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Beyond the Forecast

December 29 in Sacramento

Weather forecasts run out after about two weeks. For any date further out than that, the honest answer isn't a single number — it's the range Sacramento actually delivers on this date, and how often.

On December 29, Sacramento, CA typically reaches 57°F, but has run anywhere from 50°F to 64°F in eight years out of ten. About 68% of December 29s see no measurable precipitation.

Daytime high57°F
50°F8 years in 10 land in here64°F
Overnight low38°F
31°F8 years in 10 land in here48°F

The odds on December 29

68%
Dry day
No measurable precipitation
26%
Freeze
Low at or below 32°F

Odds computed from the last 30 years (19972026).

This date is moving

Highs around December 29 have warmed about 1.3°F per decade since 1970 — roughly 7.3°F across the record. The figures above are shifted along that trend to 2026, so they describe today's climate rather than the average of the last 56 years.

Where this comes from: 802 daily observations from SACRAMENTO AP ASOS, covering 19702026. We pool every day within 7 days of December 29 — a single calendar date has only about 56 readings, far too few to place a 10th percentile you'd want to trust.

Why it's not a plain average: A climatology computed straight across 19702026 describes the middle of that period, not today, so as a statement about the present it runs cold. We fit a trend on year and shift each observation to 2026 before taking the range. The probabilities use the last 30 years instead — shifting a temperature along a trend is well defined, shifting “did it rain” is not.

What this is not: Not a forecast. It is what Sacramento, CA has actually done on this date, which is the only defensible answer once you're past the two-week horizon where real forecasts stop. Data: NOAA NCEI GHCN-Daily.

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