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Modoc Country Living Climate
Modoc County's climate is typical of any high-altitude high desert region, with warm dry summers and cold wet winters. The weather pattern in Modoc County generally follows the middle to southern reaches of the west-to-east jet stream flow. The region's climate is fairly mild for its latitude, neither as cool and wet as the extreme northwestern United States nor as hot and dry as the American Southwest. Accordingly, Modoc's moderately mild weather makes agriculture a big part of the local economy. As in many parts of agricultural America, the planting and growing seasons in this area are the warmer spring-summer months with harvest in the fall. Most plants go dormant during the cold winter months. Essentially, the effect of weather on a particular region over an extended period of time is referred to as climate. This page contains a brief explanation of climate and climatology, and how the climate affects Modoc County, California. Because jet streams have a significant effect on weather and climate for the entire world, it is helpful to understand their characteristics. Jet streams are fast flowing, relatively narrow air currents found in the atmosphere at around 36,000 feet above the surface of the Earth. They form at the boundaries of air masses with significant differences in temperature between them, such as between the Polar Regions and warmer air closer to the equator. When two adjacent air masses, one with high temperature and the other with low temperature meet, the resulting pressure difference (which causes wind) is highest along the border between them.
In the Northern Hemisphere there is one main jet stream at polar latitudes, and a minor subtropical stream closer to the equator. There are other flows in the atmosphere that are referred to as jets, but to keep things simple, this page will concentrate on the main polar jet stream. Jet streams are typically continuous over long distances, but occasionally a jet stream can split or cut off into a closed circular flow. Jet stream speeds vary depending on temperatures, but they average 35 mph in summer and 75 mph in winter. Higher speeds of over 250 mph have been known. Technically wind speed has to be higher than 60 Knots to be called a jet stream. Scientists and meteorologists first noticed jet streams in the 19th century, but specific study of them didn't begin until the 1920's and 30's. Their significance regarding both weather and air travel wasn't fully realized until World War II when the impact of jet streams on bomber travel to distant targets was considered. The Japanese even used jet stream winds to carry out largely ineffective fire balloon attacks on the west coast of the American mainland. Today, use of the jet stream is extremely important for airlines, decreasing east-west air travel across North America by as much as 30 minutes. Of course flight time can be increased by about the same amount when flying west against jet stream winds. On international flights, the differences are even greater. Meteorologists now understand that the path of the jet stream steers weather systems at lower levels in the atmosphere, so knowledge of their course has become an important part of weather forecasting. The term climate is considered to be certain basic weather statistics averaged over a long period of time using surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. The classical period of statistics averaging is 30 years, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Climatology is the study of climate, and is a branch of the atmospheric sciences. In contrast to meteorology, which studies short term weather systems lasting up to a few weeks, climatology studies the frequency with which these weather systems occurred in the past. It studies weather events and changes in long-term average weather patterns over many years in relation to atmospheric conditions. Climatology is approached in a variety of ways, from historical weather statistics to studying records of ice cores and tree rings. It also includes in-depth study of atmospheric composition, temperatures and dynamics and the interaction of humans with the atmosphere. Climatological interests include the atmospheric boundary layer, circulation patterns, heat transfer (radiated, convective and latent), interactions between the atmosphere and the oceans and land surface (particularly vegetation, land use and topography), and the chemical and physical composition of the atmosphere. Climatologists study both the nature of climates - local, regional or global - and the natural or human-induced factors that cause climates to change. Climatology considers the past and can help predict future climate changes. One such climate change that is a current hot topic is global warming, and more specifically what's causing it. Personally, when I'm shoveling out from under six inches of snow on a cold January morning and the thermometer is recording 10 degrees or so, I find it very difficult to grasp the concept of global warming! Nonetheless, there are indications that the world's temperatures are getting warmer. But before anyone panics and discards winter coats or stocks up on suntan lotion in December, remember that according to some experts the rate of temperature increase has been around a degree or less in the past 160 years. Both the rate of warming and the methods for determining it result in some of the most controversial debates in the climatology community. The many varied effects of global warming include sea level rise caused by melting polar ice, repercussions to agriculture, reductions in the ozone layer, increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes) and the spread of disease. In some cases, the effects may already be manifest, although it is difficult to attribute specific incidents of natural phenomena to long-term global warming. Therein lies the debate on the issue. Experts on one side claim that the cause for global warming can be attributed to man's proliferation and disregard for ecology and the atmosphere. Experts on the other side of the debate, although in the minority, feel that the causes of the slow warming trend are merely natural cycles of phenomena that would have occurred even if man never existed. Regardless of which argument one supports, the most important aspect is what to do about it, if anything. I guess if the warming trend is caused by natural phenomena and inevitable, about the only option is to learn to live with it and adapt. Of course if man is to fault, behavior or lifestyle change seems to be the answer. The most popular actions to take in this case, and ones that have other benefits as well, involve energy use conservation and shifts to alternative energy sources. Ideas that are both more involved and more costly are the capture and isolation or storage of carbon dioxide gases being emitted into the atmosphere. Theoretical ideas on the fringe of science fiction being talked about are planetary engineering methods which include screening the earth from sunlight and increasing the atmosphere's reflective properties. About twenty years ago, while we were living in southern California, meteorologists started blaming weather extremes on something called the El Nino/La Nina effect. Then the media caught hold of the buzzwords and started making copy based on them. El Nino/La Nina is a real meteorological phenomena and deserves study and attention by scientists, but the media seemed to be blaming anything and everything on the weather condition. I was actually waiting for some pundit to blame the rise in crime or the latest Charger loss on El Nino! I wonder if the terms global warming or greenhouse effect could be experiencing the same media treatment. No matter what the causes or solutions of global warming are, I have to get back to shoveling snow! For more information on climate, climatology or global warming, visit Wikipedia.org. Wikipedia is an on-line free encyclopedia containing millions of articles on just about everything in a multitude of languages. I've used Wikipedia extensively for research on various pages of this site, and both support and recommend it one hundred percent. Wikipedia.org is a non-profit organization and relies solely on donations to finance operations as well as contributions to build content. I urge anyone to give the organization support. Climates tend to be cooler with more distinction between seasons at latitudes farther from the Equator. At around 32 degrees north latitude San Diego, California has a warm temperate climate, little variation in temperature extremes and low rainfall. San Diego's climate is somewhat similar to the southern Mediterranean area. Conversely, Modoc County is at 41 degrees latitude and the climate is cooler with more distinct differences in seasonal weather. Modoc County is near the same distance from the equator as is Saint Louis, Missouri, with altitude being the variable. Higher altitudes also produce colder climates with more noticeable weather extremes. Modoc County's average altitude is 4000 feet, and experiences the same weather patterns that affect Redding, California, approximately 2-1/2 hours west. The altitude in Redding is around 500 feet with hotter summer temperatures and colder winter temperatures than Modoc. The same storms that deliver rain to Redding produce snow in Modoc County. 
Modoc's climate has been described as being that of the eastern Sierra steppe high desert region. As mentioned before, high desert climate is characterized by warm dry summers and cold wet winters with four distinct weather seasons. This climate combined with the lava bed dominated soil make for a fertile growing region. Modoc lies in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness
zone 6
which reflects annual average minimum temperatures of 0 to -10 degrees Fahrenheit. According to USDA, representative selected woody plants that are appropriate to this climate are Japanese maple, boxwood and English ivy. Naturally, any plants that are appropriate for USDA zones 1-5, with all other factors equal for your area, should do as well. Depending on the specific local environment and directional orientation of your garden or growing spot (whether its somewhat protected from the elements), you might be able to take a chance on plants listed for growing in zone 7. The agricultural cash crops in Modoc County are alfalfa, feed grains and potatoes, with alfalfa being predominate. The area's largest commercial grower, Alturas Farms has been having some success experimenting with garlic and rice crops. As mentioned elsewhere in Modoc Country Living, many cool-weather fruits grow well in Modoc County, as do most garden vegetables. A grower in Surprise Valley on the eastern side of the county is having some success experimenting with growing certain colder climate wine grapes as well. Look for more information on Modoc Country Living landscaping and gardening in an upcoming addition to the site.
Modoc's high-altitude high desert climate provides a more traditional mix of seasons to enjoy country living experiences year round. Our climate has four distinct seasons with warm dry summers, cold wet winters and an ample growing season. The spring-summer planting and growing seasons usually culminate with an abundant fall harvest. We hope this page answered any questions your may have had about climate and climatology, and how the climate affects Modoc County, California. If you require any further answers don't hesitate to contact us. Please return to Modoc Country Living often, as the site is updated regularly. More Modoc Country Living...
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The major jet streams are westerly winds (flowing west to east) in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The path of the jet typically has a meandering or waveform shape, and propagates eastward across the globe. This climate phenomenon is presented graphically everyday on the weather segments of the daily news by the friendly weather person. The local weather forecasts are then presented as the resulting fronts when high pressure and low pressure systems meet.
