Thursday, February 24, 2011

San Francisco to get first snow in 30 years.. ( BBC)

San Francisco to get first snow in 30 years

Snow for San Francisco

Something quite rare is about to happen.

San Francisco is not the kind of place you think of when you think about snow. The last time we saw snow in the downtown area was February 5th 1976, that's 35 years ago!

The large storm has already produced some heavy snow in the southwest of Canada and the northwest of the USA. This storm is being driven by the jet stream, a core of strong winds high in the atmosphere. The jet stream is set to plunge south taking the storm and some unusually cold air with it.

By Friday night we are looking at temperatures well below normal and the potential for some significant snow, some of the hills around the city could see several inches of snow with the risk of disruption to transport, especially on the roads where some closures are probable. The snow is expected to stick around for a day ort two after it has finished falling.

In the city of San Francisco, the snow is more likely to be of the light variety, but it will be snow nonetheless and as the storm pulls away from California into Nevada we could well see some snow falling in Las Vegas, in the desert! Rare indeed.