Warmest location in WA during winter months? (Seattle, Port Townsend: garage, pool)

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by grega94

So per averages here are some notable examples, and will include Brookings as a comparison.

Grega, thanks for putting all of this together. It's a great comparison. Just curious what data source did you used? City Data doesn't appear to have this level of granularity. It would also be interesting to see the trends over time. For example, how do the past five years compare with those numbers? I wonder what span of time those were pulled from and averaged over?

Record High
City: Dec | Jan | Feb | Avg
Brookings: 79 | 80 | 83 | 80.7
La Push: 76 | 69 | 73 | 72.7
Walla Walla: 68 | 70 | 75 | 71.0
Richland: 66 | 71 | 73 | 70.0
Ocean Shores : 64 | 68 | 76 | 69.3
Mukilteo: 66 | 67 | 74 | 69.0
Vancouver: 65 | 66 | 73 | 68.0

I think this where Brookings looks the most insane for a PNW town. I mean those records likely beat many cities in NorCal.

Average High
City: Dec | Jan | Feb | Avg
Brookings: 53 | 53.7 | 54.7 | 53.8
Ocean Shores: 48 | 49 | 51 | 49.3
Long Beach: 48.2 | 48.8 | 50.4 | 49.1
Tacoma: 46.9 | 48.4 | 50.9 | 48.7
SeaTac: 47 | 48 | 50.3 | 48.4
Mukilteo: 46 | 48 | 51 | 48.3
Vancouver: 45.6 | 47.1 | 51 | 47.9

This one is the most interesting to me and really addresses the question on average. The crazy part is how close everything else is by only a degree or two vs. Brookings which is obviously higher. I mean if the winner for WA is Ocean Shores, SeaTac is only 1 degree behind per month and Vancouver ~ 1-2. Without knowing the data source, I would also like to see how some place in eastern WA like Wenatchee or Spokane compare. I would imagine much larger drops during winter.

Average Low
City: Dec | Jan | Feb | Avg
Brookings: 42.7 | 43.6 | 43.2 | 43.2
Neah Bay: 40.9 | 38.7 | 39.6 | 39.7
SeaTac: 37.1 | 37.7 | 37.7 | 37.5
Ocean Shores: 36 | 38 | 37 | 37.0
Kingston: 36 | 37 | 37 | 36.7
Tacoma: 35.8 | 37.1 | 36.9 | 36.6
Vancouver: 33.1 | 33.7 | 33.7 | 33.5

Although I'm not as concerned with lows since I'm sleeping during this time, this where coastal areas are much warmer. That also included the Sound with such a large body of water.

Record Low
City: Dec | Jan | Feb | Avg
Brookings: 17 | 21 | 24 | 20.7
Neah Bay: 14 | 14 | 20 | 16.0
Kingston: 10 | 18 | 19 | 15.7
Tacoma: 6 | 17 | 11 | 11.3
Ocean Shores: 7 | 11 | 9 | 9.0
La Push: 7 | 7 | 11 | 8.3
Vancouver: -10 | -8 | -3 | -7.0

So it seems like the place that preforms the best with all the above metrics is Ocean Shores, although during winter warm spells looks like Walla Walla/Tri-Cities can be quite toasty as well.

[grega94]

I got them from Wikipedia, I know sometimes those figures are not so accurate and when it comes to records they have different lengths of time.

[MtnSurfer]

I decided to cross reference NOAA since it's supposedly the most accurate. They're also using similar collection methods across stations. Here's what NOAA reported for the last 30 years from 1991-2020:

Highs: Dec | Jan | Feb
Brookings 57 | 56 | 57
Grayland 48 | 49 | 51
Long Beach 48 | 49 | 50
Vancouver 47 | 47 | 51
Tacoma 47 | 48 | 50
Seattle 47 | 47 | 50
Olympia 45 | 46 | 49
Port Angeles 44 | 45 | 46
Wenatchee 36 | 36 | 44
Spokane 34 | 34 | 39
-- https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/l...limate-normals

These aren't too far off the other numbers and most of WWA seems to be very close. The coast is still a bit warmer by ~ 1-2 degrees. So, not a huge difference in temps. From a practical side, I have a feeling those couple of degrees are offset much of the year by higher winds and rain placing them in the 'feels like' something colder category. Though not always. I've enjoyed some sunny, calm winter days along the coast that were fantastic! I'll admit living in Vancouver, I drive to the northern Oregon coast which I enjoy a bit more than southern WA. I caught a day this month in the 60s and sunny at Rockaway Beach. It was much warmer than anywhere else in WA and most of OR excluding the coast.













While I didn't pull the lows, those were also consistent with the coast being warmer at night. BTW, I found those crazy monthly record lows for Vancouver which were major outliers of the data. They did happen a very long time ago. -8 in 1909. Still, that's a crazy cold record. Those record lows were all in the 1900s. -- https://www.weather.gov/pqr/cliplot

Derek

[leastprime]

In the winter, when the Oregon coast is good, it can be gloriously pleasant.

[pnwguy2]

I think we are looking at sw Wa coast, but maybe Vancouver.

[ScottStielow]

Thanks for posting all the good information on weather temps in and around Puget Sound, the coast and Tri-cities/ Walla Walla, Eastern Washington.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by leastprime

In the winter, when the Oregon coast is good, it can be gloriously pleasant.

Yep, I've heard so many people complaining about the coast's negatives such as more rain and higher winds, etc... And yes, I've experienced those things. By contrast, you hardly ever hear someone say something good about the coast especially during winter. But I've experienced some glorious days down there that will literally stop you in your tracks!! You have to stop and just soak in all the beauty. It can be very stunning.

Here's a few more pics from this winter's adventures. These days make me feel very blessed to live in such an amazing place.


Hiked up to God's Thumb for sunset a few weeks ago.











Recent Rockaway sunset color explosion :









Derek

[Ruth4Truth]

Brookings is going to be in the mid-to-high 60's next week. That's wild! But it's not a good thing; Humboldt and Del Norte are having an unusually dry winter, which is very concerning in terms of fire risk later in the year. If this becomes a trend--yikes! When rainforests start drying up, you know you're in deep trouble!

[CrazyDonkey]

Need to take account of higher wind and humidity, both of which can make it feel colder in winter. Both Bellingham and Vancouver have higher winds than Seattle, due to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Columbia Gorge, respectively. Ocean Shores may have somewhat more moderate temps than Seattle, but also higher winds, humidity, and precipitation.

[MechAndy]

Winter is always easier on the water.
I’m looking at the water right now and it’s glass.

Sailing is a summer sport in California due to the summer winds.
Winter the wind is dead for the most part.
Is that the same situation up north?

Our place up north around the 4th of July has a noticeable wind increase in the afternoon.
It’s windy enough where we time our kayaking and crabbing around it.