Blog #3 – Cannon Beach Climate

Important Climate Control Factors:
(1) Latitude
(2) Elevation
(3) Nearby Water
(4) Ocean Currents
(5) Topography
(6) Vegetation
(7) Prevailing Winds
(8) Precipitation

Cannon Beach is geographically located along a narrow strip of Oregon coastline.  It is considered to be part of the marine west coast climate.  This climate is very humid throughout most of the year. Its geographic location puts Cannon Beach in the direct path of westerly winds from the Pacific Ocean, which helps to produce cloudy skies, abundant precipitation, and mild temperatures.  The Coastal Range mountains to the east of Cannon Beach helps to influence the climate also.

The most important climate control of this area is the west coast location in the mid-latitudes.  The Maritime Polar air masses are constantly moving ashore bringing high humidity from the water and mild temperatures.  Since the ocean does not heat or cool as quickly as land, the ocean currents help moderate the temperature of Cannon Beach.  In addition to affecting temperature, warm ocean currents help promote instability in the atmosphere, enhancing uplift and precipitation.

As stated above, the orientation of the mountains to the east of Cannon Beach has an important role in the climate of this area.   The north-south orientation acts as a barrier to oceanic air masses in the Westerlies forcing them to rise and cool resulting in the production of cloudy, rainy conditions along the coast.  The north-south aligned mountains cause this uplift and precipitation on their windward western slopes and dry conditions on the leeward eastern slopes.  The ocean currents essentially parallel the direction of the global wind system.  Mid-latitude weather systems tend to move in a west-to-east direction in North America. 

Since this blog is limited in space, I have attached several other slides containing more information on Cannon Beach climate.

Sources:

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072873647/574123/ch08.pdf

http://www4.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/climate_systems/marine_west_coast.html