I was checking the NOAA forecast discussion this morning, and noted what was called, “The Crosby Weather Event.” That reminded me that at one point, the Pebble Beach AT&T Golf Tournament, used to be called the Crosby, and I surmised that this is where the term was coined.
We in the Monterey area have always said, if the AT&T is in town, so will be the rain showers. This year, that proved untrue, but it is usually the case. It is from this that the term, “Crosby weather” came into being.
From an article in the SF Chron: “From the very beginning the Crosby golf tournament was part moving cocktail party, part sporting event. Bing Crosby’s pal Phil Harris, an entertainer known for his tippling, set the tone, announcing to all that he was the pro from the ‘Jack Daniels Country Club.'” …
The festivities began on the Monterey Peninsula in 1947. They ended with the tournament played at Pebble Beach in February 1985. Later that year, Bing’s widow, Kathryn Crosby, pulled the plug, refusing to take on a corporate title sponsor.
“So many things have changed. For example, the whole notion of ‘Crosby weather,’ the idea that, yes, it might rain — even snow, as it did in 1962 — but the party wasn’t stopping. ‘Where else can you have the greatest golfers play the greatest courses in the worst conditions?” Crosby used to say gleefully.'”
The Crosby weather event occurred in 1962, January 21st. There was wide-spread snow, including 1 and 1/2 inches at SFO. Here is what NOAA had to say this am about “Crosby weather”:
ESSENTIALLY THIS WOULD BE A RECORD BREAKING EVENT AND BY DEFINITION THESE TYPE OF THINGS ARE REALLY HARD TO FORECAST WITH MUCH LEAD TIME…LET ALONE DAYS AHEAD. SO ITS REALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO NAIL DOWN THE EXACT DETAILS. HOWEVER AS WAS NOTED LAST NIGHT THERE ARE NOT MANY WIDESPREAD LOW ELEVATION SNOW EVENTS OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS. I LOOKED AGAIN AT THE JAN 21 1962 EVENT AND REALIZED THIS WAS THE STORM THAT COINED THE TERM “CROSBY WEATHER”. ITS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT KSFO MEASURED 1.5 INCHES OF SNOW ON THAT DATE AS WELL…SUGGESTING WIDESPREAD LOW ELEVATION SNOW. FOR THE RECORD THATS THE LARGEST MEASURABLE SNOW EVENT FOR KSFO WITH RECORDS GOING BACK TO 1927 AT THAT SITE.
Nice history, Kate. Thank you. When I was a kid we lived in Rancho Santa Fe down south, the Crosby’s had a big ranch there with orange groves and horses, very pretty and well maintained, painted white rail fences along the road. He was an American icon and so much loved. Phil Harris was a kind of everbody’s buddy guy, incredibly funny, built like Ward Bond, frequently playing the lush. I think they all had a lot more fun than the present crop, which seems a bit full of themselves, exclusive and excluding. The photographs you’re posting of the snow are wonderful and almost unimaginable. What a place we live in. Stunning, rapid-changing beauty at every turn.
I watched the AT&T quite a bit last weekend and they showed pictures of that. Snow right to the beach.