The record-union., 1899-09-17
The CLIMATE
OF CALIFORNIA.
BY PROF. E. w. HILGARD.

California extends through nine anu
a half degrees of latitude If it We're
placed on the Atlantic coast, it would
reach from Savannah. Ga, to Boston.
The length of the State is about 100
miles, it's average width about 2OO
miles. With such dimensions "Callfor-
MIA climate is. naturally, not very
definite quantity. California is land
of many climates from the hottest
subtropical to the cold temperate, and
from the driest desert to the most hu-
mid regime of the higher mountains
and northern coast
Along the coast, owing to the tenn
pering influence of the sea and the
trade winds, which, usually blow land
wards across the cold Alaskan current
the climatic conditions from north
to. south are much more equaDle
than on the Atlantic coast. The most
rapid changes occur from the coast
eastward, across the State. Thus one
can start on cool. springlike morning
from San Francisco, by noon endure
summer heat in the Sacramento Valley.
and before night be amid the SHOWS OF
the Sierra.
On the east the Sierra Nevada forms
boundary line: the mountains rise
very gradually from the west, to a
hight of from $500 to 14,000 feet =
considerably above the snow line, so
that some small glaciers still exist. On
the eastern side the Sierra falls off
abruptly to the Nevada Plateau, itself
some 1000 feet above sea level.
The Coast Range Mountains form a
broad belt, running along the entire
11x I, Af +l,o on
sist of two or three parallel ranges, sell
dom over 5000 feet high. Between
these ranges lie numerous fertile val
leys, sometimes of considerable extent.
These valleys nearly all trend toward
the northwest - an important factor
in their climatic conditions.
Between the Sierra Nevada and the
Coast Range belt lies the Great Central
Valley of California. approximately OUT
| lined on the map as a region of low
rainfall 1t is about 400 miles long
and fifty to sixty miles wide. This is
a fruitful agricultural district, with
very little waste land. and covers fully
one-ninth of the State: when watered
it is of great produetiveness almost
everywhere. Through the northern
portion Sacramento Valley') runs the
Sacramento River; through the south
ern ('San Joaquin Valley''), the San
Joaquin River These rivers unite
about the middle of the Great Valley,
and flowing westward empty into Sui
sun, San Pablo and San Francisco
Bays, and through these, by way OF
the Golden Gate" into the Pacific
| Ocean. The latter forms a break
in the Coast Range. which is an inn
| pOrtant factor in the climatic condi-
tions of the Great Valley, in that it al
| lows the influence of the sea winds to
gain access to the interior. Thus ev-
cry afternoon in summer the heat of
the Great Valley (as we'll as that of the
coast valleys), is tempered by the sea
| breeze, which blows upstream (and
therefore in opposite directions) in the
Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys
respectively. This. together with the
dryness of the atmosphere, renders cas-
| lily endurable temperatures much higher
than could be safely faced in the East
without imminent danger of sunstroke,
which in California is as rare as are
! thunderstorms
The Great Valley is terminated at the
south by the Tehachapi Mountains
which unite the Sierra. Nevada and the
Coast Range. The Tehachapi Mountains
form the boundary between Northern
and Southern California.
! In this section is the so-called Mo,
| jave Desert, wide stretch of largely
cultivatable and fertile plateau. which
needs only water TO transform it into
a garden producing almost all products
of the temperate zone. In it's level
portion the natural rainfall is only from
! four to six inches Tin some years it is
practically nothing), so it can hardly
be taken into consideration in cultura,
practice. The main source of waite,
| supply for irrigation is from artesian
wells. a large portion of the Colorado
Desert is also cultivatable. medina
only water to make it productive.
WINDS.
| AS already indicated, the winds in
California are on the whole very reg
ular, being governed chiefly by the
southwest trade winds blowing from
the Pacific landward. The moisture
they bring is to large extent con-
densed into fog by the cool waters of
the Alaska current, and these fogs pro-
duce very cool summer climate along
the immediate coast This is exempIi-
| fed at San Francisco and on the ad-
jacent bay coast generally, where the
| average temperature of winter and
| summer differ only about 4 degrees
F.; so that in midsummer July and
AugusD overcoats and occasional fires
| are in request. In summer as the hot
air in the Great Valley rises, the cool
air from the sea rushes in; but the fog
cannot pass the crests of the coast
ranges, and dissolves before the hot,
dry air of the interior. During the
winter the fog not infrequently covers
the Great Valley for weeks at a time.
In winter the winds are more vari-
able; the transforms are ushered in and
| accompanied by south winds, which
are commonly first observed on Puget
Sound, and thence work southwark
They usually last about three days.
| occur in winter, and blowing as they
| do then from the snowy Sierra, are
very chilly. North winds are always
dry, and in summer resemble the
sirocco of the Mediterranean region; on
the coast they usually last from one to
| three days only, occurring chiefly in
June and September, but are almost
entirely absent in some years. At
| times they injure crops seriously in the
interior of the State, by drying out the
| land; on the natural pastures they dry
out the grasses into standing hay.
which serves for dry pasture through