Tri-City Weather 2020

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by M3 Mitch

We will see. So far January has been mild. We had a year like this that had a very snowy and cold February, I forget which year that was. In the last 5 years IIRC.

The wood in the woodshed I don't burn this year will be just as good, better in that it will be dryer, next year.

That was February 2019, Mitch. Not that long ago. However, I will say that it is pretty rare that the worst snowstorm occurs in February. I think that year was an aberration for sure. Doesn't mean it can't happen again, but not likely. Looks like 50's for the next week.

[~HolyNinja~]

Indeed, so.
That Feb winter was memorable, lol. Almost funny.

[PNWx23]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

I don’t only care about high temps but then again this is not a meteorology website. Just trying to keep it simple and the high temp is a popular standard.

I appreciate the data, and have read up to this point. My interest in low temperatures is because I have lived in areas where there were triple digits during the day, but did not cool off at night. 98 and 99° at night is not a relief particularly when this goes on for days or weeks. So, if Tri cools off on summer nights, that is good to know. I was not aware Tri got some triple digits.

[PNWx23]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

I lived in Tri-Cities from 1990-1996, moved back in early 2015, and I have never seen this amount of smoke for this long, ever. The forecast is for this to last another five days. I believe something has changed here. While there is debate whether it is climate change, or lack of forest maintenance, (or more likely a combination of the two), there is no doubt this is very abnormal. Of course, we are not alone. The entire region all the way out to Portland, Seattle, and Spokane have not seen this much lingering smoke in recent history. Not much we can do about it and there is nowhere to run to get out of it. I guess just a reminder that no region is really without natural disasters. Hang in there Tri-Cities, it will pass.

The San Juan Islands were socked in with smoke at this time last year also. Doors and windows shut tight. We had a trip planned to your area & Walla Walla and had to cancel due to the smoke.
By the time the smoke cleared and we were able to reschedule our trip, The weather changed drastically and it was cold and rainy!

[PNWx23]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

December 2020 high temp average: 41.9, slightly above normal.

Here is the yearly summary:

January 48.2 (+6 above avg)
February 54.0 (+6 above avg)
March 58.4 (normal)
April 69.8 (+4 above avg)
May 76.6 (slightly above avg)
June 83 (slightly above avg)
July 93.0 (slightly above avg)
August 92.1 (+2 above avg)
September 83.1 (+3 above avg)
October 68.0 (+2 above avg)
November 51.8 (slightly above avg)
December 41.9 (slightly above avg)

So as you can see, 11 out of 12 months in 2020 had above average high averages. Only March was close to normal.

For anyone interested in low temps during warmer months, I just looked up the Average Lows, and this is huge information to me personally. If I'm going to live in high 90's or triple-digit days, it's great news to learn that the area cools off at night.

This is what I found for Richland (they don't have "Tri-Cities", so I had to pick one.) They use NOAA and National Climate Data Center.

Here is what they show for Average Lows for Richland as a whole (no particular year):

May - 47.6
June - 54.1
July - 58.8
Aug - 58.2
Sept - 49.7
Oct - 40.2

pnwguy2, do you think that reflects general average lows for the area?

[pnwguy2]

Looks about right. The official weather reporting station for the area is PSC, (Pasco Airport), which has always seemed odd to me because that location can be hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than Richland and Kennewick. That said most US cities use their main airport for official reporting station.

There will be 10-20 days in the summer where AC is a must at night. Some that have good window airflow can get away with turning the AC off on the cooler summer days. I personally run it at night all summer but set it at about 78.