CLIMATE
As would be expected in such a large and diverse land area as California, the climate is varied. The climate along the coast is mild; cooler along the central and northern coast. Southeastern California is hot and dry. Most of California is marked by only two distinct seasons; a rainy season and a dry season. The rainy season runs from October to April in northern California and from November to March or April in southern California.Average yearly precipitation for California, from 1971 to 2000, is shown on this chart from Oregon State University.

Geography
California's diverse coastal communities are the result of many different natural forces. Tectonic and volcanic activity, occuring over the past 250 million years, created our coastal mountain ranges. Both the Farallon and Channel Island systems are the result of similar geologic process. Coastal streams and rivers, along with wind and rain, shape and tear down these mountains through erosion. The powerful, ceaseless waves of the Pacific also cut into the coast mountain ranges and carve vertical cliffs, terraces, and bluffs into the rock. Elsewhere along the California coast, debris from wave erosion and sand deposited by streams and rivers accumulates and forms California's sandy beaches. Inland, where wind-blown sand from the beaches collects, one can find fragile systems of coastal dunes. Coastal rivers and streams meet with the salty waters of the Pacific and create the marshes and lagoons which constitute California's coastal wetlands. In other areas, abrasive sand and wave motion cut grooves and pockets into the rock and intertidal communities and tidepools form. And even below the Pacific's waters geologic forces act, through many of the same processes, on the sea floor.

Coastal Ranges: The Coastal Ranges in the north reach inland 20 to 30 miles extend from the Klamath Mountains in the north south to Santa Barbara. The Coastal Ranges include many smaller chains of mountain ranges including the Diablo and Santa Cruz Mountains. Some of the valleys separating these ranges are the Napa Valley, north of San Francisco and the Santa Clara and Salinas Valleys to the south. The Coastal Range is home to California's legendary Redwoods and, less fortunately the San Andreas Fault. The San Andreas Fault enters California from the Pacific Ocean near Port Arena and extends southeast into the state. Earthquakes are caused by movement of the earth's crust along this fault.

TEMPERATURE

Monthly average temperatures range from a high of 92.2 degrees to a low of 14.3 degrees.
Information was gathered from http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/ca_geography.htm,http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_quick.asp?i=1007,http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_quick.asp?i=1007,http://phrelin.com/3Cals/Rationale.htm