http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_17490259?source=rss&nclick_check=1
I was living there during the 1998-1999 La Nina, and remember heavy snow accumulation in the Santa Cruz mountains above Palo Alto – which lasted for a few days. July 4, 1998 was so cold in Cupertino that we had to bundle up in blankets to watch the fireworks at De Anza College.
In 1957 I was visiting my uncle in Walnut Creek for July and it was to cold to sit out and watch the fireworks.
How old are you Mike? How big was Walnut Creek then? Were there still walnut trees there?
I was 10 and Walnut Creek was people with what I would now call mini farms of 5+ acres. My uncle raised Chinchillas and had a small orchard, a hobby farmer. He worked at Lawrence Livermore Labs with the Cyclotron.
Is because of the impending drought just south of there.
Last year, in early December 2009, Mt. Diablo, in the San Francisco Bay Area, was covered with snow all the way down to the bottom. There was El Nino at the time. It must have been because of -PDO. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen since I’ve been in California. Though I haven’t seen Yosemite yet.
Go this spring just before or right after Memorial Day. That was my favorite time of the year for visiting Yosemite. Go during the week to miss “Most” of the crowds. That is when the Falls are at their greatest flow rates unless you happen to got right after a major rain but I would not suggest that due to the after effects of flooding. I went through in 2005 the day after a flash flood.
Santa Cruz rocks just about every night of the week according to my experience visiting on business in the late 80s & 90s. Sure hope it is still the same. I remember sunburn, wild nights, long meetings but never would imagine snow in Santa Cruz.