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Climate in Bellingham


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Bellingham's climate is generally mild and typical of the Puget Sound region that includes Seattle. The year-long average daily high and low temperatures are 59 �F (15 �C) and 44.1 �F (6.7 �C), respectively. Western Whatcom County has a marine oceanic climate that is strongly influenced by the Cascade Range and Olympic Mountains. The Cascades to the east retain the temperate marine influence, while the Olympics provide a rain-shadow effect that buffers Bellingham from much of the rainfall approaching from the southwest.

Bellingham receives an average annual rainfall of 34.84 inches (885 mm), which is slightly less than Seattle. As evident in the table below, November is typically the wettest month, with numerous frontal rainstorms arriving. Still, precipitation is distributed throughout the rainy period extending from October through April. Bellingham was reported to have the lowest average sunshine amount of any city in the US.

Despite this, Bellingham also has mild, pleasant summers. The hottest summer days rarely exceed 90 �F (32 �C) and the warmest temperature on record is 96 �F (36 �C) on July 29, 2009. This is markedly cooler than the record high for Seattle 103 �F (39 �C) and most other Washington locations. Bellingham experiences an average of 5.7 rainy days in July and August combined, which compares favorably with the Phoenix, Arizona average of 10 rainy days during the same period. Drought is rare, although some summers are noticeably drier than others and some normally reliable wells have been known to run dry in August and September. Nevertheless, crops are more frequently ruined by too much rain rather than too little.

Bellingham's proximity to the Fraser River valley occasionally subjects it to a harsh winter weather pattern (termed a 'north-Easter') wherein an upper level trough drives cold Arctic air from the Canadian interior southwesterly through the Fraser River Canyon. Such an event was recorded on November 28, 2006, when
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