Climate
Whidbey Island lies partially in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountain Range to the west, and has a variety of climate zones. This can be observed by rainfall amounts – wettest in the south with average rainfall of 30 inches (760 mm), driest in the central district of Coupeville with average rainfall of 18 to 20 inches (460 to 510 mm), and turning moister again farther north with average rainfall of 26 inches (660 mm). Microclimates abound, determined by proximity to water, elevation and prevailing winds. Additional variation comes from soil type. The sandy clay and gravely soils of the southern end of the island give way to soils composed of mostly rock at the northern end of the island.
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Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’ character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilization nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe.... What a terrible future!”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Russian forests crash down under the axe, billions of trees are dying, the habitations of animals and birds are layed waste, rivers grow shallow and dry up, marvelous landscapes are disappearing forever.... Man is endowed with creativity in order to multiply that which has been given him; he has not created, but destroyed. There are fewer and fewer forests, rivers are drying up, wildlife has become extinct, the climate is ruined, and the earth is becoming ever poorer and uglier.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
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—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)