Not only a glorious but in many ways
a wonderful climate is enjoyed by the people of California’s
sea-coast and mountains, her valleys and foot-hills.
In no other state can one find so many kinds of weather
in such short distances. For instance, in Southern
California you may pick flowers and oranges in almost
tropical gardens, and in an hour find winter and throw
snowballs on the high mountains overlooking the roses
and orange groves you so lately left.
Only in the mountains, along that
granite backbone of the state known as the Sierra
Nevadas, are there four seasons, the spring, summer,
autumn, and winter common to most of the United States.
So the Sierras have a distinct climate of their own.
The Sacramento and San Joaquin river valleys have
another climate peculiar to themselves, while south
of latitude 35 degrees the coast has less rain and
is warmer than the coast counties north of that line.
In the greater part of the state the
year is divided into a dry summer and a wet winter.
The rains begin in October, and the first showers
fall on dry, brown hills and dusty fields baked hard
by steady sunshine since May. After these showers
the grass springs up, and the fields are green almost
as quickly as if some fairy godmother had waved her
wand. An army of wild flowers, whose seeds were
hidden in the brown earth, wakes when the rain-drops
patter, and the plants get ready to bloom in a month
or so. For this season, from November to February,
with little frost and no ice nor snow, is winter in
name only. Roses and violets bloom in the gardens
and yellow poppies on the hills.
People expect and hope for much rain
in this so-called winter, since a wet year assures
good crops to the state. But the amount of rain
that falls is very uncertain. It does not rain
every day, nor all day, as a rule, and each storm
seems different. Sometimes a “southeaster”
blows up from the Japan Current, or Black Stream,
as the Japanese call the warm, dark-blue waters that
pour out of the China Sea. This current of the
Pacific Ocean flows along our coast in a mighty river
a thousand miles wide, and gives California its peculiar
climate of cool summers and moist, warm winters.
The southeasterly wind ruffles the bay with white-capped
waves and dashes sheets of rain against window and
roof. Then the wind changes, and all the clouds
go flying to north or east, while from the clear blue
sky brilliant sunshine pours down to make the grass
and flowers grow. During the winter months the
sun is strong and warm enough to make out-door life
delightful.
The farmer depends greatly upon the
rainfall. In a wet winter the moisture sinks
far into the ground, but not so deep that the thirsty
little roots cannot find it in the summer. Early
rains are needed to soften the ground for November
ploughing, and young grain and crops of all kinds
need rain through April. In the northern part
of the state the wet season begins earlier and lasts
longer than in the south, while the southeastern corner
is an almost rainless desert.
In San Francisco the thermometer seldom
falls below 45º in the winter, the average for the
season being 51º. Perhaps in January or February
the sidewalks may be white with frost in the mornings,
or hail may fall during some cold rain-storm.
Once in five years or so, enough snow falls to make
children go wild with delight over a few snowballs
which are very soon melted. People can be comfortable
the year round without fires, and the clear, bright
winter days with soft air and warm sunshine are always
pleasant enough to spend outdoors. This ocean
climate, due to the warm sea air, is enjoyed by the
counties facing the coast and San Francisco Bay.
In the valleys of the interior white frosts are frequent,
and thin ice forms on the wayside puddles. Once
in a while killing frosts destroy fruit blossoms and
cut down the garden flowers and vegetables, but seldom
do more damage.
In mountain regions, above five or
six thousand feet, the very cold winter lasts six
or seven months. Snow falls almost constantly
and drifts to a great depth. Small lakes are
frozen and buried in snow, and the trees are bent
and weighed down with ice and sleet. Many of
the wild animals come down to the foot-hills below
the snow-line to spend the winter; but the bear curls
himself up in his warm cave and sleeps through the
cold months. In this snowy zone of the Sierras,
about thirty miles wide, winter lasts from the first
snowfall, about the end of October, to the late spring
of June. Then July and August are months of glorious
weather, with clear, dry air and a cloudless sky.
During the day the temperature of about 80 degrees
melts much snow, and the rivers carry it away in rushing
torrents and falls of icy water. In September
the frost turns the leaves of all but the evergreen
trees beautiful colors of red and yellow. Indian
summer comes during September and October, when the
days are sunny and warm, and then the long winter
sets in again. Peaks above eight thousand feet
are snow-clad on their crests and along their sides
by deep drifts the year round.
Along the Pacific coast in summer
cool sea-winds, called trade-winds, blow in from the
ocean, and 60 degrees is the average temperature.
The farther you go inland from the coast, the hotter
it gets, and the heat is very great in the interior
of the state. In the San Joaquin and Sacramento
valleys it is often over 100 degrees in the shade,
though this dry heat is not hard to bear, and the
nights are always cool enough for one to sleep in
comfort.
Summer fogs are usual in the coast
counties. The mornings are pleasant and sunny
till about eleven o’clock. At this time
the sun’s rays grow stronger in the interior
valleys, and the hot air rises while trade-winds rush
in from the cold ocean and fog settles down like a
thick, gray cloud over the bay and hills. July
and August are cold and foggy along the coastline,
with strong west winds almost every day. In September
the winds die away, and sometimes a shower or two falls.
The rainless desert, or southeastern
corner of our state, is the hottest region of all.
Here the sun glares down till sand and rocks seem
heated by a fiery furnace. Every living creature
gasps and pants for breath in the scorching heat.
There are no trees, but only cactus, that queer, prickly,
thorny plant, often fifteen or twenty feet high in
these wastes of sand, and low greasewood bushes.
Under this vegetation snakes, lizards, and horned
toads bask all day and search for food at night.
If travellers wander from the road in crossing the
desert, they are easily lost, and sometimes they die
or go mad in the terrible heat. There are no
springs, and water stations are a long way apart,
so that lost people usually die of thirst. As
the heat of the sun’s rays quivers over the
burning sands, a curious sight called a mirage is
often produced. A cool, glassy lake or flowing
river bordered with green trees seems pictured in
the air, and the hot and weary traveller can scarcely
believe that only sand and rocks are before him.
Can you tell which season you like
the best? You will find the one you choose in
some part of this favored state. It is always
summer in the south, and you may slide on the ice
or throw snowballs all year in the high Sierras.