SPOKANE NATURE IN PHOTOS AND ARTWORK

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE PHOTOS AND ARTWORK OF NATURE IN THE SPOKANE, WA. AREA:
FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES OF NATURE IN SPOKANE, WA. BY BEN UPHAM
and
FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES OF WILDLIFE IN THE SPOKANE AREA BY BEN UPHAM
and
MAGICAL MOMENT ARTISTIC ADVENTURES IN NATURE BY BEN UPHAM
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Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County, of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region. The city is located on the Spokane River in Eastern Washington, 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canadian border, approximately 15 miles (24 km) from the Washington–Idaho border, and 230 miles (370 km) east of Seattle.

David Thompson explored the Spokane area and began European settlement with the westward expansion and establishment of the North West Company’s Spokane House in 1810. This trading post was the first long-term European settlement in Washington and the center of the fur trade between the Rockies and the Cascades for 16 years. In the late 19th century, gold and silver were discovered in the Inland Northwest. The Spokane area is considered to be one of the most productive mining districts in North America. Spokane’s economy has traditionally been based on natural resources, being a center for mining, timber, and agriculture; however, the city’s economy has diversified to include other industries, including the high-tech and biotech sectors. Spokane is known as the birthplace of Father’s Day, hosted the first environmentally themed World’s Fair, Expo ’74, and is home to Gonzaga University and Whitworth University.

The city of Spokane (then known as “Spokan Falls”) was settled in 1871 and officially incorporated as a city in 1881. The city’s name is drawn from the Native American tribe known as the Spokane, which means “Children of the Sun” in Salishan. Spokane’s official nickname is the “Lilac City”, named after the flowers that have flourished since their introduction to the area in the early 20th century. Completion of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1881 brought major settlement to the Spokane area.

With a population of 208,916, according to the 2010 Census, Spokane is the second largest city in Washington, and the third largest in the American portion of the Pacific Northwest, behind Seattle, and Portland, Oregon, and is the 102nd largest city in the United States. Spokane is the principal city of the Spokane Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is coterminous with Spokane County. As of the 2010 census, the county had a population of 471,221. The most recent population figures from the U.S. Census of 2010 show the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Metropolitan area to have 609,000 residents.

The first humans to live in the Spokane area arrived between twelve and eight thousand years ago and were hunter-gatherer societies that lived off the plentiful game in the area. The Spokane tribe, after which the city is named, are believed to be either direct descendants of the original hunter-gatherers that settled in the region, or descendants of tribes from the Great Plains. When asked by early white explorers, the tribe said their ancestors came from “up North”. Early in the 19th century, the Northwest Fur Company sent two white fur trappers west of the Rocky Mountains to search for fur. The trappers became the first two white men met by the Spokane tribe, who believed them to be Sama, or sacred, and set the trappers up in the Colville River valley for the winter.

Spokane’s climate is near a humid continental climate (Köppen Dsb), a rare climate due to its elevation and significant winter precipitation, precluding a semi-arid climate classification. However, it is considered a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) because the average temperature for the coldest month at Spokane airport is just over −3 °C (26.6 °F). The area is typified by a very warm, arid climate during the summer months and a cold, snowy, and moist climate in the winter. Both summer and winter are the predominant seasons, as spring and fall constitute a rapid transition. On average, July and August are equally warm, and the coolest month is December.[61] Daily temperature ranges are large during the summer, approaching, and often exceeding 30 °F (16.7 °C), and small during the winter, with a range just above 10 °F (5.6 °C). December, the coldest month, averages 26.9 °F (−2.8 °C), while July, the warmest month, averages 88 °F (31.1 °C). Extremes range from 108 °F (42 °C) to −30 °F (−34 °C), but temperatures of more than 100 °F (38 °C) and less than −10 °F (−23 °C) are rare, though on average, temperatures above 90 °F (32 °C) occur on 19 days and below 0 °F (−18 °C) on 3.5 days annually.

Because of Spokane’s location between the Cascade Mountains to the west and Rocky Mountains to the east and north, the city is protected from weather patterns experienced in other parts of the Pacific Northwest. The Cascade Mountains form a barrier to the eastward flow of moist and relatively mild air from the Pacific Ocean in winter and cool air in summer. As a result of the rain shadow effect of the Cascade Mountains, the Spokane area also has less than half the rainfall of its west side neighbor, Seattle. The average annual precipitation in the Spokane area is 17 inches (430 mm), whereas the Seattle area receives 37 inches (940 mm) annually. The most precipitation occurs in December, and summer is the driest time of the year. The Rocky Mountains shield Spokane from the winter season’s cold air masses traveling southward across Canada, sparing the city from the worst effects of Arctic air in winter.
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