Northern California - Geography and Climate

Geography and Climate

Northern California's diverse geography ranges from the sandy beaches of the Pacific coast to the rugged, snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. The central portion of the region is dominated by the Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country. The Sierra Nevada contains Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially-carved domes, and Sequoia National Park, home to the largest trees on Earth, the giant sequoia trees, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney. The tallest living things on Earth, the ancient redwood trees, dot the coastline, mainly north of San Francisco. It also includes one of the largest Brackish-Marsh's in Western United States, Suisun Marsh. The area is also known for its fertile farm and ranch lands, wine country, the high mountains of the southern Cascade Range, the Trinity Alps, and the Klamath Mountains, lakes, and the windswept sagebrush steppe, in the northeast portion of the region.

Lake Shasta, located between the north end of the Sacramento Valley and Mount Shasta, is the largest reservoir, and is the third largest body of water after Lake Tahoe and the Salton Sea, in California. It was created by the construction of Shasta Dam across the Sacramento River, which was completed in 1945.

The climate can be generally characterized by its marine to warm Mediterranean climates along the coast, to somewhat Continental Mediterranean Climate in the valley to alpine climate zones in the high mountains. Apart from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas (and some other cities in the Central Valley), it is a region of relatively low population density.