By 2016, the West Coast states legalized marijuana after California voted to do so. In 2017, The Oregonian columnist David Sarasohn described the West Coast as a " blue wall" of shared values on immigration, abortion, climate change, and civil liberties. In politics, the West Coast usually refers to the contiguous coastal states of California, Oregon, and Washington because of their similar political leanings. See also: Left Coast, Politics of Alaska, Politics of California, Politics of Hawaii, Politics of Oregon, and Politics of Washington (state) Government and politics State governments Governors of the West Coast Humidity is far lower on the west coast compared to the eastern seaboard and thunderstorms are uncommon. A short journey inland and summer temperatures are comparable with the rest of the United States on the same latitudes, sometimes warmer due to prevailing winds from the Nevada and Arizona hot desert climate. Coastal California has very little yearly temperature differences with cool summers similar to those expected in parts of Northern Europe in San Francisco but warmer temperatures year round further south. While famous in the San Francisco Bay Area, coastal fog also affects Santa Monica in Los Angeles, Southern California, leading to may gray and june gloom conditions. Coastal fog is also prevalent in keeping shoreline temperatures cool. Slightly narrower fluctuations can be seen all through the coastline, and could partially be explained by the cold currents in the Pacific Ocean moderating coastal temperatures and the mountain ranges blocking the maritime air from moving farther inland than its foothills during summer. In far Northern California there is a difference of 17 ☌ (30 ☏) between Eureka and Willow Creek in spite of only 25 miles (40 km) separating the locations and Willow Creek being located at a 500 metres (1,600 ft) elevation. The coastline sees significantly mild temperatures when compared to the inland areas during summer.
While the northern half of the west coast, particularly coastal Washington and Oregon has moderate rainfall, particularly during the winter months, much of coastal California is drier year round. The West Coast of the United States has an oceanic climate in its Northwestern, Northern, and Eastern edge towards the U.S.-Canada border, but from Northern California towards the U.S.-Mexico border the climate is mediterranean. Later, Spanish, British, French, Russian, and American explorers and settlers began colonizing the area. They developed various languages and established trade routes. Īlaska Natives, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, and California indigenous peoples eventually descended from the Paleo-Indians. Between 16,500 BCE and 13,500 BCE (18,500–15,500 years ago), ice-free corridors developed along the Pacific coast and valleys of North America and possibly by sea. Small isolated groups of hunter-gatherers migrated alongside herds of large herbivores far into Alaska. The history of the West Coast begins with the arrival of the earliest known humans of the Americas, Paleo-Indians, crossing the Bering Strait from Eurasia into North America over a land bridge, Beringia, that existed between 45,000 BCE and 12,000 BCE (47,000–14,000 years ago). See also: Settlement of the Americas, History of Mesoamerica, and Native Americans in the United States from Washington to California." However, Macmillan Dictionary provides a less specific definition as "the western coast of the U.S., along the Pacific Ocean." As for the Cambridge Dictionary, the West Coast is "the area of the Pacific coast in the U.S. Lexico restricts the West Coast's definition to "the western seaboard of the U.S.
Several dictionaries offer different definitions of the West Coast. Although the encyclopedia acknowledges the inclusion of Hawaii in some capacity as part of the region, the editors wrote that "it has little in common geologically with the mainland states." Encyclopædia Britannica refers to the North American region as part of the Pacific Coast, including Alaska and British Columbia.
For census purposes, Hawaii is part of the West Coast, along with the other four states. Under most circumstances, however, the term encompasses the three contiguous states and Alaska, as they are all located in North America. There are conflicting definitions of which states comprise the West Coast of the United States, but the West Coast always includes California, Oregon, and Washington as part of that definition.
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