It's Finally Raining in California!

Yes, the desert veggie farms in Baja are thrilled.

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From the San Gabriel Mountains south to the border must be about the best place in the world to liveā€¦from a climate standpoint.

I disagree on that broad specification. There are inversion layers that trap heat and loads of smog in the large metropolitan valleys, including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside. These places have unhealthy air most of the year ā€“ the exception being when ā€œSanta Ana Windsā€ blow out of the Great Basin and push that air+smog out to sea. In Los Angeles and Orange counties, you get some relief from it if you live right on the coast. In San Diego county, the dynamics are different. There is a dominating on-shore breeze most of the year which sends poor air eastward ā€“ with the exception of a few small inland valleys such as Escondido, Santee, and El Cajon. Iā€™m seven miles from the ocean and have zero smog. Patty lives another 3 miles inland and enjoys the same conditions. :slight_smile:

Richard is correct. We live in a very, very rare (and very desirable) micro-climate. I have lived in several places in S. California, south of the San Gabriel mountains, and the micro-climates vary drastically. Moreno Valley is a good example - hot, hot, hot. Smoggy, ick. Even Orange County beach areas are not as nice as where we live (Huntington Beach). I live up a coastal valley. I can see the ocean from my front yard (Carlsbad power plant stack is easily visible). Because of that, we get a direct on shore ocean breeze right up our canyon. All of Vista enjoys this incredible, unique weather pattern. National Geographic dubbed Vista, CA as one of the places in the world with best weather back in the '90ā€™s. We do have zero smog because of this unique weather pattern. It is also why we probably have more commercial nurseries per square foot than any other city in S. California. Just an amazing place to live.

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ā€¦ and itā€™s not just Vista. This near-shore (10-15 mile) climate persists all the way down the coast into Baja California (Mexico). The main difference with the L.A. Basin etc. is that they have lateral (east-west) mountain ranges and we have none.

Further, San Diego county has more small farms (includes commercial nurseries) than any other county in the U.S.

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Doesnā€™t the smog just blow inland? What about an area like Palm Springs? I would imagine in Europe areas similar in climate would be S Spainā€¦Israel? maybe areas of S Turkey/Italy/Greece.

Didnā€™t think of the smog aspect. More people should drive Tesla model S.

I hate humidity and extreme heatā€¦coastal California would be heaven for me.

Neat link if you havenā€™t see itā€¦daily Modis images:
http://ge.ssec.wisc.edu/modis-today/index.php?satellite=a1&product=true_color&date=2017_01_27_027&overlay_sector=false&overlay_state=true&overlay_coastline=true

We are only a few miles from the beach and there is no smog west of us, Rob. So, nothing to blow in. It is pristine down here. We are probably the best kept secret in California. Palm Springs is much much further north and way way east of us, and in a land locked valley. Over a hundred miles from Richard and I. And yes, Coastal S. California, especially San Diego county coastal area is a little slice of heaven. The only other weather I like as well or better is Hawaii. And, youā€™ll probably hear that same thing from just about everyone here in Vista, no kidding. Probably our closest European climate would be parts of Sicily. We grow some of the same identical olive trees here that Sicily grows, with equal success. (Nocellare del Belice for example, which grows in the hills of Sicily, as well as in the hills of Vista.)

Patty S.

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What about those Santa Ana wind type conditions?

Have you ever been to Death Valley?

The Salton Sea area must be an amazing place to grow considering the amount of ag land surrounding it?

Iā€™ve been to Death Valley, and thatā€™s really like other worldly. You can watch your outside temp gauge go up the further you descend. And also have been to the Salton Sea. There are already many farms in that area. Mainly date palms, but other things as well. But again a pretty baron place for the most part.

Santa Ana Winds: We have them off and on from Fall through the winter. We are in a Santa Ana condition right now, in fact. The winds blow from the east (hotter) or northeast (cooler). Very very dry, and for those with certain types of allergies (like myself), they are miserable. I am allergic to a lot of the California scrub plants, which tend to bloom in Fall and Winter, so, I am on my allergy meds in the falls and winter. But, the air is crystal clear, visibility is incredible. Downside is the threat of wild fires, due to the extremely low relative humidity and high winds, which can knock down power lines, that start fires. Or, if we have stupid people out in the hills or mountains lighting fires. They are fairly infrequent, so we just deal with them when they happen.

Have I ever been to Death Valley: Yes. It is hot. Extremely hot. Dry, very deserty. Desolate, but some people like that type of beauty. Not my cup of tea. Iā€™m an ocean and mountain kind of person. But, it does have some interesting phenomena, such as the Moving Rocks: The Racetrack - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

The Salton Sea lies very very inland, straddling the Coachella and Imperial Valleys. And, right smack dab on top of the San Andreas fault. Hot, hot, hot. Low desert. Not anywhere I would be interested in living. There are many other better places to grow stuff in California, imho (like where I live, for example), but if you donā€™t mind consistent 110 to 120 degree temperatures during the late spring summer and well into the Fall, with about 5 to 10% relative humidity, then thatā€™s the place for you :slight_smile: There are large amounts of commercial citrus growers still out there, as well as certain types of grass hay growers as well. And, dates of course. Along with some other commercial crops. But, not really a very nice place to live unless youā€™re a ā€œdesert ratā€.

Cool. I bet you could grow mangoes in Death Valleyā€¦given you had water? I want to go live there some winterā€¦just wander aroundā€¦hike aroundā€¦

No, mangos would NOT do well in Death Valley. WAY too dry and hot. Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in North America. Mangoes are a tropical plant, not a desert plant. If you want to grow mangoes, move to Hawaii, or somewhere even more tropical. I grow mangoes well here, as long as I can protect them when young from our occasional dips in temp. Itā€™s rare to get to freezing here, but it can happen. So far, I have not had temps dip below 40 on my property this winter. My mangoes are very happy.

Interestingā€¦although at 130F the fruit would just dry itself :wink:

So is anything blooming yet in S California?

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Sure! Some of my very early peaches, nearly all my citrus.

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I flew over the Salton Sea once without knowing what it was. I thought to myself, what the heck is that? Itā€™s huge. After looking back at my flight track I found out it was the Salton Sea. I read a lot about it and watched an awesome documentary telling its history as a planned Riviera style community to what it has now become, an eyesore. Fascinating how Sonny Bono lead a charge to return it to its glory. Alas, the demand for water in places like LA, SanDiego, Palm Spring, etc had caused the inland Sea to lose water and just keep getting saltier and saltier.

I always thought if I ever drove through the dessert from Arizona to SanDiego Iā€™d stop by the Salton Sea just to see it. But it would probably depress the hell out of me.

This time of year would be awesome to explore those desert areas with the cooler temps and snow capped mtnsā€¦ Stay in Phoenix a few days, Stay in San Diegoā€¦run up to Death Valleyā€¦go to Vegas and bet the life savings on a game of craps.

In the L.A. metropolitan areas the smog gets trapped under inversion layers above and by nominal high pressures on the deserts to the east. So no, in those areas the smog stays put until some game changing weather pattern comes along.

Actually youā€™d want to wait for the desert Bloom in places like Anza Borrego and Joshua Tree coming in a month or so. It varies every year so keeping up with the web sites is a must.

Thereā€™s ALWAYS something blooming in California lol
But seriously, as mentioned this is prime citrus season. Nice plump juicy navel oranges on my tree are dying to be picked :joy:

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My wife brought home some navel oranges that i swear were bigger then some of the Texas red ruby grapefruit iā€™ve been buying.

I would imagine even central California will be blooming soon? (stonefruit)?