Weather Essays

Banana Belt or Rain Shadow?
Copyright Vince Streano, 1999

Nestled within the Olympic rain shadow, just west of the Cascade mountain range, Anacortes enjoys unusually mild weather for a community that shares its latitude with Newfoundland. Described by many as the banana belt of Western Washington, the area has mild winters, an exceptionally long spring, and summers that end too soon. Since I haven't seen a banana tree since moving here, I prefer to describe our weather as mild because of the influence of the Olympic rain shadow.

When my wife and I moved here in March of 1989 from Southern California, we were gloriously ignorant to the sudden mood swings our weather can exhibit. In Southern California the weather is extremely predictable, bordering on boring. The rainy season is from November to March, and it's sunny and warm the rest of the time. Before we moved our friends kept asking how can you move to someplace where it rains all the time?
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First Snow Fall
Copyright Vince Streano, 2005

So, there I was Thursday morning, the first day of December, waiting for the first snowflakes to fall like a kid waiting for Santa to drop down the chimney. The National Weather Service had predicted snow for late in the afternoon, but I was hoping it would come earlier, so I could take pictures. By 10 AM the skies to the north were almost black. Overhead the clouds were heavy with moisture and the color of pewter. I checked the radar and could see the beginnings of snow falling to the north and west of Fidalgo Island.

Just after 10:30 the first flakes began to fall. Tiny little flakes you could barely see. Gradually they got larger, and larger, until the flakes were the size of half dollars, floating gracefully to the ground. I was awestruck by the beauty of what I was seeing. I was afraid it might be a brief flurry with a sudden ending, but the snowfall kept getting heavier. My weather station said the temperature was 36 degrees, which explained why the flakes weren't yet sticking on the ground. After twenty minutes of what I would call heavy snowfall, I called the National Weather Service on the Weather Spotter hotline to report what I was seeing. They were surprised it was already snowing in our area. The forecaster asked me the temperature and the dew point, and thanked me for the update.
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Puget Sound Convergence Zone
Copyright Vince Streano, 2004

Has this ever happened to you? You get in your car on a bright sunny morning for a drive to Seattle. The weather is great, and you're looking forward to an easy drive down I-5. As you progress south on the freeway, the weather ahead looks a little gray. Around Smokey Point the clouds begin to thicken. Then you get to Everett and the weather changes to a pounding rain. What happened? It's almost like you entered a parallel universe. Everything looks the same, except the weather. Then, about fifteen miles further down the road, the universe shifts back, the sun is shining, and everything is back to normal.

What happened is that you entered the dreaded Puget Sound Convergence Zone. Florida has its Hurricanes, Oklahoma has its Tornadoes, and we have our convergence zones. The PSCZ is the most consistent, and produces many fascinating weather phenomenon. I've often wondered how convergence zones are formed, and what causes them.
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Sunny Days
Copyright Vince Streano, 2002

Keeping weather statistics is both a curse and a joy. A curse because you have to be compulsive about faithfully entering the records at the end of each day. If I take a trip, I have to find someone I can trust to record the records for me until my return. It's a joy when I can look back over the records and begin to discern patterns and anomalies that crop up throughout the years.

As we begin our summer season I thought it might be interesting to go back through my records and try to predict when it might be sunny and when it might rain, based on my records for the past five years. I was surprised at a number of facts I discovered while doing my research.
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Umbrellas In Anacortes
Copyright Vince Streano, 2001

I was walking around downtown Anacortes the other day in a pouring rainstorm. Suddenly it dawned on me. No one was carrying an umbrella! Over the next couple of days whenever I went to town in the rain, which was most days, I did a mental umbrella survey. I still haven't seen one. What is it with Anacortes residents disdain for the bumbershoot? Personally I don't carry one either. Usually the rain isn't that hard, and a hat and jacket keeps me relatively dry. But lately it's been raining cats and dogs, and still no umbrellas. Maybe it's a macho thing. Are Anacortes residents too tough for umbrellas?

Since November and December are historically the wettest months of the year, you'll probably be seeing a lot more damp residents traipsing around town as they try to complete their holiday errands. This brings up the old argument of whether you stay dryer by walking or running in the rain? In an effort to keep our holiday shoppers as dry as possible, I've done a little research on the subject that I think you'll find interesting.
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Fidalgo Island Micro Climates
Copyright Vince Streano, 2001

The first tendrils of fog came slithering through Deception pass like a giant octopus searching the seabed. The fog crept along the northern edge of Whidbey Island, flowed over the water until it reached Skagit Island, then retreated back to the pass. Eventually it dissipated altogether leaving behind a brilliant sunny day.

As I sat watching the fogs advances and retreats, I knew that while I was basking in bright sunshine residents on the west side of the island were shivering in the fog. That got me thinking about the various micro climates we have here on Fidalgo Island.

In some of my previous columns I've talked about the larger micro climates in the Northwest. The rain forest on the west side of the Olympic Mountains and the relatively dry east side. This is vividly illustrated when you compare the rain statistics of Forks on the western flank of the Olympics with an average of 119 inches of rain a year and Sequim on the north east side with only 17 inches a year. I've also written about the rain shadow of the Olympic Peninsula that keeps the San Juan Islands as well as Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands sheltered from the punishing rains that pelt communities further east.

For the past year or so I've been observing various parts of Fidalgo Island and have determined from personal observation that we have three distinct micro climates. The differences are certainly not as great as the differences between Forks and Sequim, but they do have different weather patterns.

The three micro climates I have identified are the west side of the island including Skyline and Biz Point, the east side of the island from Deception Pass to the top of Similk Bay, and the north end of the island which includes most of Anacortes and Cap Sante. I'm not forgetting the reservation area on the east side of Skagit Bay, but since I don't have any observations from that area, it's not included in this assessment.

Generally, the west side of Fidalgo Island is three to five degrees cooler than the rest of the island because of the westerly breezes coming off the water. These same breezes bring the fog first to the west side before it pushes further east. So the west side tends to have fog longer than other areas. This is especially noticeable in the summer months. On a more positive note the west side is sheltered from the prevailing winds coming from the south up Saratoga Passage. Most of our storms in the winter come from that direction. So during the winter months the west side gets a little protection from the majority of our storms. However when the wind blows from the north or southwest, then the west side of the island will be hit a little harder. Of course those living on the west side know those sunsets over Burrows Bay can't be beat.

The east side does enjoy warmer temperatures than the west, but it also gets the prevailing winds blowing up Saratoga Passage. These winds are light to non-existent in the summer, but during the winter months they can be almost constant. The east side has less fog than the west, but more than the north end. And while west side residents can enjoy their sunsets, residents on the east side can partake of their spectacular sunrises over Skagit Bay, assuming they get up in time.

The north end of the island has the most extreme weather. Temperatures are generally a degree or two warmer than the east side. In the winter the north end of the island gets both the southerly and westerly winds, and on those rare occasions when we have a winter storm blowing down Frazier Canyon, the north end of the island bares the full brunt of those winds. In the storm of 1990, winds of over 100 mph were recorded in town, while on the east side the highest reported winds were only about 65 mph. Rainfall tends to be a little higher in the north than on the east or west coasts, but not a significant difference.

Snowfall on Fidalgo Island is very fickle, and does not seem to adhere to any particular pattern, except that the higher elevations will get more snow than areas near the water. I've seen times when the east side is the only area to get snow on the island, and others times when the whole island has snow except for the east side.

One of my favorite memories of island weather patterns had nothing to do with the micro climates I've described. Two years ago between Christmas and New Years Fidalgo Island was covered with thick fog for days at a time. After a couple of days it got to be pretty depressing until I discovered that the top of Mt. Erie was generally clear. So for the next couple of weeks whenever the fog would roll in, Carol and I would drive to the top of the mountain for a half hour of sunshine. While up there you got the feeling you could be standing on the highest mountain in the world because all you could see below were egg white like clouds with just the highest mountain peaks showing through.

If you have any observations on weather patterns here on the island, drop me a line. I would be happy to share them with our readers.