A Record-Breaking Summer Ends On A Wintry Note

Thursday afternoon at 1:02 p.m., the West Coast officially transitioned from summer to fall during the autumnal equinox.

It's been a season full of record-breaking weather.

While summer ended on a winter-like note with snow closing roads in the Sierra and temperatures well below normal in the valley... it also saw some unprecedented heat spells.

"We had well over 60 records broken this year," says Hannah Chandler with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

She says it's normal to break some records each summer, but this year was well outside what's expected.

Chandler and her coworkers were most impressed by the lack of relief the valley typically sees during a normal summer: "The sheer number of consecutive days over 90 degrees and up in the northern valley, Redding broke the record for the total number of days over 100 degrees, which was 72 days."

Chandler says summer-like weather will be back early next week and will likely be around through the end of the month.