Cali is a great place to live. Just about anything you could possibly want... forest, snow, beach, desert, mountains, city, plains, whatever. Big state, diverse climates...
As far as disasters go, you get 1 earthquake every 10 years, and it's not a big deal at all. You get occasional fires that threaten a few houses in the middle of nowhere. No hurricanes, tornados, floods, snowstorms... all the stuff you see on the news somewhere else.
At least this is the way it is in the SF Bay Area, where I live. The weather is never forbidding, it stays pretty much between 40-90 all year long with an occasional exception. In other words you can expect the summers to be warm and the winters to be cool. The humidity is nothing compared to the east coast.
What's the catch? The catch is that other people realize this too, which is why our state is the largest in the US in terms of population. This means that prices go up Up UP, and the cost of living is the highest. It works both ways, in that the jobs pay the highest too, but still... look to pay anywhere from 800-1200 for an apartment in a suburb. Don't even think about getting a studio in a place like San Fran ($2k/month).
But California is still an awesome place
Thinkin' of movin'....... 
