daughters lived in areas that have snow occasionally, but we weren't there at Christmas time when it snowed. At least my grandchildren will have some memories of playing in the snow as children. We traveled to their homes at Christmas time every other year and hoped we might get lucky and really have a fun snow time with the little ones.
As a kid, I was very jealous that we did not have snow, at least on occasion, just so I could enjoy what other kids all over the country enjoyed. We didn't even have snow clothes, and still don't. We got Flexible Flyers (sleds with wheels) for Christmas, not snow sleds. When there was snow in the mountains, my folks never took us because of the crowds. I did go several times with the church youth group when I was 10 to 12 years old - it was cool! Wet. Cold. Fun.
We don't have snow tires, or tire chains, or ice scrapers in the San Diego coastal area. We try to avoid driving where it is snowy and icy. We didn't take the kids to the snow when they were young because of our lack of proper equipment. The kids did go with their youth group several times, so they weren't totally deprived.
These days, I look forward to the absolutely clear days that follow a storm that dumps snow on the mountains. We can see Mount Cuyamaca (an Indian name, pronounced "kwee-ah-mack-ah") from all over San Diego County, and it occasionally has a snow mantle down to 4,000 feet. It is majestic and beautiful.
And I yearn for one more snowfall in my backyard before I leave this mortal coil. I'll take photos and write a blog post about it!
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3 comments:
Our weather in Northern California is similar to Randy's.
https://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/2023/12/sngf-christmas-weather-1967.html
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!
https://geneajournalsbyapearl.wordpress.com/2023/12/09/sngf-white-christmas/
I've experienced several different kinds of Christmas weather.
http://www.ancestraldiscoveries.com/2023/12/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-christmas.html
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