Washington residents can anticipate a cool and wet winter this coming season. KXLY, a local news broadcasting station, expects that La Niña—a weather pattern marked by cooler seawater temperatures—will emerge this fall and stay for the foreseeable future, leaving much of the Pacific Northwest with chiller and damper weather conditions. KREM 2 also highlights The Farmers’ Almanac, which predicts a “slushy season” for this region. 

Sophomore Bree Pollack reflects on her first year in Spokane and its memorable record-setting weather. “The first year that we got here, I’m pretty sure it was a record-warm summer and a record-cold winter,” said Pollack. With only snow shovels to clear the piles of snow, she mentions that Spokane was a noticeable change from living in Tennessee and Florida.  

Despite the stark contrasts in weather, Pollack has embraced the Spokane winters. She said, “Honestly, I love it. I love the cold weather. I love the snow. It was kind of exciting being in the snow for the first time.” 

While Spokane’s weather forecast remains relatively consistent for the months ahead, Southern states are facing devastation as hurricanes barrel through their cities. Hurricane Helene struck the Southeast shoreline as a Category 4 hurricane just two weeks ago. Before southerners could recover and assess the catastrophic damage to their towns, Hurricane Milton made landfall on Oct. 8. 

For Zaanan Bane, the Florida storms raised a cause for concern. He shares that his father received an evacuation order in light of Hurricane Milton but had to ride out the storm at home. “He tried to leave, so he packed up everything he had [and] got in his car, but the highways were completely gridlocked,” said Bane. His father drove back to his house, boarded the windows, and slept through the storm’s arrival.  

While he feels fortunate for his father’s safety, Bane also notes the severe damage left in Florida. “The West Coast is completely underwater. Most of the state doesn’t have power. Most people’s houses are completely flooded. They’ve lost just about everything,” said Bane. 

Alongside Florida’s sheer tragedy amid the hurricanes, states further North have also experienced challenges of their own. As Pollack explains, states such as the Carolinas have faced worse conditions due to their lack of adequate resources. “There hasn’t been much response in helping the Carolinas and those states that are North of Florida,” said Pollack. 

Bane says that his church, True Hope, has recently partnered with Convoy of Hope—a faith-based humanitarian organization—to provide relief to the states affected by Hurricane Helene. He also mentions that all current tithes to the church are “going straight to relief.”