Regional Circulation Patterns and Temperatures in Winter
It is perhaps belaboring the obvious, but temperatures have increased in WA over the last 50-100 years. From the perspective of extremes, our colder winter months, relative to climatological norms, are not as anomalous as in past decades, and our much warmer than usual months are occurring more frequently.
Read moreIs Winter Coming Later to Washington State?
The Office of the Washington State Climatologist sometimes receives questions about whether the timing of the seasons has shifted. Ken Kunkel and collaborators have examined how the length of the growing season has changed across the lower 48 states, and others have documented the changes from a regional perspective (e.g., Abatzoglou et al., 2014 and the Climate Impacts Group).
Read moreTwo Online Applications for the UW Climate Community
There are all kinds of options for gathering and plotting historical weather data online. Regular consumers of this kind of data are liable to have their favorite sources and in this regard, familiarity comforts (rather than breeds contempt, as the saying goes).
Read moreWestern WA Summer Smoke and Air Quality
The past summer has been quite remarkable in the Pacific Northwest. Averaged over WA State, the June through August average temperatures ranked as the 4th warmest in the historical record with temperatures 2.6°F above the 1981-2010 normal.
Read moreOn the “Great American Solar Eclipse”
While not a meteorological phenomenon, the historic “Great American Solar Eclipse” passed over the US on August 21, offering a view of at least a partial solar eclipse for the entire country, and deserves mention in this newsletter.
Read morePrediction of Mean Summer Temperatures in Washington State
Recent work at OWSC has led us to ponder just how predictable summer mean temperatures are in Washington state. We constructed a simple model for a workshop on El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the seasonal weather of the western US with this question in mind.
Read moreThe Warmest Time of the Year in Washington State
We have made it through the month of June and so now we can expect generally warmer weather in Washington state. Most everybody who has lived here longer than a year or two appreciates that this is the case, but perhaps it is not obvious why.
Read moreAre Springs Becoming Rainier in Washington State?
It has been a wet spring in Washington state. The second half of May 2017 has actually been dry but that does not really make up for the drenching from March through mid-May.
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Springtime Soil Temperatures in Washington State
One need not be a regular reader of this newsletter to appreciate how cool and wet it has been in WA during the past winter and early spring of 2017 (but hopefully it does not hurt).
Read moreA Review of Winter 2016-2017
Many residents of Washington state are probably looking forward to some warmer and drier weather after this past winter. In a nutshell, it was cold and wet. It may have seemed especially chilly because our past few winters have been warmer than normal.
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