Fall Weather in Pinnacles National Park California, United StatesDaily high temperatures decrease by 18°F, from 81°F to 63°F, rarely falling below 56°F or exceeding 89°F. Daily low temperatures decrease by 13°F, from 57°F to 44°F, rarely falling below 36°F or exceeding 62°F. For reference, on July 31, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Pinnacles National Park typically range from 58°F to 81°F, while on December 29, the coldest day of the year, they range from 42°F to 60°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average fall temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. CloudsThe fall in Pinnacles National Park experiences very rapidly increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 9% to 48%. The clearest day of the fall is September 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 91% of the time. For reference, on February 17, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 55%, while on August 6, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 92%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Pinnacles National Park, the chance of a wet day over the course of the fall is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 1% and ending it at 21%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 30% on February 21, and its lowest chance is 0% on August 3. RainfallTo show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the fall in Pinnacles National Park is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 0.1 inches, when it rarely exceeds 0.2 inches or falls below -0.0 inches, and ending the season at 2.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.9 inches or falls below 0.4 inches. SunOver the course of the fall in Pinnacles National Park, the length of the day is very rapidly decreasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day decreases by 3 hours, 3 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 2 minutes, 2 seconds, and weekly decrease of 14 minutes, 16 seconds. The shortest day of the fall is November 30, with 9 hours, 52 minutes of daylight and the longest day is September 1, with 12 hours, 55 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the fall in Pinnacles National Park is 7:29 AM on November 2 and the earliest sunrise is 59 minutes earlier at 6:30 AM on November 3. The latest sunset is 7:31 PM on September 1 and the earliest sunset is 2 hours, 42 minutes earlier at 4:49 PM on November 30. Daylight saving time (DST) starts at 1:00 AM on November 3, 2024, shifting sunrise and sunset to be an hour later. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:46 AM and sets 14 hours, 39 minutes later, at 8:26 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:13 AM and sets 9 hours, 40 minutes later, at 4:53 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the fall of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon. HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Pinnacles National Park is essentially constant during the fall, remaining around 0% throughout. For reference, on October 4, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Pinnacles National Park is essentially constant during the fall, remaining within 0.3 miles per hour of 6.4 miles per hour throughout. For reference, on May 29, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 8.6 miles per hour, while on October 21, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 6.1 miles per hour. The lowest daily average wind speed during the fall is 6.1 miles per hour on November 1. The wind direction in Pinnacles National Park during the fall is predominantly out of the west from September 1 to October 9 and the north from October 9 to November 30. Water TemperaturePinnacles National Park is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Pinnacles National Park is gradually decreasing during the fall, falling by 2°F, from 59°F to 57°F, over the course of the season. The highest average surface water temperature during the fall is 60°F on September 23. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). The growing season in Pinnacles National Park typically lasts for 12 months (359 days), from around January 6 to around December 30, rarely starting after February 22, or ending before November 23. The fall in Pinnacles National Park is more likely than not fully within the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season decreasing from 100% to 82% over the course of the season. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Pinnacles National Park are very rapidly increasing during the fall, increasing by 1,028°F, from 2,480°F to 3,508°F, over the course of the season. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Pinnacles National Park is very rapidly decreasing during the fall, falling by 4.3 kWh, from 7.0 kWh to 2.7 kWh, over the course of the season. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Pinnacles National Park are 36.490 deg latitude, -121.181 deg longitude, and 0 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Pinnacles National Park is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 0 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 0 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). Within 50 miles is also essentially flat (0 feet). The area within 2 miles of Pinnacles National Park is covered by shrubs (96%), within 10 miles by grassland (54%) and shrubs (38%), and within 50 miles by grassland (37%) and shrubs (24%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Pinnacles National Park, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. The details of the data sources used for this report can be found on the Soledad page. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. 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