The Pacific Ocean and the Weather Along the U.S. West Coast - A WxTalk Recap

The May WxTalk Webinar featured Eric Skyllingstad with Oregon State University Corvallis, OR describing the variety of weather along the west coast caused by the proximity to the Pacific Ocean. In the winter, large storms are fed energy by the evaporation of water and can generate intense rainfall and hurricane-force winds when they collide with the coastal terrain.  Summer days often end with a simple wind shift that brings cool ocean air inland.  An important part of these weather events is the exchange of energy, water, and momentum between the ocean and atmosphere over the coastal region. This interaction is what makes the coastal climate much different from most of the interior U.S.

You can view the webinar on YouTube at this link.

 

Past webinars can be viewed in the WxTalk Webinar Series archive which includes descriptions and links to all of the webinars presented since 2011.

 WX is a common abbreviation for "weather". It originated as the Morse code shorthand for the word "weather".