Sacramento Valley
Hot, dry summers; and the fog that used to define its winters.
The northern half of the Central Valley, wetter than the southern half because storms reach it more easily and the valley narrows toward Redding, where a funnel effect wrings out over 30 inches. Summers run long and dry with triple-digit heat routine, broken most evenings by the Delta breeze pulling marine air upriver. Winter's signature was tule fog — a dense radiation fog that could sit for a week — and its measured decline over the past four decades is one of the clearest climate signals in the state.
- Elevation range
- 0 ft → 500 ftHigh point: valley floor throughout
- Relief
- 500 ftTop to bottom, inside this region
- Span
- 101 × 169 miEast–west by north–south
- Annual rainfall
- 15–35″Driest to wettest ground here
- Köppen types
- Csa10 counties
Map of Sacramento Valley within California.
The four seasons here
NOT A GENERIC SEASON WITH THE PLACE NAME SWAPPED INWinter
Cool, grey and damp. Rain from passing fronts, and fog in the still spells between them.
Spring
The green months. Wildflowers, and the last real rain by about mid-April.
Summer
Hot and cloudless for three months, with 100°F+ common and the Delta breeze as the only relief.
Autumn
Sharp cooling in late October, and the first system usually by early November.
Places in this region
3 PLACES, LOWEST FIRST| Place | Elevation | Jan high | Jan low | Jul high | Jul low | Annual precip | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento | 25 | 56° | 39° | 93° | 59° | 18.1″ | — |
| Chico | 190 | 56° | 36° | 95° | 61° | 27.4″ | — |
| Redding | 495 | 57° | 38° | 100° | 67° | 33.5″ | 3″ |
National 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 FIRSTNo named range or pass sits wholly inside this region.
Who 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.