Winter Wind Chill Temperatures in WA State
Regular readers of our newsletter are quite familiar with the usual temperature and precipitation patterns across Washington state during winter. On the regional scale there are notable differences between the maritime conditions prevailing west of the Cascades, and the more continental conditions on the east side.
Read moreUpwelling Winds Along the Coast
Jack Barth and collaborators have published a recent journal article entitled “Widespread and increasing near-bottom hypoxia in the coastal ocean off the United State Pacific Northwest”. This article shows that ocean oxygen concentrations have tended to decline over the historical record, with the summer of 2021 in particular featuring large areas with values low enough to be harmful to many marine animals.
Read moreWinds in Washington State during El Niño
The upcoming winter of 2023-24 will include El Niño in the tropical Pacific. The vast majority of the readers of this newsletter are aware that El Niño winters tend to be on the warm side, and often but not as consistently on the dry side, with important implications for our end-of-winter mountain snowpack.
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Strong Winds in WA over the Years
Daily temperature and precipitation data are available going back many years, and are generally used to summarize the variability in the climate, including long-term trends. There are other aspects of the weather and climate that are interesting and important, however, but are often more difficult to procure and are not widely disseminated.
Read moreClimatology 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.
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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.
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 moreThe 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.
Read moreEasterly Flow in the Passes of the Washington Cascades
The Summit at Snoqualmie Pass has the lowest base elevation (2,840’) of any ski resort in the western US. Given its low elevation and proximity to the Pacific Ocean and hence maritime air masses – the mean 850 hPa flow during winter is from the southwest at about 5 m/s – how is it cold enough to stay in business?
Read moreMean Monthly Winds in WA
We expect that most regular readers of this newsletter have a good idea of how mean temperatures and precipitation amounts vary across the state over the seasons. These elements are typically used to summarize the climate of a location.
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