November in Seattle

These photos were taken in Sodo in November 2014.  Sodo stands for south of downtown & is also spelled SoDo & SODO.  It is the part of the Duwamish Industrial Area south from the Stadium District to Georgetown, between Beacon Hill & the Duwamish River.  It is a place filled with trucks, trains & old warehouses.  There are also stores, restaurants serving lunch to the people who work here & very few residences.

November 2014 in Seattle was slightly warmer & significantly drier than normal.  The mean temperature was 46.  The normal mean temperature is 45.4.  Total precipitation was 4.84 inches.  Normal precipitation is 6.57 inches.  The highest temperature was 62 on 11/6.  The lowest was 23 on 11/30.  There was 1 day with heavy rain, 5 days with rain, 15 days with light rain, 1 day with light snow, 16 days with fog (2 of them with visibility at less than 1/4 mile) 15 cloudy days,  7 partly cloudy days & 8 fair days.  November 2014 had an unusually high number of fair days.  There was a cold spell  of 7 days with lows between 28 & 32 from 11/12 to 11/18.  These days were 6 to 9 degrees below normal for each of those days.  Then 0.8 inches of snow fell on 11/29.

This is the last post on the weather in Seattle.  Future posts on various topics will be scheduled on the 1st Friday of every month.       

October in Seattle

A mid-century house.

A 1920s house with 2000s townhouses across the alley.

The former Colman School, now the Northwest African American Museum & Urban League Village Apartments.  This building was built in 1909 & is typical of Seattle schools built during that population boom.  Most have been replaced with modern structures.  This empty, historically black school was occupied by a group of 40 activists in 1985, who demanded the museum.  It was a long time coming.  The museum opened on the ground floor in 2008.  The apartments above offer affordable housing to people of any race.  The lawn in front of the building is Jimi Hendrix Park, which should be landscaped sooner or later.  A plan exists.  Jimi Hendrix was born & raised in Seattle, not far from here. 

Blue Dog Pond dog park.

A 1910s house with 2000s townhouses next door.  These photos were taken in October 2014 in the north Rainier Valley, in a part of the Atlantic neighborhood just south of Interstate 90.  It is a transitional area with vacant lots, older homes & newer townhouses built during the housing bubble that burst in 2008.  Plans for more townhouses now exist, with one project under construction.

October 2014 in Seattle was much warmer & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 58F/14.4C.  Normal mean temperature is 52.8F/11.6C.  Total precipitation was 6.75 inches/172mm.  Normal precipitation is 3.48 inches/88mm.  The highest temperature was 78F/25.6C on 10/6.  The lowest was 44F/6.7C on 10/26.  Highs were mostly in the 60s & lows were mostly in the 50s.  There were 5 days with heavy rain, 10 days with rain, 22 days with light rain, 20 days with fog (6 of them with visibility at less than 1/4 mile) 20 cloudy days, 9 partly cloudy days & 2 fair days.  Except for the first 7 days, it was a dark & rainy month. 

September in Seattle

The South Lake Union Streetcar at Lake Union Park

Old & new buildings side by side.

 Old buildings soon to be demolished.

These photos were taken in South Lake Union in September 2014.  This area is converting rapidly from warehouses to office buildings for the high tech industry, mostly Amazon.

September 2014 in Seattle was warmer & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 64.8F/18.2C.  The normal mean temperature is 61.3F/16.3C.  Total precipitation was 2.23 inches/56.64mm.  Normal precipitation is 1.5 inches/38.1mm.  The highest temperature was 90F/32.2C on 9/6, the lowest 50F/10C on 9/13.  There was one day with heavy rain, 3 days with rain, 13 days with light rain, 13 days with fog (one of them with visibility at less than 1/4 mile) 10 cloudy days, 9 partly cloudy days & 11 fair days.  It was a pleasant month with an unusual number of fair days & some beautifully foggy mornings.

December in Seattle

Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) on Capitol Hill December 2012

Rosa rugosa in Columbia City December 2012

 

Sequoia sempervirens (Coast Redwood) at Franklin High School December 2012

South Seattle Community College Arboretum December 2012

Viburnum x bodnantense at York Park December 2012

December 2012 in Seattle was warmer & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 41.5F/5.27C.  The normal mean temperature is 40.6F/4.77C.  The highest temperature was 56F/13.33C, the lowest 29F/-1.66C.  Total precipitation was 6.85 inches.  Normal precipitation is 5.35 inches.  Snowfall was 0.6 inches.  Normal snowfall is 1.7 inches.  There was 1 day with heavy rain, 11 days with rain, 27 days with light rain, 2 days with snow, 2 days with light snow, 25 days with fog, 2 days with haze, 27 cloudy days, 4 partly cloudy days & no fair days.  I did very little work in the garden because of the continuous wetness.

November in Seattle 2012

Birch at the Washington Park Arboretum in November 2012

Maple & Coca-Cola in Mt Baker in November 2012

Platanus acerifolia at Seattle Central Community College in November 2012

Scarecrow in Mt Baker in November 2012

Seattle University in November 2012

November 2012 was warmer & wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 46.9F/8.3C.  The normal mean temperature is 45.4F/7.4C.  The highest temperature was 64F/17.8C, the lowest 31F/-0.6C, a light frost on November 10.  Total precipitation was 8.28 inches.  Normal precipitation is 6.57 inches.  There were 2 days with heavy rain, 9 days with rain, 23 days with light rain, 23 days with fog, 3 days with haze, 21 cloudy days, 8 partly cloudy days & 1 fair day.

Starting with November 2012, I dispensed with pictures from my own garden.  I thought long & hard about how to replace them.  I came up with the idea of urban landscape photos, which could come from any part of Seattle.  I have spent almost my entire life living in large cities, which have also included Los Angeles & San Francisco.  I'm keenly aware that the urban landscape includes streets, sidewalks, vehicles, advertising, graffiti, structures & other manufactured objects, as well as gardens & parks.  Fortunately, the landscape of Seattle includes an enormous number plants & quite a few natural areas.  My pictures now include the entire urban landscape.

October Garden Pictures

Aster novae-angliae 'Hella Lacy' October 2012

 

Crocus kotschyanus October 2012

Quercus gambelii October 2012

Rosa 'Queen Elizabeth' October 2012

Zauschneria latifolia October 2012

October 2012 in Seattle was warmer & much wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 53.8F/12.1C.  The normal mean temperature is 52.8F/11.6C.  Total precipitation was 6.71 inches.  Normal precipitation is 3.48 inches.  The highest temperature was 75F/23.9C, the lowest 38F/3.3C.  There were 3 days with heavy rain, 14 days with rain, 16 days with light rain, 18 days with fog, 19 cloudy days, 5 partly cloudy days & 7 fair days.  The weather changed abruptly with 0.19 inches of rain on October 13 & more than 1 inch of rain over a 3 day period.  There had been no significant rainfall since July 20, a freakish period of 84 dry & mostly sunny days.  Suddenly, very wet fall weather began & continued throughout the month.

This will be the last regular posting of pictures from the Cascadia Garden.  In November, I will start posting urban landscape photos from various places in Seattle.  After 4 years, photos from my garden have become repetitive. Also, I plan to leave this property within the next 6 months.

December Garden Pictures

Euphorbia nicaeensis December 2011

Hebe x pimeloides December 2011

Hypericum 'Hidcote' December 2011 This thing blooms forever!

Sorbus forrestii December 2011

Tanacetum parthenium December 2011

December 2011 was cooler & much drier than usual. The mean temperature was 39.2F/4C, 1.4 degrees lower than normal. The highest temperature was 53F/11.6C, the lowest 26F/-3.3C.  2.24 inches of rain accumulated, 3.1 less than normal. There were 18 cloudy days, 13 partly cloudy days, 0 fair days, 18 days with rain, 24 days with fog & 3 days with haze.  The 13 partly cloudy days were unusually sunny for December.  Fog was mostly gone by noon.  On December 10 there was a lunar eclipse starting around 5:00 AM. It was a beautiful month.

Lunar eclipse December 10, 2011 at approximately 5:00 to 6:00 AM

November Garden Pictures

Cascadia Garden November 2011

Hakonechloa macra 'Albo Striata' November 2011

Magnolia ashei November 2011

Felis cattus 'Mimi' November 2011

Rosa nutkana November 2011

November 2011 had the most beautiful fall color of any November I can remember.  The month started out mostly dry & windless.  Leaves remained on the trees & shrubs later than normal, developing rich shades of red, yellow & orange.  November 2011 was cooler & drier than normal.  The average monthly maximum temperature was 49.3F/9.6C.   The normal average monthly temperature is 50.9F/10.5C.  The highest temperature was 62F/16.6C, the lowest 27F/-2.7C.  We had 5.16 inches of rain, 1.41 less than normal.  It rained lightly on 18 days, moderately on 8 days & heavily on 3.  There were 15 cloudy days, 14 partly cloudy days & 1 sunny day.

October Garden Pictures & Bloom Times

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi October 2011

Crocosmia 'Emberglow' October 2011

Mahonia pinnata 'Ken Hartman' October 2011

Pinus kwangtungensis October 2011

 Zauschneria californica October 2011

Below is a short list of plants that began to bloom in my garden in Seattle in October 2011. I recorded the date when the 1st flower opened, not when they were in bud. I think this information is helpful in planning your garden. But I have decided to stop keeping track of this in the future.  It is too difficult for me to be so vigilant.  You can refer to past bloom times posts for 4 years this information. October 2011 was somewhat cooler & very slightly drier than normal.  The average monthly maximum temperature was 58F/14.4C.  The normal average monthly maximum temperature is 59.7F/15.4C.  The highest temperature was 67F/19.4C, the lowest 37F/2.7C.  We had 3.45 inches of rain, 0.03 less than normal.  It rained on 17 days.  There were 20 cloudy days, 10 partly cloudy days & 1 clear day.

10-08-11 Crocus kotschyanus 9-27-10, 10-05-08

10-18-11 Hirpicium armerioides 8-03-10

10-18-11 Mahonia gracilipes 9-14-10