News | Washington State Climate Office

Dec 8, 2022 | Climate Matters, Climate Variability, Seasonal

Whipsaw: From an Exceedingly Warm October to a Cold November 2022

As described in this newsletter, WA state experienced unseasonably cold temperatures in November 2022 after record warm temperatures in the previous month. OWSC has received a variety of inquiries about the rapid transition from summer to winter this year.

Oct 8, 2021 | Climate Matters, Climate Variability, Seasonal, Temperature

A Different Way to Visualize Maximum and Minimum Temperature Distributions

Mean temperatures are often used to characterize the climate on time scales of weeks to millennia, but they are not the whole story. Belaboring the obvious, the variations in temperature also matter.

Mar 8, 2021 | Climate Matters, Climate Variability, Rain and Snow

Mountain Snow Depth gets a New Display

OWSC is pleased to release a new web tool that displays the bi-monthly snow depth data from the Northwest Avalanche Center (NWAC). Partially supported by Tableau, this was a collaboration between NWAC and OWSC and was recently featured in a UW News piece.

Sep 3, 2020 | Climate Matters, Climate Variability, Seasonal, Temperature, Winds

The Diurnal Cycle in Summer Temperatures in Washington State

Summer visitors to WA state are sometimes struck by how cool it is during the late night and early morning hours, and how late in the day it stays warm. This can be especially the case during our hottest weather, when peak temperatures often occur at 5 to 6 PM local time.