A. Occasionally:  Most often it happens on the valley floor, maybe once a year.  Most of the time is melts off within a few hours, it could take 24 hours.

Approximately every 5 years we'll get a few inches of snow in Redding.  Redding sits at the north end of the largest valley in California, at times a bowl effect is created with the surrounding mountains.  Sometimes the valley floor can get snow while in the foothills it snows less, or not at all.  

Big Snow: (Redding style)  Every 10-15 years we get an accumulation of snow that has reached to one foot or slightly more dropped by a  series of two or three storms.  This can be caused by the same atmospherical anomaly as described earlier.

Q. How hot does it get in Redding?

A. Lets look at this like a good politician would.  The great thing about Redding is you know what season it is, there are four distinct ones.  Our winters include rain that fills the surrounding lakes and keeps the forest green and healthy while still allowing days of sunshine to recharge our batteries.

Spring and Fall here can not be beat! Awesome days and comfortable evenings by the bundles, a truly wonderful place to be whether it be on the valley floor on in the mountains.  Ok, not so political now.  For an average of 6 weeks in the middle of the summer it can be unpleasant in the afternoons.  From mid July thru August it's best to do what you need done in the mornings and find shelter in the afternoons.  If you like the mountains it's a great time to get out with a canoe or kayak while camping and enjoy the small lakes in the area. Lake Shasta and Whiskeytown Lake are popular spots at this time of year.    

Q. The Redding city information says the Redding has 88% sunny days per year, which would be less than four days a month of not being sunny.....is that true?

A. Redding is a very sunny place and the statistic is basically true yet perhaps a bit misleading. Often we have a day that gets a bit of rain or cloudiness that does not last all day, if the sun shows itself I think they count that as a sunny day.

Our weather patterns come primarily from the Gulf of Alaska and we often get the southern portion of storms. The storm tract results can be seen with Washington and Oregon getting significantly more rain and central and Southern California staying relatively dry. In this part of California we are in between and you will experience all four seasons as a result.

In the winter we have snow covered mountains surrounding us: in the warm summer months those same mountains create a tourist magnet with outdoor activities and the nearby lakes are the icing on the top. During Spring and Fall you'll have a hard time finding a more beautiful place. In the winter months another factor to consider is fog. The central valley of California runs for about 450 miles from Redding in the north to south of Bakersfield. With the San Francisco Bay in the middle it allows fog to enter the valley, spread out, and it gets very thick. With our weather pattern we have in Redding it most often is blown south which again leaves us with those sunny days the question was originally about.