What he meant was winters in the valley are so mild that they are like spring in more northerly climes.
Locals know, though, that wintertime can get nippy.
Fall is always pleasant, however, as visitors to Chico in the fall and early winter months soon discover. There isn't a nicer time to be here. Though a thick tule fog sometimes settles over Chico in December and January, it is easily escaped by taking a quick jaunt into the foothills. Sometimes the fog is only 200-300 feet high, so even a bicycle trip up Butte Creek Canyon can quickly move you into sunshine and warmth. And it's not rare to have sunny days in the 70s in January.