On Nov 4, 2005, at 5:47 PM, Mary Sue Ittner wrote:
>When some of us read the fascinating Dallman book, Plant Life in the
>World's Mediterranean Climates, we were impressed with the differences in
>these climates. California and Chile are completely dry in summer where
>some of the other places have less rain in summer, but still have some
>rain.
Mary Sue,
Here are the rainfall patterns and totals for various locations in
"northern California" and Crete. (I'll leave the graphing of the data as an
exercise for the reader.) ;-) There is an obvious correlation between
altitude and greater rainfall. But what strikes me as interesting is how
the annual total rainfall up in your direction rises from the teens (in
inches) down in the southern half of the Bay Area (which is what it is all
around this area as well) slowly and gradually into the lower twenties up
in the north bay and wine country, but then fairly rapidly rises into the
upper thirties/lower forties as soon as you head north out of the wine
country. There does not seem to be much of a region where the annual total
is in the upper twenties/lower thirties. And all within not so many miles
in distance. Then it stays in that amount of total rainfall for quite a
distance. There seems to be an obvious change in climate pattern between
the wine country region and south, and regions immediately to the north of
it. (Just like there seems to be micro-climate strip that crosses Marin
County and inland that is wetter than regions to either the north or south
of it. See Muir Woods, Kentfield, and San Rafael.)
Crete seems to be fairly uniform with the difference due to elevation, and
the total matching the Bay Area amounts.
--Lee
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
Nov Dec Total
Palo Alto, California, USA
3.2 2.6 2.3 1.1 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.7
2.0 2.8 15.4
Redwood City
4.2 3.3 2.9 1.3 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2 1.0
2.3 3.8 19.5
Half Moon Bay
5.3 4.0 4.0 2.0 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.4 1.7
3.1 4.7 26.4
San Francisco AP
4.4 3.2 3.0 1.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2 1.0
2.4 3.5 19.6
San Francisco
4.4 3.0 3.1 1.3 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.1
2.9 3.6 20.4
Berkeley
4.7 4.0 3.2 1.7 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.3
2.9 4.1 23.0
Richmond
4.7 3.5 3.1 1.6 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.2
3.2 3.8 22.0
Muir Woods
7.1 5.6 5.0 2.6 0.9 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.5 2.2
5.7 6.6 36.6
Kentfield
10.6 7.9 6.8 3.1 1.0 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.4 2.6
6.1 9.1 48.1
San Rafael
9.2 5.7 4.6 2.4 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.4 1.7
4.6 7.4 36.9
Point Reyes
3.6 3.3 2.6 1.4 0.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.2 1.0
1.5 3.0 17.6
Petaluma
5.2 4.2 3.1 1.6 0.5 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.3 1.2
2.8 4.4 23.7
Napa
4.7 4.2 3.5 1.6 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.4
3.0 4.4 24.2
Santa Rosa
6.1 4.8 4.2 2.1 0.8 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.7
3.6 5.5 29.5
Guerneville
11.2 8.0 5.9 3.8 1.2 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.4 2.8
5.9 9.8 49.6
Cazadero
10.7 11.6 9.2 4.4 0.6 0.1 0.7 0.7 2.0 4.7
12.6 10.3 67.5
Fort Ross
7.9 6.0 4.9 2.8 1.2 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.5 2.5
5.0 6.8 38.2
Healdsburg
9.1 6.7 5.7 2.4 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.6 2.5
6.9 7.4 42.2
Point Arena
8.0 7.0 5.9 3.0 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.8 2.4
6.1 7.0 41.6
Ukiah
8.0 6.1 4.6 2.3 1.0 0.4 0.0 0.1 0.4 2.0
4.8 7.2 36.9
Willits
11.0 8.0 7.5 3.3 1.0 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.7 3.3
8.2 10.0 53.7
Fort Bragg
7.2 5.8 5.5 2.9 1.4 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.6 2.8
4.7 6.8 38.5
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
Nov Dec Total
Souda, Crete, Greece
4.9 4.2 2.8 1.3 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.5 2.3
3.8 3.7 22.9
Heraklion
3.7 2.6 1.9 1.1 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.7 2.3
2.6 3.5 19.3
Kalo Chorio
4.4 2.5 2.1 0.9 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.3 2.0
2.6 4.3 19.8
Kasteli
6.2 4.1 3.3 1.4 0.7 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.7 2.8
3.6 5.5 28.8
Maronia
5.5 3.3 2.9 1.4 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.5 2.4
3.7 5.1 25.8
Sitia
4.3 2.8 2.2 0.9 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.4 2.0
2.6 3.6 19.5