Does La Cresta have a Micro-Climate?

La Cresta Life with Kelly Smith

View the Video version of this Episode at: https://www.lacresta.com/2021/05/03/does-la-cresta-have-a-micro-climate/

Does La Cresta have a Micro-Climate?

Hey, y'all! Welcome back to La Cresta life.

You know, I'm often asked about the weather up here on the Santa Rosa Plateau. So today I'm going to explain how our micro-climate works.

We're up here on the Santa Rosa Plateau about 2,000 feet higher than the valley floor. The Temecula Valley includes Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar all the cities of the Temecula Valley, including the Temecula Wine Country, which is really close by. We are in the mountains that separate Riverside County from Orange County, and this gives us our own special weather up here. We truly have our own micro-climate.

You've heard me talk about the different parts of the Plateau - 5 different homeowners associations, and Tenaja, a Community Service District. Depending on where you are on this couple of thousand acres up here on the Plateau, you will get a specific breeze. On the Tenaja side of things, often times, you're going to get coastal breezes that come through Deluz from San Diego. It's a different wind direction. On the side of La Cresta where I live, we actually get a breeze from the coast about 14 miles as the crow flies from the Pacific Ocean. Coastal breezes come from that direction over there. Behind those mountains is Catalina, my landmark for where our breezes come from, and give us the reprieve. When it is super hot down below in the Valley, it is often 10 to 15 degrees cooler up here on the Santa Rosa Plateau. Because of our elevation and our proximity to the ocean, we have beautiful breezes every afternoon. They come through between 2 and 4pm every afternoon to cool us off - a welcome event during the hot days of summer.

With our micro-climate, we're always cooler in the summer. In the winter, we may be a little colder, and that's okay, too. We don't get a lot of freeze - just an occasional crazy snow, that doesn't stick. But otherwise, it's very temperate here.

The weather here is very accommodating to all the fruit and vegetables that we grow here on our ranch. It's a wonderful micro-climate, great for growing grapes. U.C. Davis, many years ago, called us out as a fantastic grape-growing area -- probably one of the best in Southern California. So come on up and enjoy our coastal breezes here on the mountain.

If you're looking for a temperate climate, a rural vibe, the conveniences of the city, and the ability to grow your own fruits and vegetables, this is it. You can have horses. You can have all kinds of animals in this temperate climate, right up here on the Santa Rosa Plateau.

Signing off today from La Cresta. Thank you for joining us on La Cresta Life!