This is January?

UPDATED: Friday, January 7, 2015, 10:00am

January?  Warm weather and great conditions on the water at Ocean Beach, San Francisco.

Summary:

Believe it or not, it actually is January 7.  The high today in Chicago is 1 degree.  Northern California, however, looks about as good as it gets for the middle of winter.  While there’s no new snow in the Sierra, below freezing nights and daytime highs in the 40’s are preserving the snow fairly well up on the mountains.  I’m headed to Tahoe today and I’ll give the next update from the UD cabin on the North Shore.  Expect weather around the Bay over the next two days to be sunny and warm with highs around 60 and lows near 50.  The surf is still splendid and fun-sized, so get out on the water if you can or just take in a walk on the beach.

Around Tahoe:

Sunny and mild conditions reign up in the Sierra.  Highs over the next few days will be in the 40’s and low 50’s with sunny skies.  The next chance for a pattern change and some significant snow looks like it could come in time for or around the MLK weekend.  The models are hinting at a pattern change, but it’s still a long way off, so I’m not getting my hopes up just yet.  This isn’t our first season with a dry January.  The coming weekend looks to be more of the same with the beautiful weather.  It’s a perfect time to head up, learn to ski or board or just sharpen your skills in anticipation of the coming storms.

For more Tahoe snow details, check out the Tahoe Daily Snow and follow Tahoe Weather on Facebook.

Backcountry Conditions from the Sierra Avalanche Center:

LOW avy danger dominates the backcountry and will likely continue this weekend.  Any instabilities encountered will likely be from daytime warming of the snowpack, especially on sun exposed slopes.  Check the full report for observations and details.

Hike and Bike Conditions Around the Bay:

Sunny and beautiful will continue with highs around 60 and lows near 50.  Light winds out of the N and E will prevail.  The weather’s looking great for the UD kayak on McCovey Cove on Saturday.  Sign up and let’s paddle around the Bay!

Surf Around the Region:  

The surf has been consistently stellar this past week.  WNW and WSW swell at around 4-5 feet with grooming, offshore winds has made surf good all day long.  The swell will back off in size on Thursday until a new, larger swell will approach the area Friday in the 8-10 ft. range.  

I swam out at Ocean Beach on Sunday afternoon with the camera.  These are the winter conditions the local surf community dreams about.

Sunrise/Sunset and Tidal Information:

January 7, 2015

Sunrise: 7:25am/ Sunset: 5:07pm

High Tide: 12:48am at 5.07ft/ 11:27 at 5.84ft

Low Tide: 5:46am at 2.82ft/ 18:11 at -0.12ft

I’m hosting Kayaking on McCovey Cove on Saturday and the weather’s going to be great.  Come on out and enjoy an afternoon with great views on the San Francisco waterfront.