California

Like its topography, California's climate is varied and tends toward extremes. Generally there are two seasons—a long, dry summer, with low humidity and cool evenings, and a mild, rainy winter—except in the high mountains, where four seasons prevail and snow lasts from November to April. The one climatic constant for the state is summer drought.

California has four main climatic regions. Mild summers and winters prevail in central coastal areas, where temperatures are more equable than virtually anywhere else in the US; in the area between San Francisco and Monterey, for example, the difference between average summer and winter temperatures is seldom more than 10°F (6°C). During the summer there are heavy fogs in San Francisco and all along the coast. Mountainous regions are characterized by milder summers and colder winters, with markedly low temperatures at high elevations. The Central Valley has hot summers and cool winters, while the Imperial Valley is marked by very hot, dry summers, with temperatures frequently exceeding 100°F (38°C).

Average annual temperatures for the state range from 47°F (8°C) in the Sierra Nevada to 73°F (23°C) in the Imperial Valley. The highest temperature ever recorded in the US was 134° (57°C), registered in Death Valley on 10 July 1913. Death Valley has the hottest average summer temperature in the Western Hemisphere, at 98°F (37°C). The state's lowest temperature was –45°F (–43°C), recorded on 20 January 1937 at Boca, near the Nevada border.

Among the major population centers, Los Angeles has an average annual temperature of 63°F (17°C), with an average January minimum of 48°F (9°C) and an average July maximum of 75°F (24°C). San Francisco has an annual average of 57°F (14°C), with a January average minimum of 42°F (6°C) and a July average maximum of 72°F (22°C). The annual average in San Diego is 64°F (18°C), the January average minimum 49°F (9°C), and the July average maximum 76°F (24°C). Sacramento's annual average temperature is 61°F (16°C), with January minimums averaging 38°F (3°C) and July maximums of 93°F (34°C).

Annual precipitation varies from only 2 in (5 cm) in the Imperial Valley to 68 in (173 cm) at Blue Canyon, near Lake Tahoe. San Francisco had an average annual precipitation (1971–2000) of 20 in (51 cm), Sacramento 17.9 in (45.5 cm), Los Angeles 13.2 in (33.5 cm), and San Diego 10.8 in (27.4 cm). The largest one-month snowfall ever recorded in the US—390 in (991 cm)—fell in Alpine County in January 1911. Snow averages between 300 and 400 in (760 to 1,020 cm) annually in the high elevations of the Sierra Nevada, but is rare in the coastal lowlands.

Sacramento has the greatest percentage (73%) of possible annual sunshine among the state's largest cities; Los Angeles has 72% and San Francisco 71%. San Francisco is the windiest, with an average annual wind speed of 11 mph (18 km/hr). Tropical rainstorms occur often in California during the winter.