Climate Battle: Spain vs California (United States, june, best, coast)
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California is beyond beautiful but the cold water and cool nights in summer are major downers. Spain for me. The Pyrenees are the prettiest mountains I've seen (not magistic like the Alps or Rockies but really clean, minimal underbrush but not dry either, and gracious) and the Atlantic and Mediterranean are clear and warm. Major advantage.
Warm, downright hot, nights are my favorite. I like humid and sultry. And while Spain isn't really either of those things, it is more than Califonia. But I'm a creature of my geography (East Coadt USA). I like my 4 seasons and for my air to be silky and thick with animal and incect noise (and to smell like wood burning fireplaces in the winter).
California is beyond beautiful but the cold water and cool nights in summer are major downers. Spain for me. The Pyrenees are the prettiest mountains I've seen (not magistic like the Alps or Rockies but really clean, minimal underbrush but not dry either, and gracious) and the Atlantic and Mediterranean are clear and warm. Major advantage.
Warm, downright hot, nights are my favorite. I like humid and sultry. And while Spain isn't really either of those things, it is more than Califonia. But I'm a creature of my geography (East Coadt USA). I like my 4 seasons and for my air to be silky and thick with animal and incect noise (and to smell like wood burning fireplaces in the winter).
Coastal Southern California has seen plenty of SST of 75F + along with balmy overnight lows (68-75F) over the past three summers. If this summer is similar, we are in a long term warm epoch that could last decades to come. I'll take warm epoch Southern California over Spain but if we return to cooler than normal conditions in the coast (like summer of 2010), I'll take Spain over coastal Southern California.
Of those species I listed some have dozens in the genus (like Dypsis for example) & many are tricky to grow needing warmer winters than anywhere in Europe can give them. Also there are lots of higher altitude tropical palms that need cooler summers than the warmer parts of Spain & the cooler parts have winters that are too cold. These grow very well in coastal northern California such as the San Francisco bay area. Yes Spain can grow lots of palms but nothing like the species that can grow in California
I think high altitude and oceanic palms would do fine in A Coruña. Pretty much anything that will grow in SoCal will grow in Málaga. Spain just lacks the equivalent of the Coachella Desert...so California just has peninsular Spain beat on the topic of coconuts. Not as great a divide as you state.
I think high altitude and oceanic palms would do fine in A Coruña. Pretty much anything that will grow in SoCal will grow in Málaga. Spain just lacks the equivalent of the Coachella Desert...so California just has peninsular Spain beat on the topic of coconuts. Not as great a divide as you state.
Exactly! Thanks. I didn't want to make this discussion longer but is exactly as you say...
Many people from the US (quite from California) in the biggest palm forum (palmtalk) were literally unbelieving which kind of palms and plants grow in Málaga, and their size. Taking account that Málaga is at 37ºN, and many of those can't be grown even in the coast of Florida at 30ºN which is much warmer year round due to the heavy cold waves which can happen there. We achieved that the northernmost Roystonea of the world is at 41ºN in Spain too. Looks trashy, but I found photos of differents years between them, and the palm is pretty big. It's incredible, 41ºN...
Roystoneas can grow in Málaga as big as in mild tropical climates. I've posted a pic before, of course they take from quite to much more time to achieve that size but they achieve it perfectly!
2011
2014
This is the Roystonea mentioned before at 41ºN in Cambrils, Tarragona, Spain. Gets winter damage, specially from colder years like in 2011 (the 1st pic is from the summer of 2011) but still renew it's leaves.
Coastal Southern California has seen plenty of SST of 75F + along with balmy overnight lows (68-75F) over the past three summers. If this summer is similar, we are in a long term warm epoch that could last decades to come. I'll take warm epoch Southern California over Spain but if we return to cooler than normal conditions in the coast (like summer of 2010), I'll take Spain over coastal Southern California.
Lol, yeah, three summers is proof of a "warm epoch", you have a new climate now huh?!
Lol, yeah, three summers is proof of a "warm epoch", you have a new climate now huh?!
FFS.
Remember how the Seattle guy used to brag about the neverending warmth and then Seattle went on and had four straight cold months, and a barely above average April
Remember how the Seattle guy used to brag about the neverending warmth and then Seattle went on and had four straight cold months, and a barely above average April
Lol, the warm-biased posters always seem to magically fall off when their location is having cooler than normal weather.
The best counterpart of California is not Spain nor Portugal, but Morocco.
In many ways, but with a touch of a continental Galicia in the north and more like a wetter Namibia on the immediate coastline below San Francisco. From the Bay Area onwards the climate is more reminiscent of a wetter hinterland version of Northern Spain.
In many ways, but with a touch of a continental Galicia in the north and more like a wetter Namibia on the immediate coastline below San Francisco. From the Bay Area onwards the climate is more reminiscent of a wetter hinterland version of Northern Spain.
I can't thank you more the last bump you did on this thread.
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