[ You may notice that Tasmania is not covered in this map. Within Tasmania there are several smaller climate regions which are covered in the link Daily Mail news article  ]

Recently I came across this map of climate comparisons across Australia with other regions of the world. I am not surprised to see Perth experiencing a similar climate to Los Angeles. Being born and bred in Perth and having travelled the US, in particular California, I was also of the opinion that the two were similar, but not just in climate, geography.

The south west of Western Australia is ancient land and some of the interior of Western Australia is reported to have remained above sea level for some 2.5 billion years. Hopefully this trend continues for some time to come!

Both Perth and Los Angeles however lie on coastal plains, hemmed in by an ocean and ranges. The Transverse Ranges in California and the Darling Scarp along the Swan Coastal Plain. When I first saw LA from the Hollywood Hills I likened it to my home town of Perth. Urbanisation sprawled out from the north to the south with a central business district. A heavy reliance on private motor vehicles and strings of roads and freeways looping and twining their way in and out. Both cities have a river flowing through their environs and share a similar climate.

What also helped with the ‘likeness’ was the variety of Australian natives around LA. I remember seeing eucalypts and bottlebrush in suburban gardens and in council reserve areas.

Albany shares a similar climate to Santa Barbara in California being a maritime location also.

Further reading:

Daily Mail news article includes the map above.

Global Warming and Australian Towns

Geography of Western Australia