SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Record-breaking warmth in March has left San Francisco basking in summerlike temperatures and the Sierra Nevada with bare slopes, prompting early ski resort closures and concerns about fire danger.
“Beautiful sun. No rain. Last year, it was raining and pouring,” said Shireen Abbasi, a Los Angeles resident visiting the Bay Area.
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In Tahoe, social media images show snowless runs. Some are calling it the region’s worst or shortest ski season. “There’s no skiing, no snowboarding. Really sad, unfortunately,” Abbasi said. Thomas Miller of San Bruno described the conditions as “really perplexing.”
The National Weather Service said San Francisco experienced an unprecedented heat wave this month. “It’s like summertime already. Did we have spring? I don’t think so,” said South Bay resident Roth.
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“It’s been an unusually warm month of March,” said NWS meteorologist Joe Merchant. Last March, downtown San Francisco saw more than 3 inches of rain and an average temperature of 61 degrees. This March, the average temperature has been nearly 72 degrees.
Merchant said the city reached 80 degrees only once last March, compared with at least six times this year. The warm, dry conditions have already fueled fires, including a weekend brush fire in Napa Valley that sent smoke across the region.
“These warmer temperatures and dry conditions are problematic as we head into fire season for sure,” Merchant said. He added that a strong El Niño pattern is expected by summer.
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