News | Washington State Climate Office

Aug 11, 2025 | August 2025 Newsletter, Climate Matters, Climate Variability, Extreme Heat, Temperature, Trends

Our Afternoon Heat Comes Later

Editor’s note (08/13/2025 4:30pm): Time of day was previously shown in standard time on the graphs below, in error. The graphs and text are now updated to Pacific Daylight Time.
One of the things I really appreciate about living here is how late it stays light out.

Dec 6, 2023 | Climate Matters, Ecology, Temperature

Plant Hardiness Zones for Washington State

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released a new plant hardiness zone map (PHZM). The zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum temperature during the years of 1991 through 2020.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Dec 7, 2020 | Climate Matters, Clouds and Fog, Temperature

Surface Radiative Heat Fluxes

Meteorologists and climatologists go to considerable effort to figure out from where air masses originate, because of course that has a great deal to do with the weather. A good example pertains to the upcoming winter’s weather.

A Tale of Two Sea Surface Temperatures

There is a strong indication that at least moderate, and possibly strong, La Niña conditions will be present during the upcoming winter of 2020-21. Many readers of this newsletter know of the implications for WA state, namely improved odds of seasonal mean weather on the wet and cool side and healthy snow totals in the mountains at the end of winter.