Description & Facts: Crescent City is the county seat and only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, the city had a total population of 4,006 in the 2000 census with an estimated population of 7,300 (2002), which includes inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison, also within the city limits. Crescent City is the site of the Redwood National Park headquarters. Weather in the town: Crescent City is one of the wettest places in California; the annual rainfall is 70 in (1,800 mm). The wettest months are from October to March; the wettest month is January with 13.3 inches (340 mm) and driest month is August with less than 0.5 in (13 mm). The average high and low temperatures in January are 53 °F (12 °C) and 39 °F (4 °C). The average high and low temperatures in August are 67 °F (19 °C) and 50 °F (10 °C). Average number of days below 32°F/0°C is 15 days. The highest temperature recorded in Crescent City was 93 °F (34 °C), observed on September 24, 1964, June 1, 1970, and October 10, 1991. The lowest temperature on record was 19 °F (−7 °C) on December 21, 1990. The maximum monthly precipitation was 31.25 inches (794 mm) in November 1973. The maximum 24-hour precipitation was 7.73 inches (196 mm) on January 9, 1995. The most snowfall in one month and in 24 hours was 6.0 inches (15 cm) on January 6, 1972. Crescent City is susceptible to tsunamis. According to Humboldt State University, the city experienced tsunami conditions 17 times between the years 1943 and 1994. Although most of these effects were barely perceptible, one tsunami in particular extensively damaged the city in 1964. On March 27, 1964, the Good Friday Earthquake off Anchorage, Alaska, set in motion local landslide tsunamis, as well as a trans-Pacific one that sped in three hours down the U.S. West Coast to the state of Washington. Destroying docks, boats, cars, coastal dwellings and surging up rivers with the same result, the tsunami continued down the coast. Within another 1½ hours, four waves struck over a two-hour period at Crescent City. When they had finished, 289 buildings and businesses had been destroyed; 1000 cars and 25 large fishing vessels crushed; 12 people were confirmed dead, over 100 were injured, and numbers were missing; 60 blocks had been inundated with 30 city blocks destroyed in total. Although most of the missing were later accounted for, not all were tracked down. Insurance adjusters estimated that the city received more damage from the tsunami on a block-by-block basis than did Anchorage from the initial earthquake. The tsunami raced down the U.S. West Coast with more deaths and destruction, but no location was hit as hard as this small town was. Crescent City bore the brunt, due to its offshore geology, position relative to the earthquake’s strike-line, underwater contours such as the Cobb Seamount, and the position of rivers near the city. Although houses, buildings, and infrastructure were later rebuilt, years passed before the city recovered from the devastation to lives, property, and its economy. The city is deemed to be tsunami-ready today. Its preparedness was tested on June 14, 2005 when an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale hit 90 miles (140 km) offshore. Reportedly, much of the city was evacuated in a matter of 20 minutes when a tsunami warning was issued, but no waves were reported. On November 15, 2006, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck off Atisov Island in the Kuril Islands in the western Pacific. A tsunami warning was issued but rescinded hours later. However, a surge from that quake did hit the harbor at Crescent City causing damage to three docks and several boats. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a county state of emergency. Upon that declaration, the area affected was eligible for federal emergency relief funding to repair the damage.