SeeCalifornia.com

Why do people visit the California coast? The perception is that they want to swim and get wet. However, the figures and facts don’t necessarily bare that theory out.  Just talk to beach concessionaires and they’ll tell you what the driving force is: weather.  In a study of beach use published at USC’s Population Research Center, of those who said they do go to the beach, only 38.46% said that they actually get in the water when they go to the beach. Almost half of the respondents who went to the beach, but did not get in the water, cited pollution as the reason they avoided water contact.  The other 50% who didn’t mention pollution, but still opted not to go into the ocean, cited issues such as dangers, discomfort, or no interest. What people ARE interested in is staying cool. Temperatures at the beach are typically 10 to 30 degrees cooler than inland destinations such as valleys, deserts and mountains. SeeCalifornia.com did a survery of temperatures this weekend to show the variation in weather depending on your location.

WEEKEND WEATHER IN CALIFORNIA 2012  (supplied by Weather.com)

City & Temp Fahrenheit:  Fri July 20 | Sat July 21 | Sun July 22

• DESERT
  NEEDLES  112, 113, 109
  PALM DESERT  109, 112, 107
  DEATH VALLEY  116, 120, 120

• MOUNTAINS
  BIG BEAR LAKE 82, 84, 82
  IDYLLWILD 86, 88, 86
  MAMMOTH LAKES  79, 83, 83
  SEQUOIA KINGS CANYON  98, 101, 102
  SOUTH LAKE TAHOE  79, 83, 81
  YOSEMITE VALLEY  96, 100, 101

• INLAND
  BAKERSFIELD  97, 100, 101
  CORNING  94, 101,99
  FRESNO  99, 103, 103
  DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES  89, 90, 91
  RIVERSIDE  98, 100, 101
  SACRAMENTO  95, 101, 100
  SAN JOSE  81, 86, 85
  SONORA  95, 100, 100

• BEACHES
  EUREKA  58, 60, 60
  SAN FRANCISCO  75, 71, 71
  SANTA CRUZ  73, 75, 73
  PISMO BEACH  68, 70, 68
  MALIBU  75, 73, 73
  NEWPORT BEACH  77, 78, 79
  SAN DIEGO  74, 74, 74