moving to spokane

I'm still trying to figure out how political leanings got
dragged into
a discussion about weather. I mean, without Jay's help,
that is.



Actually, I appreciate all information I can get. Thanks to
all of you
who have responded. I'm really just trying to get a feel for
the area
and that's what I'm getting from your responses. Even
(especially) the
political climate is important when I'll be living and working
in the
area.

How about the airports? Anybody land frequently at Mead, Deer
Park,
Felts? I noticed in AFD that Mead has no winter snow removal.
Deer
Park Airport looks pretty large for such a sparsely populated
area. I'm
leaning toward the Mead area, due to schools and real estate
situation.

I live in Hanford, CA. Hanford Muni (HJO) has an indifferent
FBO that
fills the needs of this small town, I suppose. I'm able to
rent an
elderly Warrior II on block time for $80/hr. Anyone know the
FBO's in
the Spokane area? Rental rates and availability?

I've been scrounging up as much information on the web as I
can, but
FBO's are mostly too poor for an info rich website, it seems.

I'll be going there in two weeks to look over the area. I
plan to stop
by the airports and talk to some FBO's. If anyone can point
me to the
better ones now, I'd appreciate it very much.

Thanks again,

Pablo

The suicide rate is higher on the left side. Dreary wx is a significant
factor. Bush's election is another. God knows what would happen if
Starbucks or BMW raise their prices.


"Antoñio" wrote in message
oups.com...


pablo wrote:
I'm considering moving to Spokane in a year. snip
Thanks

I live in Western WA. I will ditto what has been said already: The
climates are vastly different. Eastern WA (east of the Cascade mountain
range) is much drier and extreme temperature-wise. It is mostly like a
high-plains desert, very flat, few trees, rattlesnakes, lots of rich
wheat farmers, very conservative politically, hot in the day and cold
at night.

Spokane has more trees than most of eastern WA. It has, I think, about
300,000 people, lots of Republicans and "neo-cons". Lots of
agricultural stuff going on. The town seems a little run-down in most
areas.

Western WA is almost the diametric opposite: Cloudy and/or wet most of
the time from mid October to about mid may. It is fairly dry in the
summer months, though. More jobs are here because the cities are
larger. Lots of traffic problems on the only freeway that runs north to
south (I-5), more liberal, more beautiful with its lush foiliage, fir
trees, lakes, Puget Sound, and ocean. State capitol is in Olympia on
this side. More TFR's than anywhere in the US. Better colleges. Lots of
liberal types here.

If you like, you can write me with specific questions.

Antonio

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:qZjle.9845$IC6.9583@attbi_s72...
It was amazing. We were downtown at the aquarium, and we were able to
watch the rain squalls rolling in across the bay (or, rather "sound")
every few minutes. In between, it would be sunny and semi-nice out.

Actually, you were just fine with "bay". As in, Elliott Bay.

The Puget Sound is the entire large area of water, up to but not including
the Strait of Juan de Fuca. You can't see the whole sound from the Seattle
waterfront (or from any waterfront).

Elliott Bay, on the other hand, is the smaller area of water immediately
adjacent to Seattle.

"Across the Sound" wouldn't be terribly wrong, really...but "Bay" is more
accurate from that vantage point, and certainly not in error.

Nor surprisingly, it looked EXACTLY like the Weather Channel depictions of
Seattle, with bands of precip rolling across the state.

Which isn't what rain around here usually looks like, actually. In our
regular "rainy season" we usually just get heavy stratus clouds dumping
precipitation everywhere. The main exception would be the "convergence
zone" where the air mass having been split by the Olympic Mountains
reconverges, causing uplifting. It is often rainier and more turbulent
where the convergence zone happens to be that day (it can wander north or
south by quite a bit, depending on the prevailing wind direction).

Of course, rain is never really that simple, but the generalities hold
pretty well. The main thing to keep in mind is that the weather you saw
when you were here is hardly typical, even for Seattle.

Pete

Used to fly in often to Spokane to visit the Fighter Squadron there.

Most times made a GCA up the river and over the bridges to get in.

Am sure they have good days but also a lot of bad.

Wx not like we had in North Bay, San Francisco, like you, fog in
winter.

You just learn to live with it, some days you fly and some you don't.

Big John
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On Wed, 25 May 2005 20:19:39 -0500, pablo smpharmanautatyahoodotcom
wrote:

I'm considering moving to Spokane in a year. Any comments on
Mead airport, Deer Park, or Felts field???

I'm a new pilot and I'm wondering about the weather situation
there. I live in San Joaquin Valley in California. Sunny
most of the time, except in winter (fog!!!).

Thanks

Peter Duniho wrote:
"Anto=F1io" wrote in message
oups.com...
[...]
More TFR's than anywhere in the US. Better colleges. Lots of
liberal types here.

I'm still trying to figure out how political leanings got dragged into a
discussion about weather. I mean, without Jay's help, that is.

..=2E.Just describing the "climate". ;-)

As far as the TFRs go, I guess you haven't actually been flying in awhile.
We've only got one left.

Actually, I fly quite often. I just don't check the TFR's much! I stand
corrected and so do you...we have two left...Bangon and Mt.St.Helen's

Are the jobs here because the cities are larger (as you claim)? Or are t=
he
cities larger because the jobs are here?

I see you are a fan of Zen. The tree falling in the forest koan always
got me.

But I see your point. Boeing and Microsoft probably made the noise
before the non-employment fell...net effect is still the same
though--if you are looking for employment and are moving to WA, you'd
have a better chance on the west side.


I love how it looks here on the west side, and prefer the scenery here, b=
ut
I'll bet some folks from the east side would take issue with your asserti=
on
that the west side is "more beautiful". There is lots of wonderful scene=
ry
on the east side, if you just open your eyes to appreciate it.

Actually, now that you mention it, I also love the wide-open, expansive
views you get of the landscape and the sky over on the east side.
Sometimes I drive the back country there and enjoy how you can drive
for hours and not see a tree, a house, or a soul.

Other than all that, I think you summed things up nicely. That said, I
think I'm starting to see why your wife contradicts you so often.

..=2E.It's just because she's often wrong! ;-)

Antonio

Actually, now that you mention it, I also love the wide-open, expansive
views you get of the landscape and the sky over on the east side.
Sometimes I drive the back country there and enjoy how you can drive
for hours and not see a tree, a house, or a soul.

THAT would be a pleasant change from Seattle, which -- from everything I
saw -- is nothing but Chicago West.

Except it's even worse, since many Seattle drivers apparently have no clue
how to deal with their (relatively) new-found traffic. There were many
opportunities for us to study the city-scape as we sat in 8-lanes of
traffic, all stopped for no apparent reason.

(At least in Chicago we could blame the toll booths!)

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

God knows what would happen if Starbucks or BMW raise their prices.

Starbucks (AKA: The Bottled Water of Coffee) couldn't possibly raise their
prices any higher. At SEA-TAC I paid $3.70 for a big cup of their colored
water -- what a rip!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Clear and 88 in Seattle today, Jay, with the same expected tomorrow. No rain
and a little cooler (81) yesterday.

Bob Gardner

"John Ousterhout" wrote in
message news:AYale.6453$IC6.4343@attbi_s72...
Jay Honeck wrote:
I'm considering moving to Spokane in a year. Any comments on
Mead airport, Deer Park, or Felts field???

I'm a new pilot and I'm wondering about the weather situation
there. I live in San Joaquin Valley in California. Sunny
most of the time, except in winter (fog!!!).


I dunno about the airports, but it appears to me that an instrument
rating is absolutely required if you want to live in Washington.

I was just there for four days. It rained every day, with alarmingly
little warning, and with quite suddenly lowered ceilings and visibility.

(In short, the weather SUCKED.)

A quick look at a map would show that Spokane is over 200 nm east of
Seattle - well over 100 nm east of the Cascade mountains.

The climate in Spokane is much different than Seattle. Many Washington
Residents consider Western and Eastern WA to be two different states.
(Ditto Oregon)

A moments Googling found this information:


Spokane, WA Climate
* 260 Days of Sunshine a Year
Average Annual Rainfall: 17 inches
Average Annual Snowfall: 51 inches
Average Days with Snow: 73 days
Average January Temperatu 20-30F
Average July Temperatu 54-82F


Seattle, WA Climate
Average number of rainy days each year: 154
Average annual rainfall: 39 inches
Average annual snowfall: 11 inches annually
Average temperature in January: 40F
Average temperature in July: 65F


- John Ousterhout-

If you are going to move to Spokane, you need to learn how to pronounce
the name of the city. Here is a link to a song that will help you with
that:
http://www.bobrivers.com/audiovault/...p?Var=S&Page=2

Scroll down the the song for Spokane and enjoy!

Dean

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:UVple.11852$IC6.534@attbi_s72...
THAT would be a pleasant change from Seattle, which -- from everything I
saw -- is nothing but Chicago West.

Again, how astute of you to come up with that *oh* so accurate comparison in
the four days you were here. It's amazing how little time a person needs to
figure out all they need to know about a place.

Suffice to say, Seattle and Chicago have very little in common.

Except it's even worse, since many Seattle drivers apparently have no clue
how to deal with their (relatively) new-found traffic. There were many
opportunities for us to study the city-scape as we sat in 8-lanes of
traffic, all stopped for no apparent reason.

You're funny. Yes, drivers here have no clue. They have no clue where you
are too. You just don't have as many people crammed into as little space as
we do.

Pete