Fall weather in Bakersfield can sometimes come late, but October has been pretty nice

Steven Mayer, The Bakersfield Californian
·2 min read

Oct. 13—Isn't it great to live in Bakersfield and be able to say, "Gosh, I love this weather!"

Especially after enduring a brutal summer in the southern valley.

Area residents have often been heard to complain that fall in Bakersfield lasts about three weeks, beginning late and ending early. But these early fall temperatures residents are currently enjoying tell a different story this year.

Here's some comparisons:

The normal high temperature for Oct. 8, for example, is 84 degrees, but this month, the high that day, Friday, only reached 68 degrees, 16 degrees lower than average.

Temps on Saturday warmed up slightly to the low-70s, but remained significantly cooler than normal, while the high on Sunday, Oct. 10, soared to a pleasant 77, still six degrees below normal

Monday dropped again to a chilly 68, a full 15 degrees cooler than the normal of 83.

Last year, Bakersfield was tipping the mercury into the high-80s and low-90s through a large chunk of mid-October.

What's going on here?

"We had our first shot at Canadian cold air," said Jeffrey Barlow, senior forecaster at the National Weather Service in Hanford. "That first 68 had some precipitation as well."

There are three main storm tracks this time of year, Barlow said. Cold, often wet, storms drop down from the Gulf of Alaska. Very wet storms come in eastward from the pacific. And the third track includes storms originating from western Canada, which are often dryer.

That's what we're seeing this month.

"We're likely to see a colder, drier pattern, especially for the fall," Barlow said. "A La Niña pattern is settling in for the winter, which is generally a drier pattern."

The southern San Joaquin is forecast to see a gradual warming into the weekend, with Wednesday expected to reach just 69, still well below normal.

Thursday could reach 71 degrees, but Thursday morning will still be cold, dropping down to 47.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday will float into the low 80s, closer to normal than it's been lately.

Then the highs on Monday and Tuesday will fall back into the high-70s.

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.