Average Weather at William R Fairchild International Airport Washington, United States

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2. United States
3. Washington
4. Clallam County
5. William R Fairchild International Airport

At William R Fairchild International Airport, the summers are comfortable and partly cloudy and the winters are long, chilly, wet, and mostly cloudy. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 34°F to 71°F and is rarely below 26°F or above 82°F.

The warm season lasts for 2.9 months, from June 23 to September 21, with an average daily high temperature above 65°F. The hottest day of the year is August 3, with an average high of 71°F and low of 53°F.

The cool season lasts for 3.8 months, from November 13 to March 7, with an average daily high temperature below 50°F. The coldest day of the year is December 30, with an average low of 34°F and high of 44°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the entire year of hourly average temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day of the year, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

At William R Fairchild International Airport, the average percentage of the sky covered by clouds experiences significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year at William R Fairchild International Airport begins around June 11 and lasts for 3.7 months, ending around October 1. On August 3, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 75% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 25% of the time.

The cloudier part of the year begins around October 1 and lasts for 8.3 months, ending around June 11. On January 20, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy 72% of the time, and clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 28% of the time.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. The chance of wet days at William R Fairchild International Airport varies very significantly throughout the year.

The wetter season lasts 6.6 months, from October 10 to April 27, with a greater than 35% chance of a given day being a wet day. The chance of a wet day peaks at 62% on November 17.

The drier season lasts 5.5 months, from April 27 to October 10. The smallest chance of a wet day is 8% on August 1.

Among wet days, we distinguish between those that experience rain alone, snow alone, or a mixture of the two. Based on this categorization, the most common form of precipitation throughout the year is rain alone, with a peak probability of 61% on November 17.

Rainfall

To show variation within the months and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. William R Fairchild International Airport experiences extreme seasonal variation in monthly rainfall.

Rain falls throughout the year at William R Fairchild International Airport. The most rain falls during the 31 days centered around November 22, with an average total accumulation of 9.1 inches.

The least rain falls around July 30, with an average total accumulation of 0.7 inches.

Snowfall

We report snowfall in liquid-equivalent terms. The actual depth of new snowfall is typically between 5 and 10 times the liquid-equivalent amount, assuming the ground is frozen. Colder, drier snow tends to be on the higher end of that range and warmer, wetter snow on the lower end.

As with rainfall, we consider the snowfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day of the year. William R Fairchild International Airport experiences some seasonal variation in monthly liquid-equivalent snowfall.

The snowy period of the year lasts for 1.9 months, from December 3 to February 1, with a sliding 31-day liquid-equivalent snowfall of at least 0.1 inches. The most snow falls during the 31 days centered around December 30, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.3 inches.

The snowless period of the year lasts for 10 months, from February 1 to December 3. The least snow falls around July 23, with an average total liquid-equivalent accumulation of 0.0 inches.

The length of the day at William R Fairchild International Airport varies extremely over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 8 hours, 21 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 16 hours, 4 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise is at 5:13 AM on June 16, and the latest sunrise is 2 hours, 51 minutes later at 8:04 AM on November 4. The earliest sunset is at 4:20 PM on December 10, and the latest sunset is 4 hours, 58 minutes later at 9:18 PM on June 25.

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed at William R Fairchild International Airport during 2017, starting in the spring on March 12, lasting 7.8 months, and ending in the fall on November 5.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The perceived humidity level at William R Fairchild International Airport, as measured by the percentage of time in which the humidity comfort level is muggy, oppressive, or miserable, does not vary significantly over the course of the year, remaining a virtually constant 0% throughout.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed at William R Fairchild International Airport experiences mild seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The windier part of the year lasts for 5.8 months, from October 21 to April 15, with average wind speeds of more than 2.7 miles per hour. The windiest day of the year is December 4, with an average hourly wind speed of 3.4 miles per hour.

The calmer time of year lasts for 6.2 months, from April 15 to October 21. The calmest day of the year is August 11, with an average hourly wind speed of 1.9 miles per hour.

The predominant average hourly wind direction at William R Fairchild International Airport varies throughout the year.

The wind is most often from the west for 6.1 months, from April 5 to October 7, with a peak percentage of 73% on July 18. The wind is most often from the south for 5.9 months, from October 7 to April 5, with a peak percentage of 41% on January 1.

William R Fairchild International Airport is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average water temperature experiences some seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The time of year with warmer water lasts for 3.1 months, from June 19 to September 21, with an average temperature above 52°F. The day of the year with the warmest water is August 8, with an average temperature of 54°F.

The time of year with cooler water lasts for 3.9 months, from December 8 to April 5, with an average temperature below 48°F. The day of the year with the coolest water is January 29, with an average temperature of 46°F.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy experiences extreme seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The brighter period of the year lasts for 3.3 months, from May 12 to August 22, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter above 5.7 kWh. The brightest day of the year is July 17, with an average of 7.0 kWh.

The darker period of the year lasts for 3.9 months, from October 22 to February 20, with an average daily incident shortwave energy per square meter below 2.1 kWh. The darkest day of the year is December 26, with an average of 0.9 kWh.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of William R Fairchild International Airport are 48.120 deg latitude, -123.500 deg longitude, and 223 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of William R Fairchild International Airport contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 820 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 249 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (6,342 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (7,874 feet).

The area within 2 miles of William R Fairchild International Airport is covered by artificial surfaces (36%), water (31%), and cropland (21%), within 10 miles by water (46%) and trees (41%), and within 50 miles by trees (55%) and water (31%).

This report illustrates the typical weather at William R Fairchild International Airport, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

William R Fairchild International Airport has a weather station that reported reliably enough during the analysis period that we have included it in our network. When available, historical temperature and dew point measurements are taken directly from this weather station. These records are obtained from NOAA's Integrated Surface Hourly data set, falling back on ICAO METAR records as required.

In the case of missing or erroneous measurements from this station, we fall back on records from nearby stations, adjusted according to typical seasonal and diurnal intra-station differences. For a given day of the year and hour of the day, the fallback station is selected to minimize the prediction error over the years for which there are measurements for both stations.

The stations on which we may fall back include but are not limited to Esquimalt Harbour, B. C.; Victoria Automatic Weather Reporting System; Victoria Harbour; Victoria University; Discovery Island; Malahat Automatic Weather Reporting System; Sheringham Automatic Weather Reporting System; and Victoria International Airport.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets , by Jean Meeus.

All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.

Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database .

Time zones for aiports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © Esri, with data from National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, and iPC.