Chapter 2: Geographic Patterns of the Physical Environment

Orange County, California is the smallest county in Southern California and is just about the same size of the state of Rhode Island. It has a Mediterranean climate with usually abundant sunshine year round, warm summers and mild winters. The average year round temperature is 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_California

The county is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Los Angeles County on the north, San Bernardino County to the northeast and San Diego County to the south. The northwestern part of the county is mostly a coastal plain which is part of the Los Angeles Basin while the southwestern part is combined of hills that rise into the Santa Ana Mountains. The Santa Ana River is the county's main water course and is the largest river in Southern California, it is a main drainage basin for three other counties as well. The only natural lakes in Orange County are located in Laguna Beach, made of water rising up against an underground fault. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_California)

Courtesy of Liz Iorio 

- part of the Pacific Mountains and Valleys physiographic region
- Soil type (based on the Seventh Approximation from the USDA) is highland
- Made mostly of metamorphic rock
- Sclerophyllous vegetation
- 12.0 to 19.9 inches mean annual precipitation (Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada p. 28)

Source: Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada, 7th Edition, Birdsall, Palka, Malinowski, Price