# What's Ellensburg like in the winter



## buddhistwithafancybicycle (Jun 18, 2005)

Hi,

I have the option of spending the winter in Ellensburg. What is the winter riding there compared to western washington? I am familiar with western WA - often wet and 40's, or dry and 30's, almost always overcast. But usually rideable.

Just looking at the stats Ellensburg is going to be much colder but much drier. Any elaborations? Is it usually rideable or how much snow/ice is there in January? Sunshine? Roads?


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## waldo425 (Sep 22, 2008)

I have a friend thats living there right now and he says that it gets pretty cold and dry. Not a whole ton of rain but it does snow sometimes. I don't know a whole lot more than that and Ive never been there myself.


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## martinrjensen (Sep 23, 2007)

*Ellensburg*

OK, the big thing is it's gonna be colder than **** all winter long. Also just so you know, while it's more common to have lots of wind in the spring than winter, Ellensburg is one of the top 6 places in the US (maybe world for all I know) for a wind farm, see where this is going? There is a huge wind farm just to the east and a little north of town and you can easily see the turbines from the freeway. 
The wind will predominately come from the west, but sometimes from the east too, not too often from the North or South. so this means that while your daily ride may be into a 30 mph headwind (don't laugh, it's pretty common) your ride home will be brisk to say the least. This is assuming that you take the wind into consideration and ride into it on the first half of your ride, which I'm sure you would do later if not sooner. I'm sure they don't get too much snow because the snow is blown off the roads. 
If I were you, I would figure out how to be comfortable in temperatures between -15 and 30 degrees. A pair of real "serious gloves, booties, and probably a face mask (balaclava) for those especially cold day. It gets colder but if you are protecting yourself for -20 you are probably OK for a lower temp too, plus the wind chill will get you anyway. You are right that it's fairly dry, but then it is in a desert basin.
And if you are wondering, no I don't live there, I live in Seattle but I fish the Yakima river a lot (10 miles out of Ellensburg) and do go over there in the winter. In Seattle if I want to do a ride without the wind, all I have to do is go early as the wind (if we are going to have any) doesn't usually pick up till afternoon. Not so in Ellensburg. What you will find is that if weather is moving through the area, you will have wind. If the weather is stable with high pressure it is more likely to be calm.


buddhistwithafancybicycle said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have the option of spending the winter in Ellensburg. What is the winter riding there compared to western washington? I am familiar with western WA - often wet and 40's, or dry and 30's, almost always overcast.  But usually rideable.
> 
> Just looking at the stats Ellensburg is going to be much colder but much drier. Any elaborations? Is it usually rideable or how much snow/ice is there in January? Sunshine? Roads?


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

*Trainer weather.*

Several teammates / coworkers went to CWU in e-burg.

They all say that it is cool and dry in the fall, but once the snow hits, it's, uh, snowy. Trainer time.

Check out the quick C-&-P for average high, average low, inches rain, inches snow.

Nov 45.7 26.9 1.25 3.2 
Dec 35.6 21.0 1.45 9.4 
Jan 34.3 18.6 1.27 9.4 
Feb 41.5 22.8 0.92 4.6


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## martinrjensen (Sep 23, 2007)

*weather*

Well I would say that the fall is probably your best bet for no wind. What did they say about wind? Temps seem correct there. Dry? yes.You still would see a lot days that weren't 35 degrees though. If I were going there I would still prepare for my suggestions and count myself lucky if it was nicer. Seeing as it's a college town, I'm sure that there are some people riding all winter over there. 
I'm spoiled over here in Seattle. Our idea of a bad winter day is cloudy and 45-50 degrees. Other than November, we don't even get much rain. (don't ask about last year, that was just plain weird what with the 2 weeks of snow)


Argentius said:


> Several teammates / coworkers went to CWU in e-burg.
> 
> They all say that it is cool and dry in the fall, but once the snow hits, it's, uh, snowy. Trainer time.
> 
> ...


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## buddhistwithafancybicycle (Jun 18, 2005)

I did not realize the amount of wind & snow. It sounds harsher than Seattle. May reconsider going. hhmmm.....

Thanks for the advice everyone.


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## martinrjensen (Sep 23, 2007)

*harsh*

Man, it's way way harsher that Seattle. Seattle almost doesn't have anything that even qualifies as winter. It's mostly cool and damp here. Temp hanging around 45 and cloudy. Our worst month is November when it's the most stormy. it gets cold in December and that's it. That's it. Ellensburg definitely has winter, and did I mention the wind? I think I did.


buddhistwithafancybicycle said:


> I did not realize the amount of wind & snow. It sounds harsher than Seattle. May reconsider going. hhmmm.....
> 
> Thanks for the advice everyone.


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## old'n'slow (Sep 4, 2007)

Here's another "heads up" regarding the wind in E-burg. 

I remember coming through there on a rather large motorcycle. The wind was blowing so hard it was almost impossible to keep in my lane. Luckily, there was little traffic to deal with or it could have been ugly.


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## verslowrdr (May 13, 2008)

I live in the Eburg area. Cold, wind, snow, and ice in the winter.

Most of us just switch to XC skis or indoor it starting about now until late April.


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