Record Cold Chills Southern California
A clear, calm November night brought record low temperatures to parts of Southern California — and frost on lawns in Los Angeles this morning, weather service officials said today.
The overnight temperature in Palmdale dipped to 19 degrees, breaking the record of 25 set in 1954, Bruce Rockwell, a meteorologist in Oxnard, said this morning.
In Long Beach, the 37-degree mark broke a record set in 1975 by 2 degrees. In Woodland Hills, it was 24 degrees; the record had been 25, set in 1954. And at the airport in Santa Barbara, he said, the 30 degrees recorded broke by 2 degrees the record set in 1975.
Alpine in San Diego County reported a reading of 31 degrees, breaking a record of 33 set in 1991.
“We do tend to get cold this time of year,” Rockwell said.
Long nights, clear skies, the sun at a low angle and a lack of wind and moisture are “the ingredients for the cold,” he said.
Freeze or frost warnings were in effect for parts of Southern California overnight, and may be posted again tonight.
A frost warning means that people should protect tropical and other sensitive plants, such as hibiscus, by covering them with plastic, said Stan Wasowski, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in San Diego.
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