Editing Novato, California (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Diked land in Eastern Novato (areal).jpg|left|thumb|266x266px|Diked fields in Eastern Novato]]
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], Novato has a total area of {{convert|28.0|sqmi|km2}} and is the largest city in area in Marin County. A total of {{convert|27.4|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|0.5|sqmi|km2}}  (1.85%) is water.

The southwestern part of Novato is significantly more mountainous, whereas eastern Novato is characterized by marshland and diked fields and pastures.

Major geographical features nearby include Mount Burdell and [[Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve]] to the north and [[Big Rock Ridge]] to the southwest. Stafford Lake to the west is a secondary water supply for Novato, with the [[Russian River (California)|Russian River]] in Sonoma County to the north supplying 80% of the city's water.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Novato Water |url=https://nmwd.com/your-water/novato-water/ |access-date=May 2, 2024 |website=North Marin Water District |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Big Rock Ridge as viewed from the Northeast.jpg|thumb|Big Rock Ridge, the highest point in Novato]]
Novato includes ten Marin County Open Space District preserves: Mount Burdell, [[Rush Creek Open Space Preserve|Rush Creek]], Little Mountain, Verissimo Hills, Indian Tree, [[Deer Island (Marin County)|Deer Island]], Indian Valley, Ignacio Valley, Loma Verde, and Pacheco Valle. Although Novato is located on the water, access to the water is blocked by expansive farmland and wetlands.[[File:Amphitheater Park on Hamilton Field, Novato, California.jpg|thumb|right|Hamilton Amphitheater Park]]

===Climate===
Official weather observations were taken at [[Hamilton Air Force Base]] through 1964. Average January temperatures were a maximum of {{convert|53.6|F|C}} and a minimum of {{convert|38.7|F|C}}. Average July temperatures were a maximum of {{convert|79.9|F|C}} and a minimum of {{convert|52.0|F|C}}. There were an average of 12.4 days with highs of {{convert|90|F|C}} or higher and an average of 12.5 days with lows of {{convert|32|F|C}} or lower. The record high temperature was {{convert|111|F|C}} on September 5, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://weather.com/weather/today/l/6a35a442d26abf268420dd1a250072e077d1de1b7d3c6c19242fd6a16690873a |title=Novato, CA September 05, 2022. weather.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905224326/https://weather.com/weather/today/l/6a35a442d26abf268420dd1a250072e077d1de1b7d3c6c19242fd6a16690873a |archive-date=September 5, 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The record low temperature was {{convert|16|F|C}} in December 2013. Average annual precipitation was {{convert|25.49|in|cm}}. The wettest year was 1940 with {{convert|46.63|in|cm}} and the driest year was 2015 with {{convert|6.35|in|cm}}. The most rainfall in one month was {{convert|18.87|in|cm}} in December 1955. The most rainfall in 24 hours was {{convert|10.55|in|cm}} between December 10, 2014 – December 11, 2014.<ref>http://rainfall.weatherdb.com/l/18987/Novato-California{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Today, the nearest [[National Weather Service]] cooperative weather station is in [[San Rafael, California|San Rafael]], where records date back to 1894. Compared to records from Hamilton Air Force Base, San Rafael is generally several degrees warmer than Novato and has an average of about {{convert|10|in|cm}} more rainfall. The record high temperature in San Rafael was {{convert|110|F|C}} on September 7, 1904, and June 14, 1961. The record low temperature was {{convert|20|F|C}} on December 26, 1967.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ca7880 | title=SAN RAFAEL CIVIC CTR, CALIFORNIA - Climate Summary}}</ref>[[File:Flooded Pastures in Northeastern Novato.jpg|thumb|Flooding in Northeastern Novato]]According to the [[Köppen Climate Classification]] system, Novato has a warm-summer mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. This means that Summers are Hot, but Winters are rainy and can be mild to chilly. Precipitation occurs in the colder seasons, but there are a number of clear sunny days even during the wetter seasons, except during spells of seasonal [[tule fog]], when it can be quite chilly for many days. Its [[hardiness zone]] is 9b ({{convert|25|to|30|F|C|disp=semicolon}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map {{!}} USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map |url=https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=planthardiness.ars.usda.gov}}</ref>

Novato has a history of flooding due to its low-lying position, as well as the fact that much of the city used to be marshland. Due to the system of levees in Eastern Novato, flooding is quite common in that area, both from excessive rain and levee breaches.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flood Information {{!}} City of Novato, CA |url=https://www.novato.org/community/flood-information?locale=en |access-date=May 18, 2023 |website=www.novato.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=SFGATE |first1=Michelle Robertson |last2=Ioannou |first2=Filipa |date=February 14, 2019 |title=Two levee breaches reported near Highway 37 in Novato as rains pound North Bay |url=https://www.sfgate.com/traffic/article/Levee-breach-Highway-37-novato-rains-weather-13617210.php |access-date=May 18, 2023 |website=SFGATE |language=en-US}}</ref>

{{Weather box|width=auto
|single line=y
|location = Novato, California ([[Hamilton Army Airfield]])
|Jan record high F = 77
|Feb record high F = 77
|Mar record high F = 87
|Apr record high F = 89
|May record high F = 102
|Jun record high F = 106
|Jul record high F = 102
|Aug record high F = 102
|Sep record high F = 107
|Oct record high F = 96
|Nov record high F = 83
|Dec record high F = 73
|Jan record low F = 23
|Feb record low F = 25
|Mar record low F = 30
|Apr record low F = 33
|May record low F = 37
|Jun record low F = 41
|Jul record low F = 43
|Aug record low F = 44
|Sep record low F = 38
|Oct record low F = 30
|Nov record low F = 28
|Dec record low F = 26
|Jan high F = 53.6
|Feb high F = 58.9
|Mar high F = 62.6
|Apr high F = 67.4
|May high F = 71.6
|Jun high F = 77.4
|Jul high F = 79.9
|Aug high F = 78.9
|Sep high F = 79.4
|Oct high F = 72.5
|Nov high F = 63.0
|Dec high F = 55.2
| year high F = 
|Jan mean F = 46.2
|Feb mean F = 50.4
|Mar mean F = 52.8
|Apr mean F = 56.3
|May mean F = 59.9
|Jun mean F = 64.3
|Jul mean F = 65.9
|Aug mean F = 65.4
|Sep mean F = 65.5
|Oct mean F = 60.4
|Nov mean F = 53.1
|Dec mean F = 47.8
| year mean F = 
|Jan low F = 38.7
|Feb low F = 42.0
|Mar low F = 42.9
|Apr low F = 45.3
|May low F = 48.2
|Jun low F = 51.3
|Jul low F = 52.0
|Aug low F = 51.9
|Sep low F = 51.5
|Oct low F = 48.4
|Nov low F = 43.2
|Dec low F = 40.4
| year low F = 
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 5.80
|Feb precipitation inch = 4.83
|Mar precipitation inch = 3.21
|Apr precipitation inch = 1.60
|May precipitation inch = 0.47
|Jun precipitation inch = 0.11
|Jul precipitation inch = 0.00
|Aug precipitation inch = 0.02
|Sep precipitation inch = 0.20
|Oct precipitation inch = 1.51
|Nov precipitation inch = 2.74
|Dec precipitation inch = 5.01
|year precipitation inch = 
 | unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
| Jan precipitation days = 11
| Feb precipitation days = 9
| Mar precipitation days = 9
| Apr precipitation days = 5
| May precipitation days = 3
| Jun precipitation days = 1
| Jul precipitation days = 0
| Aug precipitation days = 0
| Sep precipitation days = 1
| Oct precipitation days = 4
| Nov precipitation days = 6
| Dec precipitation days = 9
| year precipitation days =
|source 1 = Western Regional Climate Center<ref name = WRCC >
{{cite web
|url = https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ca3734
|title = General Climate Summary Tables - HAMILTON AFB, CALIFORNIA
|publisher= Western Regional Climate Center
|access-date = 31 May 2024}}</ref>
}}