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Climate and Soil
The climate of Coulee city and vicinity is dry, relatively mild, and invigorating. summers are warm and winters mild, but there are seasonal extremes, with recorded temperatures ranging from 113 degrees above zero to 30 degrees below zero. January will have an average minimum temperature of 20 degrees and July an average of 90 degrees. The average annual precipitation ranges from six to eight inches, with the heaviest precipitation normally occurring during winter and spring. Average snowfall is about 18 inches, with more snow falling to the west and east of the town proper.
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Fig. 4. -- The Location of Coulee City in Relation to the Grand Coulee and the Middle Crossing of the Coulee.
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15 - 16
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A View of Coulee City looking east. This picture was taken in 1968. |
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| The main street of Coulee City, looking from east to west. |
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| This undated postcard previously posted in the Coulee City Facebook group is similar to the above picture in Les' History.--C. S. |
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The region experiences a lot of wind especially during the spring months. The spring winds start with a Chinook from the southwest that later becomes warm, hot, and dry west winds as the season progresses to summer. The fall winds will be from the southwest also, but the bad winter storms will come down the Coulee out of the north. This air movement may reach velocities of 50 to 70 miles per hour and with the temperature dropping below zero, a condition is created that provided the cow-killing winters that ruined the cattle industry in the late 1800's.
The evaporation rate is high because of the air movement and low relative humidity. Severe electrical storms are not common and hail storms are usually limited to a narrow strip in the agricultural region north and west of Coulee City. The average frost-free growing season ranges from 120-140 days. 20 There have been occasions where the last killing frost in the spring was as late as May 14 and the first killing frost of the fall occurred as early as mid-September. Fog may occur during the winter months but usually does not last long. Sunshine can be expected for about 50 to 60 per cent of the daylight hours of each year. 21 The winter snow pack and June showers are most important for the agricultural activities in the surrounding area.
Volcanic ash and disintegrated lave have provided much of the region with soils of unsurpassed fertility. Glaciation is most conspicuous and the soil around Coulee City is usually
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20 Freeman and Martin, p. 117.
21 Ibid., p. 120.
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poor because of the erosive action of the Columbia. Bedrock is close to the surface and the soil covering it is saturated with alkali salts. As one travels east and west from Coulee City, the soil bets progressively better. Near the town is a gravel moraine but farther out the rich volcanic ash and disintegrated lava form the foundation for excellent agricultural production when moisture is available. South of town pockets of good soil occur in the channeled scablands, but because of the rimrock coulees, talus slopes, and irregular topography, the region is primarily suited to grazing. 22
Flora and Fauna of the Region
The vegetation of the Coulee country is relative to the climatic factors that are influenced greatly by the Cascade Mountain range. As a region of low rainfall and warm summers, the vegetation indicates that the region is in the Upper Sonoran Life Zone. This zone of distribution is coextensive with the distribution of sagebrush in eastern Washington. Agriculturally it can be defined as an area where the commercial growing of soft fruits and vegetables is practical. Shrubs such as sagebrush, rabbit brush, hop sage, antelope brush, wild goose berry, and grease wood are plentiful. 23 Grasses include bunch grass, rye grass, cheat grass, foxtail grass, and salt grass. Along streams and near springs one may find willows, thorn bushes,
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22 Pictorial display of soil samples at the U. S. Soil Conservation Office at Coulee City, Washington.
23 Charles V. Piper, Flora of the State of Washington (Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1906, p. 31.
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aspens, cottonwoods, and birch trees. 24 The service berry and syringa, which flower in the spring, grow on the talus slopes of the scabland coulees. Rockrose (bitterroot), kouse, and camus can be found growing on the grasslands in the spring and early summer months. 25
Spring is the fresh time of the year with may types of wild flowers coming into bloom in April and May. Most common are buttercups, yellow bells, blue bells, and shooting stars. The low rainfall and high temperatures along with wind and shallow soil conditions cause the vegetation to dry and to take on a brown color after the June rain showers, thus giving the area a desert-like appearance. The dense plant cover and abundance of grasses linked to rainfall are in evidence in the grassland formations either to the east or west of Coulee City.
The fauna of the region is related to the Upper Sonoran Zone and included deer, antelope, coyotes, bobcats, badgers, jack rabbits, cottontail rabbits, marmots, muskrats, mink, and several species of rats, mice, and ground squirrels. 26 Hawks, magpies, ravens, sparrows, turkey buzzards, eagles (both bald and golden), plus the migratory birds that either stop or spend a season in the area are found here. Swallows, blue birds,
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24 Richard D. Daugherty, Early Man in Washington (Olympia: Washington State Printing Plant, 1959, p. 58.
25 Edgar I. Stewart, Washington -- Northwest Frontier (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1957), I, 37.
26 Roderick Sprague, "Archaeology in the Sun Lakes Area of Central Washington." Unpublished Xerox report of research conducted by Washington State University Anthropology Department, June, 1960, p. 2.
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robins, canaries, blackbirds, starlings, and various species of water birds inhabit the lakes and marshes. The most conspicuous of the mibratory waterfowl are sand hill cranes, ducks and geese. the honk of the Canadian goose is a welcome sound in the spring and fall. Native game birds include the sage hen and prairie chicken. Sportsmen in recent years have instigated the planting of Chinese pheasants, quail, Hungarian partridges, and chukars in the region. 27
Reptiles of the region include the bull snake, king snake, water snake, and ragglesnake. The rattlesnake is the most common and has proved to be a nuisance to people and livestock in the reagion. Scabrock coulees and talus slopes provede excellent habitat for these reptiles during the period they are active from May through September.
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27 Interview with L. E. Jeffers, June, 1968.
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| 13 (continued) |
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(page 14 is fig. 4, above)
(pages 15 and 16 are fig. 5, above)
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