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Weather
![Temperature map of North America showing heat dome of 2021 in the Pacific Northwest](https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/902/2024/04/2024summer-heat-is-on2-3-EC-198x198.jpg)
Weather Watch: Reflecting on a Year of Extremes with Nathan Santo Domingo
2023 was a year of weather extremes, with damaging floods, fires, and storms unfolding across the globe.
The United States logged a historic number of billion-dollar weather disasters, while smoke from Canada’s wildfires choked parts of the country.
“It’s kind of odd to be talking about our neighbor just to the north, but they really did have such a big impact in North America and also globally,” says Nathan Santo Domingo, a field meteorologist with Washington State University’s AgWeatherNet.
Besides the highest ever reported number of acres burned, the Canadian wildfire season was unusual for its longevity. “Wildfire season got going … » More …
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Majestic Storm
Winds of change
![Mushrooms, after the rains](https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/902/2017/01/2017spring-after-the-rains-thumb-198x198.jpg)
After the rains
WSU meteorologist Nic Loyd is stuck on one word for last October’s Washington weather: Wet.
Make that two words: Abnormally wet. Sea-Tac measured over 10 inches of rainfall. Even dry Yakima saw almost 2-1/2 inches. But the undisputed epicenter of soggy conditions was Spokane which registered not only their rainiest October ever, but the highest precipitation for any month ever recorded: a whopping 6-1/4 inches. That’s remarkable when compared to an average October rainfall of just 1-1/4 inches. Especially given that their typical annual total is just over 16 inches.
Loyd says this was due to an unusually deep and persistent trough of low pressure … » More …
Watching the weather in the Pacific Northwest
You can follow the mercurial weather of the Pacific Northwest with a number of resources from Washington State University and other weather websites.
AgWeatherNet :: Access to raw weather data from the Washington State University weather network, along with decision aids. AWN includes 136 weather stations located mostly in the irrigated regions of eastern Washington State but the network has undergone significant expansion in Western Washington and in dry land regions of the state. The AWN network is administered and managed by the AgWeatherNet team located at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser, WA but is programmatically … » More …