News | Washington State Climate Office

Nov 8, 2018 | Climate Events, Climate Matters, El Niño/La Niña and Global Climate Oscillations, Flooding and Streamflow

El Niño Flooding: Flashback to November 2006

The “El Niño watch” issued by the Climate Prediction Center is still in effect, with the expectation that a weak or moderate El Niño will develop this winter. Appropriately, media reports have focused on the increased odds of a warmer and drier winter due to El Niño, with the warmer than usual temperatures being more likely to occur.

Oct 3, 2018 | Climate Matters, El Niño/La Niña and Global Climate Oscillations

Effect of ENSO on Early Season Snowfall in the Washington Cascades

Most readers of this newsletter are probably aware that El Niño winters tend to result in relatively skimpy snowpacks, and that El Niño development is more likely than not during the upcoming winter.

Sep 10, 2018 | Climate Matters, Trends

New Visualization: Updated PNW Temperature, Precipitation, and Snow Water Equivalent Trend Tool

OWSC, in partnership with UW’s Climate Impacts Group, is pleased to announce that our new Pacific Northwest Trend Analysis tool is now available for exploration: https://climate.washington.edu/climate-data/trendanalysisapp/. An older and outdated version of this tool using the Google Maps interface was formerly the most popular tool on OWSC’s website, allowing users to select and view trends in the PNW for temperature, precipitation, and snow water equivalent.

Aug 6, 2018 | Climate Matters, Climate Review

Climatology of WA’s West Olympic Coast Climate Division (#1)

It has long been a vision of OWSC to feature a 10- part “Climate Division of WA” series in our newsletter, describing the climate of the 10 NOAA Climate Divisions, individually.

Jul 10, 2018 | Climate Events, Climate Matters, Flooding and Streamflow

Steep Decline in Streamflows in Washington State

The total statewide averaged precipitation for the 2018 water year to date (1 Oct through 30 June) has been about 3.6” above normal. There was a healthy snowpack on 1 April — the traditional end of winter from the snowpack perspective — with snow water equivalent (SWE) values ranging from about 136% of normal in the Upper Columbia region to 98% in the southern Puget Sound region.

Jun 8, 2018 | Climate Matters, Extreme Heat, Seasonal

Experimental Potential Heat Risk Forecasts from the National Weather Service

We have already had some warm weather in WA during the past May, and rest assured more is on the way for the upcoming summer. While our temperatures do not tend to get as high as those in many other parts of the country, it can certainly get hot enough to represent a health risk, especially for vulnerable groups – which include young children and elderly as well as those with some medical conditions.

Apr 4, 2018 | Climate Change Report, Climate Matters, Rain and Snow

What Climate Change means to our Crucial Snowpack

Originally published in The Seattle Times on March 23, 2018
“Low mountain snowpack raises water-supply fears in Washington” was a Seattle Times headline on January 6, 2015. Just one year later, another headline proclaimed, “Snow pack in good shape, likely well into spring”.

Mar 6, 2018 | Climate Matters, Extreme Cold, Seasonal

Late Cold during Winters in Washington State

As reported above, the last 2 weeks of February were quite chilly, with numerous locations setting all-time lows for the date on the 23rd. Many places have had their coldest temperatures of this winter in late February, even though the nights are noticeably shorter than in December and January.

Feb 6, 2018 | Climate Events, Climate Matters, El Niño/La Niña and Global Climate Oscillations, Rain and Snow

Wettest Month in State History – December 1933

In three previous newsletters we’ve reviewed the warmest (July 1985), coldest (January 1950), and driest (July 1960) months over the last 100 years for WA State. Here we complete the series with a look back at the wettest month in WA State history dating back to when modern records began in the 1890s: December 1933.

Jan 5, 2018 | Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation Patterns, Climate Matters, Seasonal

Regional Circulation Patterns and Temperatures in Winter

It is perhaps belaboring the obvious, but temperatures have increased in WA over the last 50-100 years. From the perspective of extremes, our colder winter months, relative to climatological norms, are not as anomalous as in past decades, and our much warmer than usual months are occurring more frequently.