Climate
The main unit of the monument is located in the mountains at elevations varying from 3,680 to 5,480 feet (1,120 to 1,670 m) above sea level. The park's nearness to the ocean contributes to its relatively mild climate. Temperatures generally range between 20 and 40 °F (-7 and 4 °C) in winter and 50 and 90 °F (10 and 32 °C) in summer. However, inside the cave, the temperature is always about 44 °F (7 °C). Annual precipitation, arriving mostly as wet snow, averages 55 inches (1,400 mm). Moderate winds are common.
The climate in Cave Junction, at 1,800 feet (550 m) above sea level, is warmer and wetter than the climate at the main unit. December and January are the coldest months, when highs average about 46 °F (8 °C) and lows average 32 °F (0 °C). July and August are the warmest months, with an average high of 92 °F (33 °C) and an average low of about 50 °F (10 °C). The highest recorded temperature at Cave Junction was 112 °F (44 °C) in 2006, and the lowest was −6 °F (−21 °C) in 1972. Annual precipitation averages about 63 inches (1,600 mm). November through February are the wettest, averaging about 10 to 11 inches (250 to 280 mm) each month.
| Climate data for Cave Junction, Oregon | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °F (°C) | 47 (8) |
52 (11) |
58 (14) |
65 (18) |
74 (23) |
83 (28) |
92 (33) |
92 (33) |
85 (29) |
72 (22) |
54 (12) |
46 (8) |
68.3 (20.2) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 32 (0) |
34 (1) |
35 (2) |
37 (3) |
41 (5) |
47 (8) |
51 (11) |
49 (9) |
44 (7) |
39 (4) |
36 (2) |
32 (0) |
39.8 (4.3) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 10.81 (274.6) |
9.75 (247.7) |
8.15 (207) |
4.10 (104.1) |
2.27 (57.7) |
0.74 (18.8) |
0.28 (7.1) |
0.55 (14) |
1.32 (33.5) |
3.66 (93) |
10.04 (255) |
10.98 (278.9) |
62.65 (1,591.3) |
| Source: The Weather Channel | |||||||||||||
Read more about this topic: Oregon Caves National Monument
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“Nobody is so constituted as to be able to live everywhere and anywhere; and he who has great duties to perform, which lay claim to all his strength, has, in this respect, a very limited choice. The influence of climate upon the bodily functions ... extends so far, that a blunder in the choice of locality and climate is able not only to alienate a man from his actual duty, but also to withhold it from him altogether, so that he never even comes face to face with it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The climate of Ohio is perfect, considered as the home of an ideal republican people. Climate has much to do with national character.... A climate which permits labor out-of-doors every month in the year and which requires industry to secure comfort—to provide food, shelter, clothing, fuel, etc.—is the very climate which secures the highest civilization.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“If often he was wrong and at times absurd,
To us he is no more a person
Now but a whole climate of opinion.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)