CLIMATE. 27 



§ 24. Temjperatxire of the SoutherJi Coast. — The high moun- 

 tain-spur which projects into the ocean at Point Conception 

 seems to protect the coast south of it from the fogs, which are 

 much rarer and warmer at Los Angeles than at San Francisco. 

 But though the former is in latitude 34°, it is at times as cold in 

 winter as the latter (in 37° 48'), because it is farther from the 

 ocean, and is in sight of Mount San Bernardino and other high 

 mountains, some of which wear snow-caps during a large part 

 of the year. In summer, however, it is much warmer, even 

 oppressively hot. The nights are sometimes so warm, that a 

 sheet is as much covering as is necessary for comfort; but 

 blankets are usually required. 



The coast north of latitude 40° is much colder and cloudier 

 in summer, and has more rain than any other part of the state. 



§ 25. Sacramento Basin. — The climate of the Sacramento 

 Basin differs from that of San Francisco in having no fogs, faint 

 sea-breezes, winters four degrees colder, and summers from six- 

 teen to twenty degrees warmer. The greater heat of summer is 

 owing to the want of ocean winds and fogs ; the greater cold of 

 winter is caused by the distance from the Pacific, and the prox- 

 imity of the snow-covered Sierra Nevada. While at San Fran- 

 cisco the thermometer usually stands at 70° at mid-day, it is 

 at 86° in Sacramento city at the same moment ; and these six- 

 teen degrees make a vast difference, for they change comfort 

 into oppression. And Sacramento city, lying near the great 

 gap in the Coast Mountains, is cooler in summer than either 

 end of the basin ; for the upper portions of both the Sacra- 

 mento and San Joaquin valleys, nearly every summer, see days 

 when the thermometer stands at over 100° in the shade. The 

 county assessor of Fresno countj stated, in his annual report 

 for 1857, that the mean temperature at Millerton during the 

 three summer months Avas 106°. The Stockton Argus spoke 

 thus of a great heat that was felt in Stanislaus county on the 

 23d of June, 1859: 



"The thermometer was 113° in the shade. The wind was 

 avoided, as it was heated so, that it felt as if actually burning 



