Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Northern California. Exploring Mountains, Valleys, and Seashore онлайн

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The Central Coast, Bay Area, and Coast Ranges (ssss1–ssss1)

The North Coast and Klamath Mountains (ssss1–ssss1)

Shasta and the Modoc Plateau (ssss1–ssss1)

The Sierra Nevada (ssss1–ssss1)

Each region is described briefly in the introduction to its respective section.

Northern California Weather

The overall weather in California is closely linked to the sun’s relative position with the Earth. As the sun’s rays strike more directly north of the equator in spring, the air it warms in the tropics rises into the upper atmosphere and moves north over the Pacific Ocean. Cooled as it travels, the air sinks back down to the surface to form an area of high pressure over the north Pacific known as the Pacific High. As the summer progresses, the high becomes increasingly stable and prevents low-pressure storm fronts in the Gulf of Alaska from reaching Northern California.

As a consequence, summers are almost entirely devoid of rain. Localized thunderstorms do occur—especially in the high mountains—but generally the entire state basks in never-ending blue skies and sunshine. Summers on the coast are remarkably different, however: The same Pacific High that keeps storms away also creates northwest winds that almost continually buffet the shoreline. Warm, moisture-laden summer air condenses into fog over the cold Pacific waters, which is then pushed onshore by wind and the land–sea temperature differential. Summer on the coast can seem a lot like winter.