Changes in the Climate of Washington State Over the Past Century

Nick BondUW, State of Washington Climatologist

SO,IS THIS

YOUR FIRSTWINTER HEREIN SEATTLE?

I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY SAY, THIS GLOBAL WARMING SCARE

IS JUST A BUNCH OF LOONY LEFT-WING ENVIRONMENTAL

ANTI-GROWTH HYPE!

Salt Lake City Tribune August 2015

The Winter of 2014-15

Climate of WA – Observed Variations & Trends

Temperature (Trends and Extremes) Precipitation (Trends and Extremes) Events (Floods, Heat Waves, etc.) Other (Air Quality, Sea Level, etc.)

Nick Bond & Karin Bumbaco (UW/JISAO)

1920-2012 Temperature Trends

Squares aren’t significant linear trends; circles are significant at 95%

Abatzoglou et al. 2014 (J. Climate)

Low-level Humidity

Potential Evapotranspiration (pET)

Bond and Bumbaco (2015)

Squares indicate lack of significant linear

trends; circles are significant at 95%

Abatzoglou et al.2014 (J. Climate)

Precipitation Trends (1920-2012)

El NinoLa Nina

Mote et al. (2016)

Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) for 1 April

G. MaugerK. Bumbaco

Mass et al. (2011)

60-Year Trends for the Top Precipitation Events alongthe West Coast of North America

Top 60 Top 20

AberdeenForks

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Gemmrich et al. (2011)

Trends in Significant Wave Heights in the NE Pacific Ocean

- Top 2 Events/Year

- Top 26 Events/Year

• Overnight heat events – one where nights stay warm – have increased in frequency in western WA and OR

• No change in daytime events, even though the 2009 event was the 2nd strongest in magnitude on record

• Warm overnight temps in 2009 were particularly remarkable in terms of their duration (8 nights)

Jun 29

Jul 19

Aug 8

Aug 28

Nighttime Events

Sum

mer

Day

Bumbaco et. (2013)

SST Anomalies Offshore of the Pacific NW

40-50 N, 140-125 W

Had

SST

(Deg

rees

C)

El NinoLa Nina

Summary Systematic increases in minimum temperatures,

especially in winter and summer.

Insignificant trends in mean seasonal precipitation, except for an increase in spring. Extreme events?

Mostly declining snow water equivalent (SWE) in the mountains at the end of winter.

A tendency for higher peak flows in winter and lower minimum flows in summer on many WA streams.

Rising sea level and SST