December 2015 in the Pacific Northwest

[TT-SEA]

Those pics are not really representative of what Spokane looks like when driving around there in the summer.     I spent two entire summers there (Mon -Fri each week) for a client project.    There are nice spots but overall its not that great.    Generally speaking... western WA is much more scenic in the summer. 

[Deweydog]

Pretty interesting morning here on an entirely minute detail level. It was windy here the entire night which kept temps in the mid 30s. Right at sunrise the wind stopped and cold air which had developed within a couple of miles of here where it was calm spilled in and dropped the temp in the upper 20s in a matter of minutes after the sun was up.

Decoupling.

[bainbridgekid]

You might like Maine or New Hamshire. Actually quite PNW-like with the snow-topped mountains and conifers.

 

Difference is you'll average 15-20 feet of snow per winter, your average January low will be 5 degrees, and you'll get a few bouts of severe weather in the summer. Also you won't have to deal with the oppressive summer humidity areas to the south deal with.

 

Also, if you live above 5000ft it's not uncommon to experience winds above 100mph during strong winter cyclones.

I realize they have some mountains, but I can't imagine there being any habitable places at 5,000 feet in New Hamshire or Maine.

[Jesse]

Decoupling.

Having an explanation/name for something doesn't make it any less interesting.

[Deweydog]

Having an explanation/name for something doesn't make it any less interesting.

He seemed to think it was something a bit more profound. Maybe not...

[Brennan]

Sumas Mountain would be a good place to live in a winter like this one. 35 minutes NE of Bellingham. Reece Hill Road or South Pass Hill are beautiful areas.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

I like Spokane.

[Deweydog]

Forks.

[Brennan]

Forks.

Hills east of

[Deweydog]

Hills east of

Downtown. Across from the Tesoro Alaska.

[Jesse]

Downtown. Across from the Tesoro Alaska.

I've always thought Forks had a SE Alaska vibe.

[Deweydog]

I've always thought Forks had a SE Alaska vibe.

Well, Kristen Stewart is as cold as Alaska...

[Mapsyscon]

Those pics are not really representative of what Spokane looks like when driving around there in the summer.     I spent two entire summers there (Mon -Fri each week) for a client project.    There are nice spots but overall its not that great.    Generally speaking... western WA is much more scenic in the summer. 

That is your opinion.

 

We have a much more continental climate than the west side since we have 4 distinct seasons here. We have snow much more often than western Washington and Oregon. At this moment, we have around 10" of snow on the ground and there has been snow on the ground for a couple weeks now. This morning it was 2 degrees above zero. The summers here are nice and warm to hot with no morning clouds to worry about. Sometimes we have thunderstorms severe enough to produce dust storms like in 2014. People can raft down the river here less than a mile from downtown. Parks to walk through and enjoy in the sun. The falls downtown are usually full in the springtime and a new park downtown that allows people to get close to the falls and enjoy the sight and spray from the falls. Riverfront Park is going to get a makeover in the next few years so it will be even better than it is now. And there is a lot more to see outside of Spokane than most people realize. Follow along the river and you will see the dams and lakes that are popular in the summer. Head northeast toward Mt. Spokane and the view from there is very scenic. Hiking opportunities abound here with the Centennial Trail along the river from Idaho down to Riverside State Park, the Little Spokane River, Dishman Hills Natural Area, Iller Creek Conservation Area, and Liberty Lake Regional Park. And there is still a lot more places here that one can walk,hike, or bike.

 

Clearly, some people don't take the time to appreciate the beauty around the Northwest like other more open-minded people do.

[Phil]

I realize they have some mountains, but I can't imagine there being any habitable places at 5,000 feet in New Hamshire or Maine.

Yeah, looking more closely on Google Earth, the highest neighborhood I can find is around 4100ft. Would have never guessed that to be the case.

 

While Mount Washington and a few other peaks sit above 5000ft, but they're uninhabitable due to high wind speeds. I'd thought local topography was the reason for the high winds on Mount Washington, but apparently it's the orientation of the entire White Mountain chain relative to the westerlies and thermal gradient to the east of the downslope zone, which promotes local height falls and high winds as the jet stream drops.

[HighlandExperience]

I realize they have some mountains, but I can't imagine there being any habitable places at 5,000 feet in New Hamshire or Maine.

The highest peak in Maine is only 5100 feet. Even that is a rarity.

[TT-SEA]

That is your opinion.

 

We have a much more continental climate than the west side since we have 4 distinct seasons here. We have snow much more often than western Washington and Oregon. At this moment, we have around 10" of snow on the ground and there has been snow on the ground for a couple weeks now. This morning it was 2 degrees above zero. The summers here are nice and warm to hot with no morning clouds to worry about. Sometimes we have thunderstorms severe enough to produce dust storms like in 2014. People can raft down the river here less than a mile from downtown. Parks to walk through and enjoy in the sun. The falls downtown are usually full in the springtime and a new park downtown that allows people to get close to the falls and enjoy the sight and spray from the falls. Riverfront Park is going to get a makeover in the next few years so it will be even better than it is now. And there is a lot more to see outside of Spokane than most people realize. Follow along the river and you will see the dams and lakes that are popular in the summer. Head northeast toward Mt. Spokane and the view from there is very scenic. Hiking opportunities abound here with the Centennial Trail along the river from Idaho down to Riverside State Park, the Little Spokane River, Dishman Hills Natural Area, Iller Creek Conservation Area, and Liberty Lake Regional Park. And there is still a lot more places here that one can walk,hike, or bike.

 

Clearly, some people don't take the time to appreciate the beauty around the Northwest like other more open-minded people do.

 

 

Thanks for the chamber of commerce tour!     Like I said... I know the area very well having spent many months there and in all seasons.      

[HighlandExperience]

[Phil]

The highest peak in Maine is only 5100 feet. Even that is a rarity.

Not quite. There are 8 peaks in ME/NH over 5000ft, with Mount Washington at about 6,300ft.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_England_Hundred_Highest

 

There are habitable areas above 4000ft, but wind speeds become a problem above 5000ft or so.

[HighlandExperience]

[Phil]

Well, I just learned something new. Apparently, despite averaging around 100" of precipitation per year, the summit of Mount Washington is home to a "tundra" climate, with the lower elevations around the mountain featuring a subarctic climate. Interesting.

 

The Wikipedia read is pretty good.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_(New_Hampshire)

 

The summit station of Mount Washington has an alpine climate or tundra climate (Köppen ET), although it receives an extremely high amount of precipitation, atypical for most regions with such cold weather. Lower elevations have a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc).[18]

 

The weather of Mount Washington is notoriously erratic. This is partly due to the convergence of several storm tracks, mainly from the Atlantic to the south, the Gulf region and Pacific Northwest. The vertical rise of the Presidential Range, combined with its north-south orientation, makes it a significant barrier to westerly winds. Low-pressure systems are more favorable to develop along the coastline in the winter months due to the relative temperature differences between the Northeast and the Atlantic Ocean. With these factors combined, hurricane-force wind gusts are observed from the summit of the mountain on average of 110 days per year.[19]

 

Mount Washington once held the world record and still holds the Northern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere record for directly measured surface wind speed, at 231 mph (372 km/h), recorded on the afternoon of April 12, 1934. Measurements indicate that Cyclone Olivia surpassed this record on April 10, 1996.[20] (Satellite and radar measurements, e.g. of tornadoes, hurricanes, and air currents in the upper atmosphere, do not compete with records for surface measurements.)

 

Due in part to its high prominence, to its situation at the confluence of two major storm tracks, and to the north-south orientation of the Presidential Range ridgeline which it crowns, Mount Washington receives very high levels of precipitation, averaging an equivalent of 96.9 in (2,460 mm) of rain per year, with a record high for a calendar year anywhere in the U.S. east of the Cascade mountains along the west coast [28] of 130.14 in (3,305.6 mm) in 1969 and a low of 71.34 in (1,812.0 mm) in 1979. Monthly precipitation has ranged from 0.75 in (19.1 mm) in October 1947 to 28.70 in (729.0 mm) in October 2005.[22] Large amounts of precipitation often fall in a short period of time: in October 1996, a record 11.07 in (281.2 mm) of precipitation fell during a single 24-hour period. A substantial amount of this falls as snow, with a seasonal[c] average of around 280 inches (7.1 m) of snow; seasonal accumulation has ranged from 75.8 in (1.93 m) in 1947–48 to 566.4 in (14.39 m) in 1968–69.[17] The record amount of snowfall in a 24-hour period, 49.3 in (125.2 cm), occurred in February 1969, which is also the snowiest month on record with 172.8 in (4.39 m).

[richard mann]

More "Mount Washington" facts might be a good tack.