Analysis and modeling of decadal and long-term variability of coastal California summer temperature changes

Summer average daily maximum temperature (Tmax) trends for 1950-2010 were calculated for 241 locations along all of California by use of daily max temperatures from NWS Coop sites to understand the spatial and temporal variabilities of the previously reported summer coastal-cooling. Results show that coastal-cooling appears almost continuously throughout the California coast in locations open to marine air penetrations for the period of 1970-2010. Correlations with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) Index show that coastal-cooling disappears during the increasing PDO period (1950-1985).;The most influential factor(s) on California summer coastal temperatures, i.e., Greenhouse Gas (GHG) warming, PDO and changes in Land Cover/Land Use (LCLU), were determined through numerical atmospheric modeling using the Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) model. Combined results from observations, reanalysis and modeling lead to the conclusion that PDO is the main mechanism of decadal variability of California summer temperatures, dominating over global GHG-warming effects. PDO affects both coastal and inland temperatures by controlling the position and intensity of the two dominating global circulation patterns on California summer: the semi-permanent Pacific High Pressure System and the continental Thermal-Low. Coastal cooling will rise on decreasing PDO periods, where the warming of inland regions and cooling of nearshore Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) results in an increase in sea-breeze activity. Coastal-warming results in increasing periods of the PDO. Global warming induced by GHG and hyper-urbanization were found to be major sources of coastal warming over complete PDO cycles (1950-2010).