Climate Impacts Group

Celebrating 30 years of turning WA climate science into action (Public News Service)

Long Range Forecasting. Is it useful or useless?

In this longer format video podcast episode produced by KOMO, Emeritus State Climatologist Nick Bond discusses the appropriate applications of seasonal outlooks and why seasonal outlooks can be so difficult to forecast.  

Washington Braces for a La Niña Winter

A mild La Niña pattern could bring a few mountain snow flurries but not a guaranteed snowy season. Washington State Climatologist Guillaume Mauger is interviewed. 

PNW water year off to better start

Several watersheds in the PNW region are experiencing above-normal precipitation as water year 2026 begins. A slight lean above normal precipitation is forecasted this winter for most of the Pacific Northwest. Deputy State Climatologist Karin Bumbaco is quoted.  

Marine heatwave over Pacific Ocean could lead to flooding in north-west

A marine heatwave known as a blob was especially severe this year in the north-western and central Pacific Ocean, which could lead in the coming months to increased flooding in the US Pacific north-west and especially wintery weather in eastern North America, according to climate scientists. Emeritus State Climatologist Nick Bond is quoted.   

Washington water year cut into irrigation allotments

Washington’s 2025 water year was dry and hot and its effects are lingering into the new water year. In early October, the Department of Ecology curtailed senior water rights in the Yakima Basin due to lack of available water. This is the first time that senior water rights have been curtailed in Washington. The Washington State Climate Office calculates the water year — Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025 — was the 37th driest and four warmest on record. Records date back to 1895. Deputy State Climatologist Karin Bumbaco is quoted.  

Return of The Blob: Heat wave spans Pacific Ocean

A massive heat wave is hitting the Pacific Ocean from Kamchatka to California. Beyond disrupting the ocean’s food web and fisheries, the underwater heat wave, known as “The Blob,” can alter weather on land thousands of miles away. Emeritus State Climatologist Nick Bond is quoted.  

Letter from the Director – October 2025

Happy Fall!

As the UW community begins a new academic year, we are reminded just how much students and faculty make the Climate Impacts Group what it is. While the CIG is not a degree-granting department, we interact with students in many ways. We host undergraduate summer interns and a graduate student summer school, employ graduate students to support projects, serve on thesis advisory committees, and even teach a course on co-production of climate change adaptation solutions. We’ve found incorporating students and faculty as collaborators on our projects and the cross-pollination of their studies and our research to be invaluable! We’re pleased to introduce you to this summer’s fantastic interns and their projects in this issue. 

Q&A with our summer interns: Studying Adaptation, Building Skills for a Career in Climate

Intern season is one of our favorite times of year! The EarthLab Summer Internship Program is a nine-week paid internship for UW undergraduate students to build knowledge in environmental and climate justice through a cohort-based peer learning model. Every summer, the Climate Impacts Group hosts interns who reliably provide fresh and valuable input on our projects while receiving career development support. This year, our five interns entered the program representing a breadth of disciplines — computer science, education, business marketing & sustainability, medical anthropology and biology. They worked with the Washington State Climate Office on a flood modeling analysis project and Inclusive Excellence evaluation; with the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center on science communications and invasive mussel research; and with CIG scientists on mutual aid research.  

Planning for Extreme Heat in Western Washington: Ongoing workshops highlight opportunities for regional collaboration and coordination

Summers in western Washington have historically been quite mild, but extreme heat has become much more common in the past couple of decades. This summer, the Washington State Climate Office (WASCO) participated in three separate extreme heat planning efforts, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).