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The climate in Central Coastal California is profoundly influenced by the Pacific Ocean. Cold ocean currents flow from the north. In summertime, warm air interacts with this cold water, forming fog. It is typical during summer to wake to heavy fog, which drapes everything in dampness. Usually this fog layer reaches only a few miles inland, no further than the coastal mountain range, which separates the central coast area from the inland valleys. On most days it burns off by midday, although you can often see a thick blanket of fog sitting out over the Monterey Bay during the afternoon.
However, fog is the only source of moisture during the summer. Rainfall is limited to the winter months, with the heaviest rains falling during December through February. Some years the rains will continue into March or April. But from May onwards it is very rare to see any rain at all. The first significant rain of the winter rainy season typically falls sometime in October.
The lack of rain in summer means that many plants go dormant during the summer. Grassy hillsides turn golden brown in early summer, and by late summer are dusty brown. The mild climate and rich soils make the Central Coast an ideal place for growing many fruit and vegetable crops, but almost all farming is done with supplemental irrigation.
In this Field Notes project about the Central Coast of California, I will try to illustrate the unique climate of this region, especially seasonal fog and drought, and the adaptations of people, plants, and animals to this climate.
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