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As for Yakima and Tri-Cities weather differences, most on the west side would lump them together. However, there are some significant differences. Yakima, being closer to the Cascade range gets more snow and rain than the Tri-Cities. The average snowfall at Yakima airport is 22 inches, while Kennewick (doesn't mention location) just over 1 inch. Rainfall is a little closer, but even there Yakima gets more being closer to the mountains. Temperatures are not far apart, but the biggest difference is in winter where December in Yakima is hi 35/low 21, while Tri-Cities is hi 39/low 28. Summer is close, but Tri-Cities is slightly hotter.
As for Yakima and Tri-Cities weather differences, most on the west side would lump them together. However, there are some significant differences. Yakima, being closer to the Cascade range gets more snow and rain than the Tri-Cities. The average snowfall at Yakima airport is 22 inches, while Kennewick (doesn't mention location) just over 1 inch. Rainfall is a little closer, but even there Yakima gets more being closer to the mountains. Temperatures are not far apart, but the biggest difference is in winter where December in Yakima is hi 35/low 21, while Tri-Cities is hi 39/low 28. Summer is close, but Tri-Cities is slightly hotter.
TY for your detailed answers pnwguy2. (both this one and the one that followed). My strengths in life are not exactly thinking about various geological, mountain ranges, valley formations etc. and abstracting the fine details. I have strengths, but I am so glad people like you exist that can break some of those fine details into words that make more sense to me. Those are some significant differences in precipitation between Yakima and the Tri. I know you listed Kennewick; however, would it be fair to say Kennewick, Richland and Pasco are all ~equal in temps and precip?
I was thinking about a couple of things and realized I probably don't understand enough about the Cascades. Temps at least in WA really seem to be due to the Cascades. I suspect the same is true in OR, but I really don't know. I do know that the western portions of both states are probably cooler and get more precip than the eastern sides. Please correct me if I'm wrong. If there is a good reference or 10 that I could read to understand these differences better, please feel free to suggest them. Otherwise, here are a few more dweebie questions about eastern OR vs. eastern WA.
Pendleton: more like Yakima or T-C with precip and temps.? Or is it totally different? Is the northeastern OR border similar or different than the southeastern WA border? If they are different, about where do they change?
I don't know how Boise metro temps compare to Pendleton, Tri-Cities or Yakima. It seems like Boise is a little cooler in the summer, but I don't know for winter.
That's probably enough questions for now until I process your answers. I ask you because I trust your observations and whatever sources you use to research.
BTW, IDK about the game tomorrow. I thought we had six starters injured ( forms to red shirt for some submitted last week). Now it looks like nine. Those details rarely get mentioned. Let's just hope no one else from either team is hurt. There are all sorts of extra factors.......Will the weather be nice tomorrow?
Not positive what game you are referring to, but my educated guess would be Utah at Washington. Utah favored, but WA is gaining positive momentum. Could go either way, but a Husky upset is not out of the question!
The Northwest climate can be complicated, and I don't pretend to have any answers other than what I have learned living my life in this region for 50+ years. (BTW, my source for most weather threads is TWC, (The Weather Channel), as they seems to do the best job, IMO, on forecasting and tracking history.
Boise can't really be compared to Pendleton, Tri-Cities, or Yakima. There are too many variables in play here. The similiarities are they all are semi-arid and offer a modified pacific continental climate, simply meaning that they experience dry weather most of the year, yet with an influence of Pacific storms, both from the NW and from Central CA, and during the monsoon season (usually August through September) from the the SW.
Boise can get as hot as The Tri-Cities, but also can get colder due to being further inland.
As to your original question, the Cascades do indeed block rainfall, snowfall, and cloudiness from Western WA and Western OR to the Eastern parts of the states. This is almost automatic, unless the storms move from a different normal direction, that being from the north or the south.
Not positive what game you are referring to, but my educated guess would be Utah at Washington. Utah favored, but WA is gaining positive momentum. Could go either way, but a Husky upset is not out of the question!
The Northwest climate can be complicated, and I don't pretend to have any answers other than what I have learned living my life in this region for 50+ years. (BTW, my source for most weather threads is TWC, (The Weather Channel), as they seems to do the best job, IMO, on forecasting and tracking history.
Boise can't really be compared to Pendleton, Tri-Cities, or Yakima. There are too many variables in play here. The similiarities are they all are semi-arid and offer a modified pacific continental climate, simply meaning that they experience dry weather most of the year, yet with an influence of Pacific storms, both from the NW and from Central CA, and during the monsoon season (usually August through September) from the the SW.
Boise can get as hot as The Tri-Cities, but also can get colder due to being further inland.
As to your original question, the Cascades do indeed block rainfall, snowfall, and cloudiness from Western WA and Western OR to the Eastern parts of the states. This is almost automatic, unless the storms move from a different normal direction, that being from the north or the south.
I would say your educated guess is accurate, I mean as for *the game* ....sorry I wasn't clearer about that. As for who gets the W, well check the line again. It's changed even today. You could easily be right. I've never seen so many bad injuries on really key players as the U. has. Maybe Vegas finally saw that article. Two starters got stabbed trying to be the *good guys* and remove a problem person from a party. They both had to have emergency surgery and still aren't back after 6-8 weeks. At least everyone else received their injuries on the field. I've had to ask in the past about the Vegas line cuz a couple of sports djs use to convolute those numbers so much I would get confused.
Vegas likes the Huskies tonight currently, I think, but not by much. UW played well last week. A lot really is going to come down to how injured the U's D is. I can live with either winning, but I'm disappointed such unusual circumstances have injured so many. The U. is not use to that many injuries in a season (two TE/WRs, the Sr. Center, a couple of backs and the Defensive Captains, among others). You know how some guys are the emotional leaders and know how to get their teams doing their thing on the field? Those two are out. The D looks flat to me w/o them. This is suppose to be the best month..... they could change if some "maybes" can play, but I think they aren't going to be cleared to play. What I really hope is those who saw the first four games know, they really were that good when healthy.
Tomorrow should be great for true freshmen on both teams. Britain Covey is someone special for his size. His late grandfather was Stephen R. Covey, who wrote a few important books. I saw some UW freshman last week. They are going to be a tough core to beat in two and three years.
I'll check The Weather Channel to see if I can learn more. You are correct that the weather is complex given so many different factors. Storms do move in from the NW and south. I've seen them come from both directions and arrive at cities at the same time. Then to make it all a bit more interesting, a cooling front or storm comes down from Canada. I'm not certain that WA and especially OR get those Canadian storms. Then again, I could be wrong.
Thanks for the suggestion of the TWC. I have used another weather site, but know TWC has more educational and historical material vs. mostly forecasts etc. I think it's possible I don't know some terminology yet to search for what I really want to know. I think it is equally possible that the information doesn't exist except for personal experience in those regions. I want to check if patterns can predict where the NW storms and the southern (CA) ones turn inland and miss each other. In some ways I know the general patterns but I don't know what the Cascades add or break up from each direction. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to convey. I'm either a meterologist's dream wanting to know odd things, or I'm a meterologist's nightmare having the questions I do. I'm getting prepared for learning Lewiston is the place the fewest weather events overlap. I know Lewiston markets itself as "the Banana Belt of the NW," and how come they do. IDK if the same is implied for Clarkston.
How much precip and temp difference is there between Lewiston and the Tri-Cities (best guess)? I was really surprised at the difference in Yakima and T-C for precip. I never would have guessed such a significant difference in cities ~ an hour away from each other. I need to check the elevations too as they are one of the biggest factors in most locations.
One thing that is interesting to me about your answer is you mention the clouds. I probably take that fact too much for granted, but I know those on the coast/westside don't.
I know it sounds silly since they're like the least sunny states (at least west of the Cascades) but do you think they have more in common with the Southwest and South in terms of culture, development, moving trends and history than they do with the North, Rockies and Midwest?
One of the main draws to Portland and Seattle is the "warm" weather, warm that is relative to winters back east and their fast growth seems more comparable to somewhere like Atlanta or Phoenix than to a deprived area like Cleveland or Indianapolis.
Sounds silly because it is silly. The cultures in Seattle and Portland are a world unto themselves and only resemble San Fran a wee bit. Other than that? No, nothing in common to the true sunbelt or Midwest.
Sounds silly because it is silly. The cultures in Seattle and Portland are a world unto themselves and only resemble San Fran a wee bit. Other than that? No, nothing in common to the true sunbelt or Midwest.
That is what I initially thought. But then I started to think about temps and other factors and I believe there is a case for certain cities in E. WA and E. OR that do fit my idea of a "Sunbelt." I'll leave it to the experts here to address further.
I'm totally missing how the Midwest fits, Caleb. Please enlighten which Midwestern states you are thinking fit.
The Northwest climate can be complicated, and I don't pretend to have any answers other than what I have learned living my life in this region for 50+ years. (BTW, my source for most weather threads is TWC, (The Weather Channel), as they seems to do the best job, IMO, on forecasting and tracking history.
Boise can't really be compared to Pendleton, Tri-Cities, or Yakima. There are too many variables in play here. The similiarities are they all are semi-arid and offer a modified pacific continental climate, simply meaning that they experience dry weather most of the year, yet with an influence of Pacific storms, both from the NW and from Central CA, and during the monsoon season (usually August through September) from the the SW.
Boise can get as hot as The Tri-Cities, but also can get colder due to being further inland.
As to your original question, the Cascades do indeed block rainfall, snowfall, and cloudiness from Western WA and Western OR to the Eastern parts of the states. This is almost automatic, unless the storms move from a different normal direction, that being from the north or the south.
pnwguy2,
In searching some I thought I'd add a couple of things I've found. This actually does matter to me.
I have started on more but will require a break for a while. I have a big procedure tomorrow. Well actually it's the test run to see if a nice little rechargeable stimulator in my spine, combined with all I've had done in 18 months, will be the magic combination for me. The high tech is kind of cool. If the 5-7 day test trial goes well, they remove the test stuff, let me heal then go back in about a month from now to place the permanent one. This treatment was *lost to me* before I ever got the opportunity to try it. It was pre-certified wrong 2X and we were told no more. I found a technicality, and I had the right to appeal as the policy owner/patient. Probably, that rarely works. Rumor has it that my MD said if there was one patient who could pull it off it was me, given my background and first hand knowledge. After he read my second draft, apparently he told his PA to never let him tick me off - LOL. I wasn't mean but I was firm in what I wrote. I had thought out the arguments so well that the insurance overturned the two previous denials and approved me based on what I wrote. I got approved to try a $50K treatment!! I feel so grateful to be given the chance, as I have a hunch this is going to help tremendously, along with what I've already done.
This is more involved and I've had to get some tests etc. the last few days. Not sure how I'll feel for a few days, so information that matters here may take me a lot longer. But I want to find information for myself and maybe help someone else who is trying to learn more too.
Besides my nifty Pacific/North America Climate Prediction link, I did check one of the most basic things: elevation or altitude. I was surprised with some of what I found. I will look for more info when I can for the same cities, but for some, this is one factor most understand. I restricted cities to those in the *sun belt* with a couple from ID added for reference.
WA Cities: Yakima -1,302 ft., Kennewick - 517 ft. (IDK if that contributes to the difference especially in snow or not), Pasco - 495 ft., Richland-397 ft., Walla Walla -994 ft., and Clarkston -846 ft.
ID: Lewiston - 879 ft. and Boise - 2,648 ft.
OR: Pendleton -1,210 ft., LA Grande -2,850 ft. Baker City- 3,373 ft., Ontario - 2,192 ft. Just for comparison, if anyone says the southern parts of states are always warmer, Medford is 1,472 ft. It may or may not be warmer depending on what cities it is compared to. But it isn't as high in altitude as some cities in eastern OR.
A lot more I need to look at, but I was surprised most of the cities in S. WA were lower altitude than E. Oregon. I'm not sure how to word this question, but I'll try. Besides the Cascades, are there geological formations or other factors that seem to make the eastern OR cities higher than those in SE WA? Is there a mtn. range etc. I'm forgetting in Eastern OR that gives those cities more altitude? I don't remember anything specific, but that means little given when I would have traveled through that area.
I added Boise as it is inland like you mentioned and can have other factors for weather. Still, I was surprised that Boise was 2,648 ft. compared to all the other OR and WA cities. Lewiston, *The Banana Belt* didn't surprise me.
I'll be looking at the different temps, the difference in snow vs. rain precip (which I had not thought to do previously...so thanks for that tip) and a couple of other things along with the elevation. While I do know the storms from the NW vs. CA are a big factor, I'll see what, if anything, I can accurately learn.
Is there any other single factor (or two) I should try to include when reviewing the above cities?
Thanks in advance for your help many times as well as any suggestions you may have.
MSR
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except for personal experience in those regions. I want to check if patterns can predict where the NW storms and the southern (CA) ones turn inland and miss each other. In some ways I know the general patterns but I don't know what the Cascades add or break up from each direction. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to convey
- LOL. I wasn't mean but I was firm in what I wrote. I had thought out the arguments so well that the insurance overturned the two previous denials and approved me based on what I wrote. I got approved to try a $50K treatment!! I feel so grateful to be given the chance, as I have a hunch this is going to help tremendously, along with what I've already done.
