Currents and Climate

Click the 'Observations' overlay on the right. Zoom in closer, then increase Density for more Observations. Tweak the Layers overlay to add radar, rain, and/or fire data to your map.

More observations. Change the Region/Zone (I use Sacramento CWA) in the dropdown in the upper left, then Refresh Map. If you change to 'all networks', you'll see a ton of stations... so better to do it fully zoomed in. Below that, change your Overlay for even more data. Change Time Options for historical data.

This is a link to all RAWS stations (including Jarbo Gap) in northern California. They show temperature; wind speed, direction, and gusts; relative humidity; and rainfall.

You can get data for a station for its entire history (potentially years ago).

These cameras stay on even after fire season switches off. In the winter, take a look at the snow in the Sierra, or maybe some fog in the San Joaquin Valley. Hundreds of cameras in California to choose from, and even more around Tahoe and in other western states can be found at AlertWildfire.

Are there strong winds, severe thunderstorms, big winter storms, or other kinds of severe weather coming our way soon? Click here to find out.

A lot of apps & websites use the Chico Airport for their Chico data, but I believe the Airport's lows are warmer and their highs cooler than much of the rest of Chico.

Western Weather Group installs weather stations (among other things) for professional use in northern California, so they know how to set up a station correctly. This is their station near Manzanita & Hwy 99. Plus, you can use their WunderMap to find many other stations nearby to look at!

Have you ever driven down the Skyway from Paradise on a summer day, and noticed all of the haze in the air above the Valley? On average, our air quality isn't so good. Check our current air quality here. I chose AirNow, because these are the numbers air quality management districts use. They're a bit lower than some other sources, but the point is to get the most accurate information... not the most extreme numbers.

This is an animation of the current winds over California. A nice graphical depiction of our current winds.

What's the current water level at Lake Oroville? How about at Shasta Lake? For the water level at any major lake in California, click here.

Are you heading to the mountains, and want to know if you need chains, snow tires, or 4 wheel drive? Or, do you need an update to see if a road is open again after a fire or a road construction project? Click here.

Are we going to be sneezing a lot today? Check the allergy report to find out.

Click here for Chico's report.                 Click here for Oroville's report.

Click here for Paradise's report.            Click here for Orland's report.

Click here for Chester's report.              Click here for Red Bluff's report.

A nice meteorological breakdown of the typical seasonal weather patterns of the Sacramento Valley, northern Sierra Nevada/southern Cascades, northern Coast Range, and southern Siskiyous.

Observed, average, and record highs & lows; rain & snow totals; and more for:

1. Redding, Paradise, Red Bluff, near Willows, Chester, Quincy, Burney, Mineral, Shasta Dam, Manzanita Lake (Lassen Park), and Sacramento.
2. Mt. Shasta, Dunsmuir, Yreka, Alturas, Canby, Adin, Ft. Jones, Happy Camp, and Lava Beds Nat'l Monument.
3. Find data for Weaverville, Eureka, Ft. Bragg, & Crescent City here.
4. And finally, find data for Susanville, Portola, Reno, and Lake Tahoe (Tahoe City, South Lake Tahoe, & Glenbrook) here.

Northern California Climate data from the WRCC. If the city you're looking for isn't above, try here! Select your city on the left. LOTS of options. My favorite is to scroll down on left to 'Period of Record Data Tables', then select 'Daily Summary Stats'. All the record highs, lows, rain, etc. for that location you could want!

Same as above, but for all western states.

This is an interactive map from the California/Nevada River Forecast Center of how our current water year is doing. You'll probably want to zoom in... that's in the upper left. You'll also want to make sure that you've got the right month selected on the right hand side, below where it says, "Monthly Water Year Archive". But there is LOTS of other data here as well, from River Flow to Snow Depth, Observed & Forecasted Temperatures, Forecasted Rain, Freezing Levels, and more.

Formerly the National Climatic Data Center, you'll find temperature and precipitation data for MANY places here.

This is a good interactive average annual rainfall map of California. Zoom in to see more, using the magnifying glass with the + or - in it in the top left. Change the Basemap to Terrain (Labels) on the left.

Notice the average rain in the Sacramento Valley. Redding averages quite a bit of rain (30"-40"!), Chico averages near 26"", but see how dry parts of Glenn, Colusa, Sutter & Yolo counties are? Less than 15" of rain falls there per year, on average. Rain amounts can vary greatly in the Valley!

A meteorological breakdown (we're talking Evaporational Cooling & more) of why it often snows in Redding in the winter, but rarely in the rest of the Sacramento Valley.

Former Meteorologist-in-Charge (1976 to 1996) of the old Redding office of the National Weather Service (it closed in 1996), Chris Fontana wrote an excellent description of the general climate in and around Redding.

A meteorological breakdown of the Shasta County Convergence Zone. This is a scientific, technical paper.

I broke those down in my Microclimates section. Click here for that.

Historical satellite pictures (back to about 2002). Enter the date you want to look at on the bottom left. Click the camera button also in bottom left, or the 'Start Comparison' button (also... bottom left), then enter your two dates on the upper left, and either do a satellite loop between the dates, or a slider comparison between 2 still images. Another good site.

The top 3 OFFICIAL snowiest days ever in Chico are:

1. 1/27/72:    2.0"  (See #2 for Paradise)

2. 12/12/72:  1.3"

3. 12/6/72:    1.0"    (See #3 for Paradise)

- 1972 was a snowy year for Chico, apparently!

The top 3 OFFICIAL snowiest days ever in Paradise are:

1. 1/29/75:  17.5"

2. 1/27/72:  11.0"  (Chico's largest snowfall happened on this day)

3. 12/6/72 & 12/7/72: Both days saw 8.0". Throw in the 0.8" on 12/8/72, that's a 16.8" 3 day total!

4. Honorable mention: 2/16/90: 5.5" PLUS 2/17/90: 6" PLUS 2/18/90: 3.0" for a 14.5" 3 day total.

The top 3 OFFICIAL snowiest days ever for Oroville are:

1. 1/6/1913:    6.0"

1. 12/30/83:    6.0"

3. 12/6/1909:  4.0"

The top 3 OFFICIAL snowiest days ever for Orland are:

1. 1/10/37:    9.0"  (See #3 for Red Bluff below)

2. 1/7/1907:  7.0"

2. 1/15/32:    7.0"

The top 3 OFFICIAL snowiest days ever for Red Bluff are:

1. 12/5/72:  9.0"

2. 1/16/50:  8.4"  Add in the 1.5" that fell on 1/15/50 for an almost 10" 2 day storm total!

3. 3/2/76:    8.0" (That much in March? Wow)

3. 1/11/37:  8.0"  Add in the 7.0" that fell on 1/10/37 for a 15" 2 day storm total!