Climate - Longview (Washington)

The climate of Longview is sub-oceanic, with quite cold, rainy winters and mild to pleasantly warm, fairly sunny summers.
The city is located in the southwest of Washington state, on the plain, 75 km (45 mi) away from the Pacific Ocean. Beyond the Columbia River lies the state of Oregon, while a tributary of the Columbia River, the Cowlitz, divides Longview from the town of Kelso. Mount St. Helens is just 55 km (35 mi) to the east.
The city is surrounded by hills, so it has a cooler microclimate than other cities in the area: for example, it is about 1.5 °C cooler than Portland, and is similar to Centralia, which is 65 km (40 mi) further to the north.
Fog can form at night, especially from October to March.
Although the winter is not very cold, every winter there can be a cold period, with night lows dropping to -7/-8 °C (18/19 °F). Moreover, there can sometimes be cold waves, sometimes even in November, with temperatures going down to -10 °C (14 °F) or even below. The temperature dropped to -16.5 °C (2 °F) in February 1950, and to -14 °C (7 °F) in December 2009.
Snow is rare, but given the high precipitation level, a heavy snowfall can occasionally occur. On average, 13 cm (5 inches) of snow fall per year.
In summer, nights are cool, and sometimes even a little cold, while the days are generally pleasant. However, it can sometimes get hot, and on the hottest days of the year, it can reach 35/36 °C (95/97 °F). In July 2009, it reached 41 °C (106 °F).
The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of 4 °C (39 °F), that of the warmest month (August) is of 18.3 °C (65 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 1,160 millimeters (45.7 inches) per year: it is therefore quite abundant. It ranges from 20 mm (0.8 in) in the driest month (July) to 180 mm (7.1 in) in the wettest (December). Here is the average precipitation.

Best Time

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

Back to the climate of Washington state.