"Warren" wrote in message
. net...
Fleemo wrote:
I just found a resource produced by the California Energy Commission
that "lists the climate zones associated with several thousand
California cities."
(http://www.energy.ca.gov/maps/climate_zone_map.html)
It lists my zone as Zone 12, while the Western Garden Book lists my
zone as Zone 9. Who am I to believe?
Do you mean the Sunset Western Garden Book? If so, they use their own
proprietary zone system with 24 zones. The site in your url appears to
use it's own proprietary zone system as well. In fact, it doesn't look
like a "zone" map as much as it looks like a district map with no
duplicate numbers (except for 14 and 15 being split in two each).
Most of the time when people talk about zones without prefacing it
with
a proprietary name they're referring to USDA zones. That system uses
nine zones numbered 2-10 Check your USDA zone he
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/index.html
Or enter a zip code he
http://www.arborday.org/trees/whatzone.html
The USDA zones only represent average low temperature in winter. I
believe that the Sunset system takes into account average summer highs
and humidity. The zones in your map are apparently based on energy
use,
but do not represent any kind of range where 1 would be high or low,
and
16 would be the other end. They appear to be numbered consecutively in
a
line on the coast, and then down and back up again inland.
--
Warren H.
==========
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Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
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response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
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Maybe Fleemo was referring to the California Energy Commission's 16
climate zones which, like Sunset's zones, are based on "temperature,
weather and other factors", but have no numerical coorelation to
Sunset's zones. Used primarily to predict and track electrical power
consumption for specific geographical areas. -Olin