Is Southern California warm enough?

[Latchkey Kid]

Also keep in mind when you are looking at high temperatures for Southern CA that it only may reach that temperature for a couple of hours per day in the winter, so the majority of the day may be colder than you like.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I live on the coast and love it. We have a mediteranian climate here on the coast between Port Hueneme and Santa Barbara. Not too hot and not too cold. Just right.

[Hawaii4evr]

SD has the best beaches in Cali. The weather is nice if you live between the coast and inland. That way you have nice warm days, not roasting like inland but warmer than coastal. Also, nights will be cooler than the coast but not freezing like inland.

[Think4Yourself]

It was 106 in Atlanta the other day and people were dying from heat stroke. No, it is not that hot here nor as cold in the winter. Thank god.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

We are the most temperate of the temperate. Middle of the road in latitude and climate.

[WeakandDizzy]

To the original poster,
You live in " Hotlanta" and it is not hot enough for you? I agree with the other poster who said Venus is the place for you. LOL.

[PureHapa]

A young waitress from the East coast asked me in Hawaii, "Why are there so many Californians here, don't you have more beaches than Hawaii?"

Heh. Yes, we have more beaches than we know what to do with, problem is, it's too cold most of the year to enjoy them, the water is freezing, the waves are rough, and there are no amenities besides bathrooms. The water might be warm enough to swim one or two weeks in August. I live here but I prefer Florida beaches and ocean. I decided against a house with a pool for the same reason - too dang cold.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Ericmrtt

Some of you guys said the deserts may not be warm enough for me. Well definetly not the high deserts I know that. I do think the low deserts are warm enough for me. Doesn't Palm Springs and Phoenix, AZ areas still have 70s and 80s in Nov and they return in mid to late Feb or March. A little bit of chilly weather is not bad, its just ATL has too much for my taste. From Nov to Feb you can count the days that top 70, which is maybe 10 days if we are lucky and forget about 80s, its more common to snow a little than get 80 degrees in that period. It also drops below freezing maybe 40 or more times a year. Too cold for my taste. Sunny, a high in the 60s, and lows in the 40s is nice enough winter weather for me.

You want San Diego. Those winter temps you're looking for are average there. It can sometimes be colder during the day after a front passes. However it can also be warm and there's almost always a warm spell in mid January. The nights are chilly but rarely dip below 40 unless you're inland a ways. Summer is in the high 70's most of the time. It's not Atlanta but it's humid enough to keep the summer lows in the mid 60's.

[SandyCo]

The general rule of thumb for the micro climates here is that the further you go away from the coast, the greater the temperature extremes. Example: We're beginning to heat up this week. The forecast calls for temps up to 104 in the Antelope Valley (high desert), 90s to 100 in the San Fernando Valley (coastal valley), and 80s at the beaches. The same is true in the winter, but the temps are cooler as you go away from the coast; it can be in the 60s at the beaches, 50s in the coastal valleys, and 40s in the high desert (plus the wind blows all the time! ).

The lower desert is mild in the winter, but blistering hot in the summer (over 105 is common). However, it's a dry heat!

The past couple of years we didn't have much of a summer, which meant the marine layer kept the beaches cool and overcast much of the day. If you're trying to get away from the lower desert or SF Valley heat, it's great - but if you don't like cool, overcast weather, you might rethink any desire to live near the beach.

Of course, these are sweeping generalizations and YMMV.