Anacortes Washington Weather Station Provided by Mt Erie Fire Department

Weather Essays

The following weather essays are weather columns written by weather columnist Vince Streano for the Anacortes American. You can read his current column by clicking here, and then going to the “Weather or Not” column.

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?
READ MORE

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.
READ MORE

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.
READ MORE

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.

One question I get all the time is what days this summer will be sunny so I can plan my picnic or wedding, etc? As we all know, our summer weather can be very fickle. In order to help answer this question, I went back through the last five years of my sunny day records, and determined the five days most likely to have sunshine. The first surprise I discovered is that in the past five years only one date has had a perfect 100 percent sun record on all five days. That date is also surprising. It is not in July or August, in fact it isn't even officially during summer. The date is September 22, the first day of Autumn. And this year September 22nd just happens to fall on a Sunday. Perfect for all our end of the summer picnics.

The second most likely day this summer for Sun is August 8th. Of the past five years for that date, four earned 100% sun, and in 1999 I gave it 65% earning a total score of 465. Unfortunately the 8th this year is on a Thursday, not a great day for a picnic.

Following close on the heels of August 8th, with a total score of 445 is August 9th. In forth place is August 4th with a total score of 440. The good thing about the 4th this year is that is happens to fall on a Sunday. The fourth actually had 4 out of the five dates recorded with 100 percent sun. However last year on the 4th we only had 40 percent sun which knocked down its total score to 440.

For fifth place we have a three way tie with the dates of August 12th, 19th and September 2nd all scoring 435. The ironic thing about these three dates is that they all fall on a Monday this year. Other good bets would be July 6th, 29th and 30th, as well as August 11th.

After determining the sunniest days, I went the opposite direction to try and determine the five least sunny summer days over the past five years. September 17th is the clear winner in this category. Only four days before the sunniest day of summer, the 17th has had two zero days of sun, two with only 20 percent and the fifth with only 30 percent. This gives the day a total score of only 70. In second place is September 5th with three zero days of sun, one with 50 percent and the fifth with 100 percent. Fortunately both these days are in the middle of the week this year. Rounding out the list of the most frequently cloudy is September 16th, with a score of 160, August 18th with a score of 180 and September 5th with a score of 200.

You might think with September having four out of the five cloudiest days of summer, it would also have the most rain. Well you would be wrong. Actually over the past five years September has had the least rain of our three summer months with a total of 4.61 inches for the past five years. July comes in second place with a total of 4.74 inches and August places third with 5.18 inches. This is in spite of the fact that in August of 1998 we only recorded .05 of an inch of rain. The rainiest dates during the past five summers were August 20th and 29th and September 1st and 25th, all recording three days of rain over that period of time.

So when all is said and done the sunniest period of summer usually is between August 4th and 12th. If you want to schedule a late summer picnic, go for September 22nd, but avoid the dates of August 20th and 29th as well as September 1st and 25th because of rain.

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.
READ MORE

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.
READ MORE