Editing Porterville, California (section)

==Geography==
Porterville is located at {{coord|36|4|7|N|119|1|39|W|type:city}} (36.068550, -119.027536).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|17.7|sqmi|km2}}, of which, {{convert|17.6|sqmi|km2}} of it is land and {{convert|0.1|sqmi|km2}} of it (0.41%) is water.

Porterville is located on the [[Tule River]] at the base of the western foothills of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] and easternmost section of California's Central Valley. In the foothills above Porterville is the man-made [[Lake Success (California)|Lake Success]].

Porterville, lying along the foothills of the Sierras at an elevation of {{convert|455|feet|}}, is located on [[California State Route 65|State Highway 65]], {{convert|165|mile|}} north of [[Los Angeles]], and {{convert|171|mile|}} east of the Pacific Coast. The city has a strategic central location to major markets and a ready access to major transportation routes.

===Geology===
Porterville is subject to earthquakes due to its location within the Pacific Ring of Fire. The geologic instability involves numerous [[Fault (geology)|faults]], which cause many earthquakes every year, but most are of low intensity and are not felt. The primary plate boundary is the [[San Andreas Fault]], which was the source of the [[1857 Fort Tejon earthquake]]. Another major event that affected the Porterville area was the [[1952 Kern County earthquake|Kern County sequence of shocks]] that occurred on the [[White Wolf Fault]] during July and August 1952. Most parts of the city are also vulnerable to floods. The San Joaquin Valley and metropolitan areas are also at risk from [[blind thrust earthquake]]s.

===Climate===
Porterville has a [[semi-arid climate#Cold semi-arid climates|cool semi-arid climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''BSk'') that is close to both a [[mediterranean climate]] (''Csa'') and a [[semi-arid climate#Hot semi-arid climates|hot semi-arid climate]] (''BSh''). It is characterized by sweltering and arid summers, and pleasant winters with frosty mornings and occasional heavy rainfall.

{{Weather box
|location = Porterville, California
|single line = Y
|Jan high F = 57.9
|Feb high F = 63.7
|Mar high F = 69.6
|Apr high F = 76.7
|May high F = 84.0
|Jun high F = 92.4
|Jul high F = 100.5
|Aug high F = 98.3
|Sep high F = 92.9
|Oct high F = 81.4
|Nov high F = 69.6
|Dec high F = 58
|Jan low F = 35.6
|Feb low F = 39.1
|Mar low F = 42.1
|Apr low F = 46.3
|May low F = 51.8
|Jun low F = 57.6
|Jul low F = 63.7
|Aug low F = 61.8
|Sep low F = 56.2
|Oct low F = 49.5
|Nov low F = 40.7
|Dec low F = 36.8
|Jan rain inch = 2.17
|Feb rain inch = 1.99
|Mar rain inch = 2.33
|Apr rain inch = 1.0
|May rain inch = 0.5
|Jun rain inch = 0.14
|Jul rain inch = 0.01
|Aug rain inch = 0.02
|Sep rain inch = 0.35
|Oct rain inch = 0.65
|Nov rain inch = 1.14
|Dec rain inch = 1.77
|rain colour = green
|unit rain days = 0.01 in
|Jan rain days = 7.2
|Feb rain days = 6.9
|Mar rain days = 6.3
|Apr rain days = 2.8
|May rain days = 1.6
|Jun rain days = 0.4
|Jul rain days = 0.3
|Aug rain days = 0.3
|Sep rain days = 1.7
|Oct rain days = 1.7
|Nov rain days = 3.9
|Dec rain days = 5.4
|source 1 = NOAA <ref name = NOAA >{{cite web |url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=hnx |title = NowData - NOAA Online Weather Data |publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] |access-date = February 15, 2012}}</ref>
}}

===Environmental issues===
Owing to geography, heavy reliance on [[automobile]]s and [[agriculture]], Porterville suffers from [[air pollution]] in the form of [[smog]]. The Porterville area and the rest of the [[San Joaquin Valley]] are susceptible to [[Inversion (meteorology)|atmospheric inversion]], which holds in the exhausts from road vehicles, airplanes, [[agriculture]], manufacturing and other sources. Unlike other cities that rely on rain to clear smog, Porterville gets only {{convert|13.00|in|mm|2}} of rain each year: pollution accumulates over many consecutive days. Issues of air quality in Porterville and other major cities led to the passage of early national environmental legislation, including the [[Clean Air Act (United States)|Clean Air Act]]. More recently, the state of California has led the nation in working to limit pollution by mandating [[low-emission vehicle]]s. Smog levels are only high during summers because it is dry and warm. In the winter, storms help to clear the smog and it is not as much of a problem. Smog should continue to drop in the coming years due to aggressive steps to reduce it, electric and hybrid cars and other pollution-reducing measures taken.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.driveclean.ca.gov/en/gv/driveclean/bguides.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807180655/http://www.driveclean.ca.gov/en/gv/driveclean/bguides.asp|url-status=dead|title=Driveclean from the California Government web site|archive-date=August 7, 2009}}</ref>

As a result, pollution levels have dropped in recent decades. The number of Stage 1 smog alerts has declined from over 100 per year in the 1970s to almost zero in the new millennium. Despite improvement, the 2006 annual report of the [[American Lung Association]] ranked the city as the 11th most polluted in the country, with short-term particle pollution and year-round particle pollution.<ref name="shortTermPollutedCities">[http://lungaction.org/reports/sota06_table2.html People at Risk In 25 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-Term Particle Pollution.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122050859/http://lungaction.org/reports/sota06_table2.html |date=January 22, 2009 }} [[American Lung Association]]. Retrieved on January 5, 2007.</ref>  In 2007 the annual report of the [[American Lung Association]] ranked the city as the 4th most polluted in the country with short-term particle pollution and year-round particle pollution.<ref name="yearRoundPollutedCities">[http://lungaction.org/reports/sota06_table2a.html People at Risk In 25 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122051003/http://lungaction.org/reports/sota06_table2a.html |date=January 22, 2009 }} [[American Lung Association]]. Retrieved on January 5, 2007.</ref>  In 2008, the city was ranked the third most polluted and again fourth for highest year-round particulate pollution.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.citymayors.com/environment/polluted_uscities.html|title=City Mayors: The most polluted US cities|website=www.citymayors.com}}</ref>

Porterville is also experiencing environmental issues due to California's extreme drought. Most of the nearby unincorporated area of East Porterville has run out of its supply of groundwater, an unfortunate consequence of the entire unincorporated area relying heavily on private wells. Porterville spent much of 2014 sending shipments of bottled water to East Porterville.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailynewsx.com/news/science-news/how-a-california-town-completely-ran-out-of-water-36496.html |title=How a California town completely ran out of water &#124; New York News |access-date=March 2, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302164440/http://www.dailynewsx.com/news/science-news/how-a-california-town-completely-ran-out-of-water-36496.html |archive-date=March 2, 2016 }}</ref>