Southern California has 3
basic climate zones as illustrated in fig
#1.
 The coastal
plain... Somewhat Mediterranean climate
with little season to season change in
temperature. The mountains... have almost
a alpine environment. A big change in the
weather come each season. Finally the
deserts have the driest and warmest of
the three climate zones in southern
California. Annual rainfall often doesn't
exceed an inch in many spots.
Temperatures during the winter lower
below freezing and in the summer it will
rise above 110 degrees. There also can be
as much as a 40 degree temperature
difference between night and day. For the
humidity... the humidity has been
reported as low as 2% but normally during
the summer it ranges between 8 to 15%.
The deserts of southern
California formed entirely on the wind
patterns and the terrain to the west of
the deserts. The winds 90% of an average
year flows from the west/southwest
onshore to the coastal plains as
described in Fig. # 2. Then the winds
upslope the mountains ranges. Finally...
the winds will downslope the east side of
the mountains, compresses, heats up and
dries out.
Here are some average
yearly precipitation amounts for a few
desert cities...
- Palmdale:
4.96"
- Palm
Springs: 3.13"
- Thermal:
1.84"
|
