Climate - Hoh Rainforest (Washington)

The climate of the Hoh Rainforest is sub-oceanic, with quite cold, very rainy winters and mild, quite sunny summers.
We are in the northwest of the United States, on the Olympic Peninsula, at the foot of the Olympic Mountains. The dominant currents, coming from the Pacific, are already loaded with humidity, and are forced to rise when they meet the mountains. This is why the area is particularly rainy. Already at the Hoh Ranger Station, at 180 meters (600 ft) above sea level, rainfall exceeds 3,200 millimeters (125 inches) per year: outside the Tropics, we are in one of the wettest low-altitude areas in the world.
Occasionally in winter, sometimes even as early as November, there may be cold spells, in which the temperature can drop down to -7/-8 °C (18/19 °F) or even below.
Snow is more frequent than on the coast (where La Push is located). On average, 70 cm (27 in) of snow fall per year.
In summer, it rarely gets hot. On the hottest days of the year, the temperature can reach 32/33 °C, but it may not even reach 30 °C (86 °F) for a whole month.
The average temperature of the coldest month (December) is of 2.5 °C (37 °F), that of the warmest month (August) is of 16.3 °C (61 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 3,245 millimeters (127.8 inches) per year: it is therefore very abundant. It ranges from 55 mm (2.2 in) in the driest month (July) to 630 mm (24.8 in) in the wettest (January). Here is the average precipitation.

Best Time

The best time to visit the Hoh Rainforest is summer, especially in July and August, since it is the mildest, driest and sunniest period of the year. June and September are also acceptable months.

Back to the climate of Washington state.