Can these climates/biomes exist near each other?

Question

I am writing a story, in which I would like to have three locations within about a half hour to an hour driving distance (assuming population, road systems and automobiles on par with the contemporary real world). The location is unspecified; it is Earth-like, but not necessarily Earth. (As long as "Earth-like plants and animals" are plausible, feel free to play with the planet!)

• Location A has [sub]tropical vegetation and at least one valley/canyon of moderate size. (Something like southern California, or Hawaii, or your stereotypical jungle/rainforest. Basically, I want to transplant something that closely resembles the San Diego zoo here). It needs to be close to a decent sized urban area, but doesn't need to be especially flat.
• Location B is somewhat more temperate and has a mixture of trees (possibly both evergreen and deciduous) and grasses, the latter of which can be due to human activity. It can be a little arid, but closer to the North American East Coast, Midwest or Pacific Northwest is preferred. It needs to be flat enough to support a light to heavy suburban population, as well as several specific locations that are "mostly" flat. (In other words, it isn't San Francisco or the side of a mountain.) Bonus points if the trees change color in autumn.
• Location C has a typical annual snowfall of at least 0.3m. Ideally, C and B would be the same place, or at least within about 15-20 minutes of each other.

Is it possible for such locations/climates/biomes to exist in such proximity? If so, what major geological or geothermal features and/or differences in elevation would be necessary to achieve this? (Maybe the top and bottom of a mesa? A flat-rimmed caldera, with A in the bottom and B on the rim? Maybe location A has some sort of geothermal heat source?)

Answer 1

The key is coastal mountains, and good roads.

Most of the US West Coast has urban areas that never freeze, perhaps 90 minutes from mountains high enough to provide respectable skiing. Another place that comes to mind is Bergen, Norway.

For instance last year, the ski slopes an hour out from Sacramento/Roseville announced that skiing would continue into July. I am not kidding. There was a lot of snowpack, and it would last that long. The road from Roseville to Truckee is reasonably well-developed; 55 for trucks and all the cars drive 70.

2-lane roads would have the characteristic of US-50, a bit twisty but not excessively so, with most of the distance being a 60 mph cruise except for hairpins and twisty sections here and there. It really depends on how insane you want to make your geography; your snow scenario requires altitude not jaggedness, so you can have snowy regions with gentle, easy-to-build terrain.

The normal happening is that the ocean moderates the temperature of the air to at least 0C and realistically higher; it arrives at the coast saturated with humidity. This temperate air keeps the coastal cities warm. When the air hits the mountains, it must go up; where it is made colder because of the altitude and reduction in atmosphereic pressure. Cold air can't hold as much moisture as warm air, so it must shed the humidity, and down comes snow. Very reliably.

Answer 2

This makes me think of the Cascades mountains in Oregon and Washington. The mountains are snow-covered but right next to subtropical on the West side because the wind brings weather patterns in off the ocean there. And location C is on the other side of the mountains, on the East side, there are certainly some areas that are temperate if they are close to the mountains, but once you go much more west it gets into desert.

Answer 3

The Big Island (Hawaii Island) absolutely fits your needs. Mauna Kea (our tallest mountain, actually the worlds tallest mountain-look it up) has snow on it right now,we have temperate-type forests on the slopes, tropical jungle and desert all around. In fact every climate on earth except arctic is represented on this one island. you can drive "essentially" all the way around it in 3 hours (although you would miss a-lot) or cross it and hit say even 5 climate/ecological zones in an hour or two.

Answer 4

This will work in San Diego itself.

Only your location B has to be a flat highland "mesa", so it can be both forested and suitable for sizeable human population. Location "A" we can find next to the ocean, and "C" in the higher mountains, behind "B" location.

For general location, you need to stick to low latitudes, and on US West Coast you can't be higher than Southern California if you want to have subtropical forest like "A".