California
Geography
A reference map of California A topographic map of California A forest of redwood trees in Redwood National Park Köppen climate types in California Mount Shasta Aerial view of the California Central Valley Big Sur coast, south of Monterey at Bixby Bridge Yosemite National Park Snow on the Sierra Nevada in eastern California Death Valley, in the Mojave Desert Potato Harbor, named for its distinctive ovular and bumpy shape, on Santa Cruz Island The coastline along Laguna Beach in Southern California Cylindropuntia bigelovii in the Joshua Tree National Park Mojave National Preserve The Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta viewed from above, with the Sacramento River above and San Joaquin River below Glamis sand dunes Although most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, due to the state's large size the climate ranges from polar to subtropical. The cool California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Farther inland, there are colder winters and hotter summers. The maritime moderation results in the shoreline summertime temperatures of Los Angeles and San Francisco being the coolest of all major metropolitan areas of the United States and uniquely cool compared to areas on the same latitude in the interior and on the east coast of the North American continent. Even the San Diego shoreline bordering Mexico is cooler in summer than most areas in the contiguous United States. Just a few miles inland, summer temperature extremes are significantly higher, with downtown Los Angeles being several degrees warmer than at the coast. The same microclimate phenomenon is seen in the climate of the Bay Area, where areas sheltered from the sea experience significantly hotter summers than nearby areas closer to the ocean.
California-52