“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.”

~ Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

The rest of the country may scoff at Southern California shivering in 50- and 60-degree weather, but this has indeed been one of the coldest Februarys on record for downtown Los Angeles. Laugh as they may, many folks would welcome our typical weather ¬– days are dry, the sun shines, the temperatures and the outdoors beckon. After what feels like an entire month of rain and freezing temperatures, the National Weather Service confirmed last week this February has been one of the coldest ever.

For the entire month downtown Los Angeles never reached a daytime high temperature that exceeded the 60s. This is unprecedented as indicated by records dating to at least 1877, according to the National Weather Service. February’s average high temperature was 60.6 degrees – just barely beating the last time downtown was so consistently cold, which was in February 1962 when the average high was 59.8 degrees. In our “neck of the woods,” due to elevation and distance from the coast, the average is somewhat cooler: La Crescenta had a high of 68 degrees F, a low of 34 degrees and an average of 49.8.

There’s cold, and then there’s cold. I selected a few random places (courtesy of NOAA): California   Record low: -45 degrees F in Truckee on Jan. 20, 1937; Hawaii   Record low: 12 degrees F in Hilo on May 17, 1979; Alaska   Record low: -80 degrees F in Bettles on Jan. 23, 1971. Hit and miss storms and below normal temperatures are predicted into next week. Saturday looks to be a day of precipitation-reprieve (no-rain). It’s a rare day when it is too wet to play although Abby doesn’t like to get her paws wet!

La Crescenta   Current Rainfall (as of March 6) is 27.32 inches       

Average Rainfall is 23-24 inches.

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley resident and  Official Skywarn Spotter for the  National Weather Service. Reach her at  suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.