rain

The Rain Shadow Effect in the Pacific Northwest

June 20, 2011
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The Pacific Northwest can be roughly divided into two strikingly different landscapes: wet and dry. Or call them green and brown. It’s damp and green to the west of the Cascades and relatively arid and brown to the east…

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How to Go Night-Driving for Amphibians

March 28, 2011
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For those of us with a fondness for observing amphibians and reptiles in their natural habitats, spring is when the fun begins. These animals increase their activity at the end of winter in preparation for breeding and continue to be active through the summer and early fall. Amphibians are generally small, secretive, and wary. Unless you know what you are doing…

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The Disastrous La Niña of 1955

November 8, 2010
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The weather phenomenon known as La Niña occurs when sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean are cooler than usual. The Pacific Northwest gets extra winter rain and snowfall in La Niña years, and temperatures are colder than usual. Climatologists are predicting that the northwest is going to get slammed this winter by the strongest La Nina since 1955. The comparison with 1955 keeps showing up in news stories about this year’s La Niña. This made me wonder what happened in the winter of 1955-56. How dramatic was it?…

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Rainy Day Hike to Angel’s Rest in the Gorge

November 3, 2010
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Angel’s Rest is a rocky overlook on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge, not far from Portland. I hiked the 2.3 miles up to Angel’s Rest in the rain and had a great time. I shouldn’t have been surprised to meet 20 other hikers on the trail. After all, the trailhead is so close to the city, and a little rain isn’t enough to keep Pacific Northwesterners away from the mountains…

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The Pacific Northwest is likely to get an extra shot of rain-spattered gloom this winter

September 17, 2010

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released a report that sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific are a couple of degrees Celsius cooler than expected. This is a signature of the weather pattern known as La Niña. In years when the La Niña pattern is strong, the Pacific Northwest is pummeled by more [...]

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