Geography & Climate

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California lies along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States, between Oregon to the north and Mexico to the south. Nevada and Arizona border the state to the east. 770 miles (1,239 kilometers) long and 250 miles (402 kilometers) wide, California consists of 155,973 square miles (403,968 square kilometers) of land and 7,734 square miles (20,031 square kilometers) of water. Its total area of 163,707 square miles (423,999 square kilometers) ranks it the third largest state in the country, smaller only than Alaska and Texas.

California consists of particularly varied topography. The state’s extended coastline, numerous mountain ranges, central river valley, wide deserts, and immense wilderness areas contrast with its two main urban areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles. California’s diverse regions include the Central Coast, Central Valley, Deserts, Gold Country, High Sierra, Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, North Coast, Orange County, San Diego County, San Francisco Bay Area, and Shasta Cascade. Inland from the 1,264 mile (2,034 kilometer) mountainous coastline lies the agricultural Central Valley, followed by the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the east. The far northeastern corner of the state is home to the Modoc Plateau, while the Mojave Desert lies to the far southeast.

The highest point, not only in California but also in all of the contiguous 48 states, is Mt. Whitney at 14,494 feet (4,418 meters). Only 85 miles (137 kilometers) away lies the lowest point in the U.S.: Death Valley at 282 feet (85.95 meters) below sea level, with temperatures sometimes passing 120 degrees F (49 degrees C), is the hottest, driest place in the country. Home to over 400 recreational lakes, California’s major ones are Tahoe (North America’s largest alpine lake at 12 miles (19 kilometers) wide by 22 miles (35 kilometers) long and 1,645 feet (501.4 meters) deep), Salton Sea, Owens, and Searles. The major rivers are the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, and the Colorado. There are three active volcanoes in the Golden State: Mt. Lassen, Mt. Shasta and Mt. Mammoth. The state also features unique forests home to the world’s largest (General Sherman giant sequoia), tallest (coastal redwoods, some taller than 36-story buildings), and oldest (Bristlecone Pine tree, aged at nearly 5,000 years) living things. Another, less fortunate feature of the state is that it lies along the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, making it prime earthquake territory.

California's diverse physical regions make for a variety of climates. In general, the Golden State has a temperate Mediterranean-style climate characterized by sun and warmth with rain mainly in the winter, though five main climactic regions exist based on their elevation and proximity to the ocean. These climates are coastal (mild, cooler and rainier to the north), desert (with great temperature variations and little rain), mountain (with sunny summers and heavy snow in winter), valley (with high temperatures and low humidity in the summer and the opposite in winter), and foothill (with more rain and less fog than valley regions). Still, the state has only two distinct seasons, a rainy season and a dry season. The rainy season occurs from October to April in the northern part of the state and is shorter by a month or two in southern California.

Monthly average temperatures in the state range from a high of 99 degrees F (37 degrees C) in the summer to 14 degrees F (-10 degrees C) in the winter. Annual rainfall averages 23.09 inches (58.65 centimeters), ranging from an average of 80 inches (203.2 centimeters) in Del Norte County (along the North Coast) to as low as 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) in Imperial County (in the desert).

• National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Climate Data

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