Fall and winter weather in most of the state was unpredictable and dramatic, resulting in record lows and severe storms that posed health and safety risks to people caught in its path. Record rains churned up rivers and caused landslides and floods around Western Washington.

A record cold with ice paralyzed parts of the west side of the state and impacts on the power grid were severe while low temperatures hovered in the low 10s and subzero in many areas. That was closely followed by record gale force winds, a number of reported cold-related deaths, extensive property damage, and days of power outages for homes and businesses. Temporary shelters were set up to make room to let more people in out of the cold as existing shelters were reaching capacity.

Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife reported that some sites seemed to be holding fewer ducks this year, possibly an affect of the very cold weather that left many ponds and pastures frozen.

Our region is usually protected from Pacific storms by the Olympic Mountains and from Arctic air by the Cascade Range. In December and January, the wettest months, precipitation is generally recorded on 20 to 25 days or more each month. The average January maximum temperature ranges from 41° to 45° F and minimum temperatures from 28° to 32° F… and seldom drops lower than 10° to 15° F.

For December, the nationally-averaged temperature was below normal as several punches of Arctic air dove deep into the United States. Winter storms belted the nation as temps popped the mercury at -40 in some of our neighboring states with blistering cold weather and winds across the country, including many states not used to such frigid temperatures.

In Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency because of the threat to the state’s lucrative crop industry. Little Rock, Arkansas, saw an actual temperature of 10 degrees and wind chill of 20 below zero in early January, according to the National Weather Service. Some locations saw temperatures 30 to 40 degrees below normal in the Plains, upper Midwest and Ohio River Valley. “What’s unusual about this is the length of the cold snap,” CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano said.

With temperatures dropping to historic levels and rainfall off the charts, it’s hard to remember we were just talking about global warming and water conservation not long ago!

However, our summer had also broken some records for heat over a longer number of days and highest temperatures reaching 110 degrees at the Bremerton airport. The National Weather Service in Seattle recorded 103 degrees at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on July 29, breaking a previous record of 100 degrees, set in downtown Seattle in 1941. Bellingham hit 96, an all-time record, breaking the old mark of 94, set in 1960.

Jay Albrecht, a Seattle meteorologist with the service, said it’s the hottest it has been in Seattle since records dating to 1891. Meteorologist Doug McDonnal in Seattle said the stretch of hot weather had lasted longer than usual as the fifth consecutive day above 85 degrees passed.

The National Climatic Data Center reported that December 2009 temperatures were 30.2 degrees F, which is 3.2 degrees F below the long-term average. For the year 2009, the contiguous U.S. averaged 53.1 degrees F, which was 0.3 degrees warmer than the long-term average.

Climatologists say extreme weather events will become more common as our climate heats up and the earth’s weather systems are in a state of flux. Recent climate modeling results indicate that “extreme” weather events may become more common and rising average temperatures produce a more variable climate system, say the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE).

Whatever you believe… no one can deny we’ve had some wicked weather and Mother Nature’s lessons have not treated us lightly.