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About Fidalgo Island Weather
Ocean: The temperature of the Pacific Ocean to the west stays fairly constant year-around, about 55° F (13° C). The ocean acts as a vast heat-sink moderating temperatures in western Washington. Warm winters (40's and 50's F, 4-14° C) and cool summers (60's and 70's F, 18-25° C) are the norm on Fidalgo Island. Mountains: Weather systems bring moist air from the Pacific into western Washington until it reaches the Cascade Mountains. A "Cascade Rain Shadow" barrier is created by the mountains, keeping western Washington moist, and eastern Washington more arid. Even during the summer "ocean air" can produce cool, foggy early mornings here. See rainfall map. Olympic Rain Shadow: Pilots call it the blue hole. Pacific weather systems usually move inland from southwest to northeast. The Olympic Mountain Range produces a second rain shadow. The southwest slope may receive 100-200 inches (2.5-5 m) of rainfall annually. The famous Olympic Rain Forest is the result. Off the northeast slope, Sequim and Port Townsend receive only 12-17 inches (30-43 cm) per year. Fidalgo Island, at the edge of the shadow, gets 20-26 inches (50-66 cm) yearly. As a comparison, Seattle can expect 38 inches (97 cm) of rainfall annually. See rainfall map. Pacific Lows: The winter jet stream often guides Pacific low pressure systems over Vancouver Island in Canada. Lying between the Olympics and Cascades, the Puget Sound basin becomes a wind tunnel. Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands bare the brunt of southerly wind storms when deep lows move in north of us. |
Records and Averages Anacortes, Washintgon Month | Avg. High | Avg. Low | Rec. High | Rec. Low | Avg. Precip. | High Precip. | Low Precip. | January | 49° F | 35° F | 65° F
(01/31/1935) | 6° F
(01/22/1943) | 3.36 in | 8.14 in
(1971) | 0.60 in
(1985) | February | 49° F | 36° F | 69° F
(02/28/1986) | 9° F
(02/03/1989) | 2.49 in | 5.80 in
(1982) | 0.60 in
(1993) | March | 52° F | 39° F | 71° F
(03/28/1941) | 18° F
(03/02/1971) | 2.21 in | 4.99 in
(1932) | 0.46 in
(1965) | April | 57° F | 42° F | 78° F
(04/19/1934) | 30° F (04/01/1976) | 1.86 in | 3.10 in (1996) | 0.25 in (1956) | May | 63° F | 47° F | 88° F
(05/22/1963) | 33° F (05/06/1965) | 1.63 in | 3.91 in
(1948) | 0.27 in (1932) | June | 67° F | 51° F | 91° F (06/09/1932) | 38° F (06/03/1976) | 1.51 in | 3.62 in (1997) | 0.06 in (1938) | July | 72° F | 53° F | 93° F (07/15/1970) | 41° F (07/02/1971) | 1.06 in | 3.18 in (1932) | 0.00 in (1931) | August | 72° F | 53° F | 95° F (08/10/1931) | 37° F (08/18/1970) | 1.04 in | 4.31 in (1990) | 0.00 in (1931) | September | 67° F | 50° F | 88° F (09/05/1944) | 34° F (09/30/1972) | 1.36 in | 3.55 in (1983) | 0.11 in (1991) | October | 59° F | 44° F | 77° F (10/03/1987) | 26° F (10/31/1935) | 2.25 in | 6.39 in (1945) | 0.11 in (1987) | November | 50° F | 39° F | 68° F (11/04/1934) | 10° F (11/28/1985) | 4.14 in | 10.67 in (1990) | 0.53 in (1943) | December | 46° F | 35° F | 68° F (12/20/1931) | 4° F (12/17/1964) | 3.81 in | 8.74 in (1933) | 0.59 in (1985) | Source: Yahoo Weather, NOAA (wrcc.dri.edu) |
Notebook
February 25, 2008: No extraordinary weather events this winter except for many clear and sunny days. It has been colder than usual, thanks to La Niña, but not really very bad. The wind storms didn't amount to much either. Interesting.
| | July 11, 2007: Today it was 89° and yesterday it was 86°. These are not records, but they are 20-25° above normal. It was 99° in Hoquiam yesterday which is just off the ocean. Interestingly, it was 73° today in Los Angeles.
| | January 14, 2007: Sunday, 0700, chilly, clear skies. While driving to work, I noticed an odd streak low in the ENE sky. I was seeing the comet, McNaught! Astronomers call it C/2006 P1. It was long and straight and parallel to the horizon. It remained clearly visible even after sunrise. It was a very good day at work
| | December 17, 2006: Back home at last. Power on, furnace running. My weather station clocked winds at 38 mph near the house.
| | December 15, 2006: Back to check on the house. No power, of course, but everything is intact. Broken limbs and debris everywhere, all over the roof, all over the yard. The top half of a big Douglas fir is in two pieces in the driveway. My neighbors took a tree in their bedroom. Trees and power lines are down all along the road. Reports of 1 million customers without power in western Washington.
| | December 14, 2006: Big wind coming! 90 mph gusts predicted. I have been through 70 here, but I am leaving town for this one. Taking a motel room in Arlington.
| | | November 28, 2006: It snowed two days ago, about 3 inches. No problem there, but the power went out late in the afternoon. Today it is still out and it is 16° F outside and 42° inside. | | | | | | |
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