One hot little city
Redding resonates within me. In fact, if every day in Redding could be just like today, I might just have to put down roots and become a permanent resident.
The people are small-town friendly. The local government appears to be progressive and to have a sense of style that's missing in too many towns these days. Redding's points of interest include plenty of 20th and 21st century attractions - including a new state-of-the-art public library opening this weekend.
Situated at a crossroads for northern California, this community seems destined for growth - which isn't always such a good thing - and for an ongoing role as a hub for commerce, culture and whatever other areas of interest for which it might attempt to assert leadership.
Politics makes it impossible to predict such things, but believe the next University of California should be located in Redding. The slow start experienced by UC Merced may delay further expansion, but northern California deserves a turn and, to me, Redding is the hands-down favorite pick to click.
So, why the qualifier? Why did I begin by saying "if every day in Redding could be just like today..."?
Well, even though this is a hot, happening place, it also happens - - during summer months - - to be just plain hot.
Despite being ringed by snow-capped mountains, it doesn't snow or freeze in Redding. And apparently because those same mountains form kind of bowl that results in an inversion, hot air remains trapped near the ground. The result is long, hot summers.
A set of statistics that I was told to take with a grain of salt admits to average high temperatures above 90 degrees in June, July, August and September of 2006. Record highs have been measured above 100 as early as May and as late as October.
All time high temperatures are: 94 degrees for April; 104 for May, 111 for June; 118 for July; and 115 for August; 116 for September; and 105 for October.
That's way too hot for this kid. I grew up in San Diego and anything above 80 is outside my comfort range.
Redding looks like a great place to visit and prime real estate for a new UC; but my advice is to visit during spring or fall months. And if you decide to attend UC Redding, avoid summer school.
5 comments:
Hot as Redding is in the summer, a few miles north is Crater Lake, OR. On Fourth of July one year, my famly and I played in the snow at Crater Lake. Might be worth a side trip as you head north to Eugene.
Every time I've driven through Redding it's been the hot spot of the trip.
Lovely place other than that.
Since you mentioned above 80 degrees as your comfort zone, you might want to skip out on Redding for at least half the year. Redding's average high reaches the 80's on the 13th of May and doesn't dip below until the 15th of October. Now that doesn't sound too bad until you see how high it actually gets. By June 12th, the average high is 90 (though as of today, the 13th, we've already hit 100 officially with my backyard shaded area hitting 104), June 28th: 95, July 4th: 97, July 12th: 99, July 22nd: 100 which lasts for five days until it dips back down to 99, then doesn't fall below 97 until August 20th. Finally falling below 94 on September 4th.Remember, these are average highs, not records. Even if you said 90 was your upper comfort level, the date range there or above is June 12th to September 18th.
Also, when you say take the temps with a grain of salt, you are not kidding. Redding has gone out of its way to try to find a cool spot to measure it's temperature. They've moved the official thermometer many times in the last decade, each time to a cooler area. Depending on your location in Redding, your chances are great your temperature will be higher than the official. Many times I've seen 120+ in our backyard, in a fully shaded area that never receives sun. That's just the way it is here. I'd love for a UC to be placed here, it is a beautiful area, but if you are going to spend the summer here, you must love the heat.
Oh, and if you are wondering if it cools off in the evening, well the last two nights I've woken around 2:30 am to see if it is cool enough to open the windows yet, but each time it has still been 80+... and it is still early June. Living here has given me an appreciation for those that live in cold climates, how they don't go outdoors until the weather gets better... just here it's the summer you never venture out in and not the winter.
See you next fall. :)
Talk about global warming!
We tend to oversimplify things when predicting the weather -- in the west, we expect it to be cooler and wetter as we move north. Redding is one exception -- even way up in northern California, it's hotter than most of the state.
I found another "island" of unexpected weather up on the east side of the Olympic peninsula in Washington. One would expect that area to be a rain forest, but it's in some kind of "shadow" and has very manageable levels of precipitation.
The word's out on this one, unfortunately, and housing prices are out of sight.
I'm still looking for that perfect little city where all systems are "go" -- is there a Camelot anywhere in the U.S.A.??
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