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New Visualization: Updated PNW Temperature, Precipitation, and Snow Water Equivalent Trend Tool

OWSC, in partnership with UW’s Climate Impacts Group, is pleased to announce that our new Pacific Northwest Trend Analysis tool is now available for exploration: https://climate.washington.edu/climate-data/trendanalysisapp/. An older and outdated version of this tool using the Google Maps interface was formerly the most popular tool on OWSC’s website, allowing users to select and view trends in the PNW for temperature, precipitation, and snow water equivalent. 

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Steep Decline in Streamflows in Washington State

The total statewide averaged precipitation for the 2018 water year to date (1 Oct through 30 June) has been about 3.6” above normal. There was a healthy snowpack on 1 April — the traditional end of winter from the snowpack perspective — with snow water equivalent (SWE) values ranging from about 136% of normal in the Upper Columbia region to 98% in the southern Puget Sound region. 

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Why has the weather been so cool?

For many of us in the Northwest, the record cool start to June seemed like the last straw after what felt like an exceptionally dismal spring. Let’s check some facts though and then see if we can understand what happened
The graph below shows daily temperatures for each day in the last 365 days, compared with the long-term average for each day (=climatology, the smooth curve); blue periods were cooler than “normal” and red periods warmer than normal. 

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Experimental Potential Heat Risk Forecasts from the National Weather Service

We have already had some warm weather in WA during the past May, and rest assured more is on the way for the upcoming summer. While our temperatures do not tend to get as high as those in many other parts of the country, it can certainly get hot enough to represent a health risk, especially for vulnerable groups – which include young children and elderly as well as those with some medical conditions. 

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A Review of Winter 2017-2018

Seasonal weather forecasts from the Climate Prediction Center made in fall 2017 for the winter of 2017-18 were generally indicating cool and wet conditions, in line with the expected development of La Niña. 

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