SNOWFALL – Snow has been reported at one time or another in nearly every part of California, but it is very infrequent west of the Sierra Nevada except at high elevations of the Coast Range and the Cascades.  In the Sierra Nevada, snow in moderate amounts is reported nearly every winter at elevations as low as 2,000 feet.  Amounts and intensities increase with elevation to around 7,000 or 8,000 feet.  Above 4,000 feet elevation snow remains on the ground for appreciable lengths of time each winter.  Highways are closed for periods of a few hours to two or three days at a time by blowing and drifting snow.  East of the Sierra Nevada at elevations of 4,000 feet, or higher, most winter precipitation is in the form of snow, but amounts are usually quite light.

TEMPERATURE – Within the boundaries of the State are to be found areas of moderate temperatures and other places where temperatures reach extreme values of either heat or cold.  On the coast the small range in temperture from day to night and from winter to summer produces an unusually equable regime.  With increasing distance from the coast, depending to some extent upon the amount of marine influence experienced, temperature ranges become wider.  Higher elevations in the mountains also experience large temperature variation.