Redwood
The forest is tall because the wet season is enormous and the dry season still arrives as fog.
Redwood weather begins offshore. Winter storms meet the first coastal hills without any land upstream to dry them, while summer northwest wind chills the nearshore water and manufactures the fog that keeps needles wet when the rain has stopped. Elevation matters, but distance from the surf matters just as much: a short drive inland trades stratus and a tiny annual temperature range for hotter afternoons and colder nights.
California map locating Redwood National Park.
The four seasons
THE PARK CHANGES VERTICALLY, TOOWinter
The wettest season by far: long frontal rains, atmospheric rivers and saturated ground.
Spring
Storms shorten while northwest wind and coastal upwelling begin rebuilding the fog belt.
Summer
Almost rainless, but not dry in the ordinary sense — fog, drizzle and wet canopy mornings persist.
Autumn
September is often the clearest interval; the first durable Pacific systems usually return in October.
The climate transect
REFERENCE STATIONS · NOT A PARK-WIDE AVERAGEThese named gauges expose the park's temperature and precipitation gradient. They may sit outside the legal boundary; each linked place page states the exact NOAA station, its elevation and its distance. None is presented as a current park forecast.
| Atlas reference | Terrain region | Elevation | Jan low | Jul high | Annual precip | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crescent City | North Coast | 44 | 42° | 63° | 58.0″ | — |
| Eureka | North Coast | 43 | 41° | 63° | 40.4″ | — |
| Ukiah | North Coast | 633 | 37° | 91° | 38.9″ | — |
What changes the day
CLIMATE CONTEXT · NOT A LIVE WARNING FEEDFloodwater
Atmospheric rivers raise steep coastal rivers quickly and saturate slide-prone slopes.
Fog
Visibility can collapse at the coast while an inland trail sits in full sun.
Windfall
Saturated soil plus frontal wind is a forest hazard even without exceptional rain totals.