By Rachel Webber, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences
PROSSER, Wash. – New year, same old story. The dry and largely uneventful winter conditions of late 2013 persisted into January, although Washington’s temperatures were much warmer than in December.
“On average, December and January are similar months in terms of temperatures,” said Nic Loyd, AgWeatherNet meteorologist. “However, there can be large variability within a winter season. For example, low temperatures at Prosser were 10 degrees warmer in January than in December.”
A Web based, publicly available system, AgWeatherNet provides access to near-real-time weather data and value-added products from Washington State University’s statewide weather network, along with decision aids for agricultural producers and other users.
A dirty ridge dominated the weather for much of the first 10 days of January and allowed only weak weather systems to pass through Washington. Stormy weather made a brief appearance during the second week, delivering rain to the western lowlands and snow to the mountains.
In fact, two inches of rain fell at Poulsbo South on Jan. 11. Meanwhile, eastern Washington was windy and warm.
A mountain wave event on the morning of Jan. 10 caused winds to gust as high as 64 mph at Wenatchee Heights. As windy conditions and strong mixing continued, temperatures reached into the upper 50s to mid 60s in parts of eastern Washington each day Jan. 11-13.
Conditions quickly calmed around mid-January as a strong ridge of high pressure became established for most of the latter half of the month. In the lowlands, cool, stagnant conditions and poor air quality were the unfortunate consequences of the stable pattern, along with small diurnal ranges.
By contrast, periodically sunny and dry conditions allowed Long Beach to reach the 60s on several days in late January.
“Aside from worries about potential cold damage caused by the early December arctic blast, the weather this winter has generally spared Washington agriculture from significant adverse impacts,” said Gerrit Hoogenboom, AgWeatherNet director. “The lack of mountain snowfall has been a concern for much of the season, but recent conditions have somewhat assuaged those drought fears.”
Somewhat more active weather returned at month’s end, as 1.95 inches of rain fell at Stevenson on Jan. 29.
For more weather updates from Nic Loyd, visit http://weather.wsu.edu/awn.php?page=awn_news.
Contacts:
Nic Loyd, WSU AgWeatherNet meteorologist, 509-786-9357, nicholas.loyd@wsu.edu
Rachel Webber, WSU CAHNRS Communications, 509-335-0837, rcwebber@wsu.edu