California Climate Extremes

California Climate Extremes

Hottest California cities Annual average temperature Cities > 20,000 population	Avg. Temp
1. Blythe	73.6
2. Indio	73.6
3. Imperial	73.3
4. Palm Springs	72.9
5. El Centro	72.6
6. Twentynine Palms	68.0
7. Bakersfield	65.2
8. San Gabriel	64.8
9. San Bernardino	64.7
10. Hemet	64.6

Coldest California Cities Annual average temperature Cities > 20,000 population	Avg Temp
1. Tahoe	43.3
2. Eureka	52.7
3. Watsonville	56.5
4. Monterey	56.6
5. Burlingame	57.0
6. Santa Cruz	57.1
7. Berkeley	57.2
8. San Francisco	57.2
9. Salinas	57.3
10. Santa Maria	57.3

Wettest California Cities Annual average precipitation Cities > 20,000 population	Avg Precip
1. Paradise	55.36
2. Eureka	39.46
3. Redding	39.37
4. San Rafael	35.72
5. Tahoe	31.80
6. Santa Cruz	30.66
7. Pacifica	30.45
8. Fontana	25.88
9. Vacaville	25.36
10. Petaluma	25.33

Driest California Cities Annual average precipitation Cities > 20,000 population	Avg Precip
1. Calexico	2.50
2. Imperial	2.58
3. El Centro	2.59
4. Brawley	2.64
5. Indio	3.11
6. Blythe	3.60
7. Barstow	4.40
8. Lancaster	5.07
9. Palmdale	5.11
10. Palm Springs	5.50

Most # of days with at least .01 precipitation annually Cities > 20,000 population	Avg # days
1. Eureka	121
2. Santa Rosa	87
3. Redding	82
4. Paradise	78
5. Tahoe	77
6. Monterey	74
7. Santa Rosa	73
8. Napa	68
9. Oakland	66
10. San Rafael	66

Lowest # days with at least .01 precipitation annually Cities > 20,000 population	Avg # days
1. El Centro	11
2. Brawley	12
3. Calexico	12
4. Indio	14
5. Imperial	15
6. Blythe	16
7. Palm Springs	17
8. Barstow	20
9. Twentynine Palms	20
10. Palmdale	24

Most # of days with high temperature equal or greater than 90 F Cities > 20,000 population	Avg # days
1. Indio	183
2. Brawley	179
3. Palm Springs	179
4. El Centro	178
5. Blythe	175
6. Imperial	173
7. Twentynine Palms	153
8. Hemet	130
9. Barstow	129
10. San Jacinto	122

Least # days with high temperature equal or greater than 90 F Cities > 20,000 population	Avg # days
1. Eureka	0
2. Santa Monica	0
3. Newport Beach	1
4. Oceanside	1
5. Berkeley	2
6. Chula Vista	2
7. Monterey	2
8. San Diego	2
9. Santa Barbara	3
10. Oxnard	3

Most # of days with low temperature equal or less than 32 F Cities > 20,000 population	Avg # days
1. Tahoe	207
2. Palmdale	84
3. Victorville	72
4. Lancaster	68
5. Paso Robles	64
6. Placerville	62
7. Barstow	60
8. Palmdale	55
9. San Jacinto	52
10. Walnut Creek	43

California's Highest Recorded Temperatures		Date
1. Death Valley	129	7-18-98
2. Greenland Ranch	129	7-18-60
3. Gold Rock Ranch	127	7-28-50
4. Cow Creek	126	7-16-49
5. Mecca	126	9-02-50
6. Thermal	126	7-28-95
7. Needles	125	7-17-05
8. Baker	124	7-31-80
9. Parker Reservoir	124	7-01-50
10. Blythe	123	6-28-94

California's All-Time Wettest Years (1895-2012)	Avg Annual Precipitation/in
1. 1983	42.33
2. 1909	41.94
3. 1906	37.28
4. 1916	35.44
5. 1998	35.13
6. 1995	33.66
7. 1941	33.33
8. 1915	32.12
9. 1940	37.14
10. 1982	37.13

California's All-Time Driest Years (1895-2012)	Avg Annual Precipitation/in
1. 1898	9.80
2. 1976	11.87
3. 1947	12.90
4. 2007	13.04
5. 1923	13.43
6. 1990	13.62
7. 1929	13.93
8. 1932	14.44
9. 1989	14.57
10. 1985	14.65

Data Source: National Climatic Data Center
Additional information: California precipitation
and temperature extremes