Peninsular Ranges
The steepest escarpment in the lower 48, and a desert at the bottom of it.
San Jacinto Peak rises 10,800 feet above Palm Springs in under seven horizontal miles — the greatest vertical relief in the contiguous United States. The consequence is a rain shadow so abrupt that pine forest and seasonal snow sit directly above a floor that takes four inches of rain a year. The gap between San Jacinto and San Gorgonio is the San Gorgonio Pass, the single most consistently windy place in California, and the reason thousands of turbines stand in it.
- Elevation range
- 500 ft → 10,834 ftHigh point: San Jacinto Peak
- Relief
- 10,334 ftTop to bottom, inside this region
- Span
- 87 × 110 miEast–west by north–south
- Annual rainfall
- 12–40″Driest to wettest ground here
- Köppen types
- CsaDsbBSk2 counties
Map of Peninsular Ranges within California.
The four seasons here
NOT A GENERIC SEASON WITH THE PLACE NAME SWAPPED INWinter
Snow above about 5,000 feet; the desert floor below stays mild and mostly dry.
Spring
Strong, near-continuous westerly wind through San Gorgonio Pass.
Summer
Monsoon moisture reaches the crest from July, and the thunderstorms it makes drain into the desert.
Autumn
Offshore flow, low humidity and the fire weather that comes with both.
Places in this region
2 PLACES, LOWEST FIRSTNational Parks in this weather region
FIELD NOTES FROM THE PARK TRANSECTTerrain and gradients
WHAT THE ELEVATION ACTUALLY DOESRanges and passes
A PASS IS A WIND FEATURE FIRSTWho forecasts it
OFFICIAL FORECASTS AND WARNINGS COME FROM HEREGolden State Weather is not a source of watches or warnings. For those, go to the offices above.