California had an Extreme Cold Watch for parts of the state as below-freezing temperatures hit parts of the state the night of Jan. 8 through the next morning.
Below-freezing temperatures can be a foreign concept to Californians in some parts of the state, so much so that some wonder, “Why is it so cold?”
Cold conditions can be hazardous for people, especially unhoused people, pets, and livestock. The cold can also prove dangerous for sensitive crops in a densely agricultural state like California.
While some who may be used to cold weather might laugh at temperatures like 26 degrees, potentially hitting the Ojai Valley, some places in the Golden State have infrastructure that is not designed for extreme cold, much like torrential downpours.
Why is it so cold in California?
The National Weather Service in San Francisco has credited the cold temperatures to a combination of clear skies, long winter nights, and light offshore flow allowing a shallow “cold lid” to develop near the surface, the Desert Sun previously reported.
Along with cold, strong winds, it passed through the mountains, valleys, and foothills of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. Santa Ana winds are also expected to last through the weekend.
Even though higher-altitude air is warmer, this stable layer traps cold air at the ground, particularly in valleys and low-lying areas. Coastal spots will be moderated by the ocean and downslope winds, keeping temps slightly warmer.
Areas along the Central Coast, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the northern interior of the state were forecast to reach the upper 20s, with the coldest nights Jan. 8 and the morning of Jan. 9, the Desert Sun reported.
NOAA graphical maps show nighttime lows in California late Wednesday into early Thursday, Jan. 7-8, 2025.
What is the coldest temperature in California history?
The coldest temperature ever recorded in California is -45 degrees in Boca, a neighborhood of Truckee near the border with Nevada.
While temperatures in some of the state’s biggest cities are not nearly as cold as Boca’s, some big Golden State cities had some surprising lows.
Coldest temperature in the five biggest California cities, according to Extreme Weather Watch:
Los Angeles- The coldest temperature recorded was 27 degrees in 1949,
San Diego- The city had its lowest recorded temperature of 25 degrees in 1913.
San Francisco- The year 1932 had the lowest recorded temperature at 27 degrees.
Sacramento- The lowest temperature Sacramento ever reached was 17 degrees in 1932.
San Jose- San Jose has its lowest recorded temperature at 18 degrees in 1894.
What is La Niña?
The National Weather Service predicted on Jan. 8 that the La Niña weather phenomenon would likely transition to a neutral-ENSO, El Niño-Southern Oscillation, by January through March for at least the Northern Hemisphere. The weather service also predicted that the El Niño pattern would likely follow in the later months of 2026.
La Niña is part of the ENSO pattern and is marked by cooler-than-average water in the region, USA Today previously reported. Such a pattern brings cold and snow to the Northwest and unusually dry conditions to most of the Southern states, according to the Climate Prediction Center.
Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@vcstar.com, 805-437-0224 or @ecentenoaraujo on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: extreme-cold-watch-california-freezing-temperatures-jan-8-9