The Evergreen State? Read the fine print if you’re moving to the Tri-Cities!

 It is important to read the fine print, especially when moving to the Evergreen State.  Washington is known nationwide to be beautiful, rainy, and green–Evergreen.   If you’re moving from another state, you may be surprised to learn that the Tri-Cities is located in a desert, with just 7-8 inches of rain per year.  All the moisture that comes in from the Pacific Ocean runs smack into the Cascade Mountain range, creating the Olympic rain forests and cloudy Seattle skies.  The Western side gets all the precipitation, with the mountain range creating a rainshadow effect over the Columbia Basin.  The Tri-Cities is located along the Columbia River, at the convergence of the Snake and Yakima Rivers.  So although we don’t have much moisture in the air, we do have beautiful sunny skies and plenty of water in the rivers for irrigation and recreation.  Our unique area gives us hot summers, crisp falls with gorgeous color, mild winters with just enough snow to sled occasionally, and gorgeous warm springs.  Our weather allows us to grow huge evergreen trees as well as delicious peach and apple orchards, and we wouldn’t trade it for anything!