A freeze warning has been issued for a portion of Northern California as temperatures are expected to drop by more than 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

The San Francisco office of the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a freeze warning Monday for the Southern Salinas Valley, Arroyo Seco and Lake San Antonio areas. The warning is in effect from midnight to 9 a.m. Pacific time Tuesday morning.

According to the NWS, freeze warnings are issued when “significant, widespread freezing temperatures are expected.” Monday’s warning expected temperatures to fall to as low as 27 degrees overnight in the worst-hit areas.

“The coldest conditions will be in the extreme south of the Salinas Valley near the town of Bradley and the Fort Hunter Liggett area,” the warning said. “Temperatures will be closer to freezing around and north of King City.”

Areas expected to be affected by the drop in temperatures experienced sunny weather that was far from freezing on Monday, with Bradley reaching 64 degrees and King City reaching highs of 70 degrees.

NWS warned that the freezing weather was “dangerous for sensitive individuals.”
Populations such as unhoused individuals,” noting that “cold conditions can lead to hypothermia with prolonged exposure.”

Residents were also urged to “take action now to protect sensitive plants from the cold” and to open sink cabinet doors and turn down faucets “to reduce or prevent damage to uninsulated pipes and other plumbing.”

Meanwhile, several other areas of Northern California were under a freeze warning that lasted from midnight to 9 a.m. Tuesday. Frost warnings are issued when temperatures are expected to drop below 32 degrees.

The following areas were included in Monday’s frost advisory: Santa Clara Valley and Eastern Hills, East Bay Hills and Valleys, most of San Benito County and the Cholame Hills of southeastern Monterey County, and the North Bay Interior Valleys.

While cold weather has hit much of the country in recent weeks, temperatures in many areas could be warmer than usual during the remainder of the holiday season.

In Northern California, NWS data was provided Newsweek show that both San Francisco and Sacramento will see their highest average temperatures since 2019 this week, although some areas will experience a cold snap overnight.

While snow is still expected in other colder parts of the country in the coming weeks, holiday snowfall has declined over the decades and some experts have predicted that climate change will make the chances of a “white Christmas” increasingly rare.

An Associated Press review of historical weather data found that as of Dec. 25, 47 percent of the “lower 48” U.S. states had snow on the ground between 1981 and 1990. From 2011 to 2020, only 38 percent of states had Christmas snow. The average amount of snow also fell from 3.5 inches in the 1980s to 2.7 inches in the 2010s.