By Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle
The month ended with a sun-drenched bang Saturday, an apropos ending for what was the driest January on record in San Francisco.
Not one drop of measurable rain fell on city streets in January, the first time that’s happened in recorded weather history, which dates back to the Gold Rush.
Other Bay Area cities, including San Jose, saw at most two one-hundredths of an inch during the same time, which was probably just real heavy fog with a drizzle rather than real rain, said Jan Null, former lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service and a meteorology consultant.
“It certainly has been a memorable January,” Null said.
Memorable because it didn’t look anything like a January.
It was shorts and T-shirt weather Saturday, with temperatures hitting 70 degrees before lunch in San Francisco and a whopping 73 at the beach in Half Moon Bay.
Crowds gathered around the produce stands at Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, buying up flowers, carrots, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and other fruits and vegetables.
Business was good, but the farmers couldn’t help but wonder about the future.