PNW 2020 Water Year Impacts Assessment Released
The Pacific Northwest Water Year 2020 Impacts Assessment has been released and is now available online. Sponsored by the NOAA National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), OWSC and colleagues with the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group led this regional collaboration that involved researchers and state and federal practitioners from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Read moreWhat is the Ideal Climate?
The Camelot Climate Index (https://ggweather.com/ camelot.htm), created by Jan Null (Certified Consulting Meteorologist, Golden Gate Weather Services) to score U.S. locations based on an “ideal” climate, was recently discussed on the American Association of State Climatologists (AASC) listserv.
Read moreTop 10 Weather and Climate Events of 2019
In a reprise of previous lists of this sort, here we review the top weather and climate events in WA state for the year of 2019. To be sure, we are halfway through 2020, but hopefully these events are not yet into the dustbin of history and their mention here will bring back some memories, fond or otherwise.
Read moreClimatology of WA’s NE Olympic-San Juan Climate Division (#2)
This is the second installment of the “Climate Divisions of WA” series, and we will focus on Climate Division 2 – the NE Olympic-San Juan Climate Division (Climate Division 1 is featured in the August 2018 edition of our newsletter).
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What a Blast: The Arctic-Air Outbreak of February 1989
This edition of the OWSC newsletter more or less coincides with the 30th anniversary of the severe cold snap of early February 1989. Last month we reviewed the record warm anomalies that occurred in January 1953; perhaps it makes some sense to take a look at the other side of the coin.
Read moreJanuary 1953: Largest Positive Monthly Temperature Anomaly in WA State History
Considering statewide averages, what would constitute a large monthly anomaly in temperature? And would we expect to see the largest monthly anomaly in winter or summer? At OWSC, these are the sorts of questions that we ask ourselves as we begin a new calendar year.
Read moreClimatology 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.
Read moreTwo Online Applications for the UW Climate Community
There are all kinds of options for gathering and plotting historical weather data online. Regular consumers of this kind of data are liable to have their favorite sources and in this regard, familiarity comforts (rather than breeds contempt, as the saying goes).
Read more1954 – The Year Without a Summer
The summer of 2016 in WA state has had kind of a dual personality. From the middle of June into August, near to slightly below normal temperatures mostly prevailed during the part of the year that is typically the warmest.
Read moreJuly 1960- Washington State’s Driest Month
An unofficial nickname for Washington is the “Evergreen State”; the term is included on our vehicle license plates. But we actually enjoy a Mediterranean climate with wet winters and dry summers, and much of the state is more brown than green during the summer.
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