News | Washington State Climate Office

Feb 6, 2023 | Climate Matters, Climate Variability, Rain and Snow, Seasonal

Winter Precipitation Variability in Washington State

The last few months have featured considerable fluctuations in precipitation across WA state relative to seasonal norms. While such fluctuations have certainly occurred in the past and will continue to be part of our climate, they serve as a good excuse for taking a quick look at some of the observed temporal and spatial variability in winter precipitation in WA state.

Jan 10, 2023 | Climate Events, Climate Matters, Extreme Cold, Rain and Snow

Freezing Rain in Washington State

Most everyone in the Puget Sound region on 23 December 2022 must have been impressed by the freezing rain that occurred that day. This event featured extremely slippery roadways and outside walkways; at least no one we have spoken with recalls a time when it was more treacherous to get around.

Oct 11, 2022 | Climate Matters, Rain and Snow, Seasonal, Temperature

Timing of Seasonal Changes in the Weather of Washington State

This corner of our newsletter has recently concerned the seasonality of weather events in Washington state, and we continue in a similar vein in the present edition. More specifically, we consider average changes in temperature and mean precipitation on a daily time scale over the course of the year for selected locations in Washington.

Sep 13, 2022 | Climate Matters, Rain and Snow, Seasonal

Ready for Fall Rains?

This piece is intended to complement last month’s piece on the decline of the frequency of heat waves in WA state during the late summer. More specifically, here we describe how soon we can expect to begin enjoying our fall rains, based on historical data.

Jul 11, 2022 | Climate Change Report, Climate Matters, Extreme Heat, Rain and Snow

U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit Climate Explorer

There is a large and growing number of web applications serving climate data. Notably, the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (toolkit.climate.gov/ tools) has over 500 digital tools in its catalog catering to a wide range of users.

Apr 8, 2022 | Climate Matters, Climate Review, Rain and Snow, Temperature

Climate Classification of Washington State

Any Washingtonian can tell you that different areas of the state experience vastly different climates. But what terms can we use to describe those climates? Where are the boundaries between one climate and another?

Jul 8, 2021 | Climate Matters, Climate Review, Rain and Snow, Temperature, Winds

Climatology of WA’s Puget Sound Lowlands Climate Division (#3)

This is the third installment of the “Climate Divisions of WA” series, in which we discuss Climate Division 3 – the Puget Sound Lowlands Climate Division. For analyses of Climate Divisions 1 and 2, see the August 2018 and August 2019 editions of our newsletter.

Jun 8, 2021 | Climate Matters, Climate Review, Rain and Snow, Temperature, Winds

The Ideal Climate Index Results Are In!

Readers of this newsletter may recall the piece in the January 2021 edition featuring a link to a survey aimed at determining the location in Washington state with the best climate.

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.

Jan 8, 2021 | Climate Matters, Climate Review, Rain and Snow, Temperature, Winds

What 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.