Climate and Precipitation

Big Sur, California, has a cold-summer Mediterranean climate, according to the Koppen climate classification. Temperatures are lowest on the coast and generally increase inland. Precipitation is highest between the ocean and coastal mountains, with a rain shadow effect occurring to the east of the mountains. Large precipitation events, such as atmospheric rivers, can cause debris flows, flooding, and landslides that result in infrastructure damage and loss of life. The January 26–28, 2021, atmospheric river brought large amounts of rain across the state of California. The total accumulated rainfall for January 27 and 28, 2021, was 11.8 in. The highest individual rainfall amounts were recorded by the BGS and Highlands Peak weather stations that are near the coast. This is consistent with what is expected with coastal mountains creating a rain shadow.