STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



327 



Annual Summary of Meteorological Observations at Nicolaus, for 

 the Year ending December 31, 1887. 



I'.y Alva ii Pendlkton. 



Month. 



TEMPERATURE. 



Max. 



Min. 



b 5>g 



: - z. 



a - 



5= 



80 



.o 



B 



re 



January ._. 

 February . 

 March .1.. 



April _ 



May 



Jane 



July 



August 



September 



October*-.-. 



November 



December . 



Sums 



Averages 



31 

 32 

 42 

 42 

 46 

 50 



52 

 52 

 54 

 50 

 26 



29 



506 



42.16 



1.12 



6.75 



.96 



!oi 



3.04 



.00 

 .00 

 .01 

 .00 

 1.00 



3.02 



1S.13 



13 

 9 



1 

 

 1 

 1 





 





 

 6 



12 



43 



6 



12 

 4 

 8 

 4 

 3 





 

 3 

 

 4 



10 



54 



17 

 9 

 21 

 16 

 17 

 25 



27 

 23 

 21 

 27 

 18 



10 



233 



11 



16' 

 8 



10 

 10 



2 



1 

 3 

 7 

 2 



10 



17 

 97 



32 



S.&S.E. 



8.&S.E. 



S.&S.E. 



S. &N 



S. 



S. & 



S.W. 



S. 



S. 



S. 



N. 



N. & 



N.W. 



N. 



3,563 

 3,937 

 3,470 

 4,660 

 4,509 

 4,375 



4,738 



3,9i ;.s 

 3,031 



3. INS 



2,398 

 5,084 



47,221 



3,935 



YUBA COUNTY. 



VALLEY AND FOOTHILL CLIMATE COMPARED. 



To the general rule that temperature decreases as altitude is gained, the 

 foothills of California present an interesting and important exception. It 

 is found, in a general way, that the climate of the foothills of the Sierra 

 Nevada, up to an elevation varying with the latitude, is equally as mild as 

 that of the great valley below, whose altitude will average only about fifty 

 feet above the level of the sea. While there is little difference in temper- 

 ature as elevation is gained in what may be termed the thermal belt of the 

 foothills, there is a steady increase in rainfall as one ascends from the val- 

 ley. This increase in rainfall, in the foothills along the line of the Central 

 Pacific Railroad, is about one inch to each one hundred feet of elevation. 

 Thus Auburn, with an elevation of about 1,200 feet, has an average rainfall 

 about twelve inches greater than that of Sacramento in the valley below. 



It has been observed that the general elevation to which the mild climate 

 of the valley extends in the foothills corresponds to the elevation of the 

 Coast Range opposite. This is about 2,500 feet. The effect of the Coast 

 Range is to shut off from the lower or thermal belt of the foothills, as well 

 as from the great valley, the cool westerly winds from the Pacific. This 

 protection gradually diminishes as elevation is gained, and there is no 

 abrupt change in climate, in passing from point to point. 



The late B. B. Redding remarked that the character of the climate in 

 the foothills at any given point could be readily determined by the native 

 trees. The presence of the digger or nut pine he considered an unfailing 



