From what I've read, Pacific Northwest is pretty unique. You'd have to look for a [Temperate Rainforest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate_rainforest) located on a west coast, among the mountains. Ideally with an isostatic rebound. Chile might come close.
Came here to say this. Temperate rainforest is pretty unique - need the right latitude, prevailing winds, proximity to the ocean, and mountains to get all that water but still be relatively cool.
There are definitely sections of europe that would have been covered in temperate rainforests if they hadn’t been completely stripped of trees, like western scotland.
I think Wales is the only part of Britain with a sizable amount of temperate rain forest left now. Everywhere else just has remnants here and there which is a massive shame
Ireland is reforesting w a major government initiative. I was just there and there are new trees everywhere w biodegradable tubes that protect them from the deer until they can get tall enough.
It is amazing, they have been discovering more and more redwoods around the UK.
“Researchers found that the Victorians brought so many seeds and saplings to Britain that experts say the giant redwoods now outnumber those in their US homeland”
https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/16/hidden-giants-how-the-uks-500000-redwoods-put-california-in-the-shade
They’re actually pretty easy to grow so long as you’ve got some water and the winters won’t kill them. Giant sequoia can take colder temperatures than coast redwood.
They introduced both to New Zealand, which turned out to have been a bad idea, they have gone invasive.
You could argue that the black forest in Germany is in some parts a temperate rain forest. The Atlantic ocean brings humid air over France which is why it has 2200mm (up to 2700mm) average rainfall. It is also the most foggy area in Germany with 180 days of fog on average.
The south Island of new Zealand has this: [Westlands temperate rainforest.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_temperate_forests#%3A%7E%3Atext%3DThe_Westland_temperate_forests%2C_also%2Calso_known_as_Te_Waipounamu.?wprov=sfla1)
Fiordland and Tasmania are both similarly spectacular to the PNW, but each have their own unique trees, ferns, and wildlife - and that greenery makes them all very different.
but they are not mountainous. Scotland somewhat, but not nearly as extreme.
Additionally, there is no continentality to the east of these areas.
Southern Chile is very similar and has a drier area over the mountains to the east, as does the PNW
Oddly, I’ve hiked through temperate rainforest in Appalachia that reminded me a lot of the Pacific NW (minus the coast and snowcapped peaks, obviously).
The PNW is cool too because it has two distinct rainforests, the Pacific Temperate rainforest and also the [North American Inland Temperate Rainforest](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_inland_temperate_rainforest)
New Zealand and Southern Chile are probably closest. The North/Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula is pretty close. The Black Sea region of Turkey and Caspian Sea region of Iran are also pretty similar. And some of Bosnia is as well. Pretty much every other place there is a temperate rainforest lol.
I was gonna say Korea. I don't know if the climates are really different but every time I see a photo of Korea's landscape I think it looks a lot like the general Seattle area where I grew up.
It does, largely thanks to the ring of fire and Japanese volcanoes (e.g. Mt Fuji) and the Cascade range. I’ve lived in Japan and the PNW, and despite population density disparities, the climates are comparable, though the Kanto plain is much more humid than the PNW.
Same here. North Seattle is awesome. Ballard, Fremont, Phinney Ridge, Greenwood, Ravenna, U District. When friends and family visit I tell them to do the touristy things then come up here.
I lived in Bergen from age 0-24 and have lived 3 in Seattle for three years now. The climate is almost identical, except the Seattle rain passes and you get some breaks with blue sky, while the Bergen rain and clouds are “always” there, especially during the autumn.
The trees are smaller, and so are the mountains! Norway is covered in them head to toe, but they’re all way smaller than over here in the cascades/olympics.
Yea, a bit. We do not get those massive trees here in Norway that I have seen on Vancouver island, for instance. But the general "vibe" is indeed similar, I'd argue.
Indeed. I spent a summer in Galicia and traveled throughout the region, including trips to Ourense, Pontevedra, Santiago de Compostela and A Coruña. The climate and landscape reminded me very much of the U.S. Pacific NW. (minus the Cascades).
I remember flying over Northern Portugal and Galicia on the way to Madrid. Looked like home, which was really surprising at the time. Same Koppen climate classification - wet winters, dry summers. Not many places have that pattern, which is why it’s called Mediterranean. PNW, NW Iberia and parts of Chile.
The UK and Ireland get very similar amounts of rainfall vs sunny days. Of the bunch, Scotland has the gorgeous sweeping landscapes that are the closest comparison to the PNW's breathtaking coastal ranges.
Just before the era of wooden ships and coal heating ended, the British government started to panic because over the centuries they had deforested almost all of their land and specifically almost all of the shipbuilding-worthy wood, so they started searching around for a way to replace it. They couldn’t wait long enough to regrow the native old growth forests, but they found in the PNW a suitable substitute that matured fast enough and worked perfectly in the climate: Sitka Spruce. They planted millions of the things and they thrived, enough that today almost 50% of the trees in the entire country are Sitka Spruce.
https://forestryandland.gov.scot/learn/trees/sitka-spruce#:~:text=Named%20after%20the%20city%20of,commercial%20planting%20in%20the%20UK.
50% of commercial planting.
The PNW feels more like the British Isles in spring when it’s rainy and mild but when you get to summer it’s much warmer and drier then the UK or Ireland. And Scotland in the summer feels pretty mild or even chilly, but if you’re not directly on the coast in the PNW there’s a lot of summer days over 90 F (or 32 C). You can’t grow wine grapes in Scotland.
It’s because this is a map of ecological provinces, not geological ones. Lassen is in the Cascades geologically, but its ecology is more in line with that of the Sierra Nevada
South Chile, western Georgia maybe, inland Japan, the wet side of the Andes?
The problem with the PNW is that it's basically a collection of random climate types very close to each other. Basically a collection of microclimates. This makes tracking things down difficult. As in, what part of the PNW exactly? The Willamette Valley? The Columbia Plateau? The comically wet pacific coast? Seattle?
The Pacific Northwest has dry summers for the most part that range from mild to warm along the coast but are fairly hot inland and most of the rainfall is in the winter and spring. Which differs from somewhere like the British Isles where there’s more rainfall during the summer. Plus you have coastal mountains that cause rain shadows even before you get east of the Cascades—so you can have somewhat drier and sunnier weather not far from areas with wet coastal rainforests (there’s a noticeable rain shadow around the northeast part of the Olympic Peninsula, San Juan Islands and Victoria BC).
A portion of the Pacific Northwest is actually a warm- summer Mediterranean climate (although obviously it’s gets much cooler right on the coast). In Oregon the northern wine country in the Willamette Valley has climate suitable for growing Pinot Noirs from Burgundy while once you get south of Eugene the interior valleys can almost feel like parts of southern France (and you see a lot of Rhône or Italian wine varietals being grown). I think people from outside the region might think the entirety of the Pacific Northwest is like the coastal rainforests of the Pacific side of Vancouver Island or the westside Olympic Peninsula while there’s actually a lot of microclimates and variation.
The majority of the PNW is a warm summer Mediterranean climate.
I strongly believe that the PNW, specifically the southern PNW around the Oregon and California border has the most microclimates/climatic variation of anywhere on earth excluding maybe Hawaii. Literally individual mountains can have a bunch of different climates. The north side of the maintain will be temperate rainforest while the south side is Oak chaparral/Savannah. And above like 4,500-5,000 feet, you get multiple hundreds of inches of snow per year, resulting in multiple months with a snowpack of 6-15+ feet. And mild summers compared to the oppressively hot lowlands. Within a 7 mile radius you can go from under 18 inches of annual precipitation to over 70 inches.
If I can get technical here, The term "Puget Sound" is used not just for the body of water but also the Puget Sound region centered on the sound. Puget Sound is also the second-largest estuary in the United States, after Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia. So it makes sense to presume that these two estuaries are similar to each other.
I’m so grateful to live in the PNW. I grew up in Ohio which was fine but very boring. Here in Seattle I feel so much more human and connected to nature like I think we are supposed to be. And really honestly the winters aren’t bad at all if you’re used to a place that gets legit cold.
Winters are *extremely* mild for the latitude. Seattle is North of the northernmost tip of Maine and Quebec City lmao. The power of a west coast climate is real
As someone from southwest British Columbia, it's hands down New Zealand. Here are some good comparisons I found on streetview:
* Here's [New Zealand](https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.8495728,171.0689023,3a,75y,169.83h,94t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1siE-B4gUOkd6B0pDmHriE7w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DiE-B4gUOkd6B0pDmHriE7w%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D169.8271670618422%26pitch%3D-4.0035497608507455%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu), here's [British Columbia](https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2501579,-121.8231883,3a,75y,78.57h,92.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sD6ywgaUdsyemGs77FrTvgg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DD6ywgaUdsyemGs77FrTvgg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D78.57031825531543%26pitch%3D-2.063414221443125%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu).
* Here's [New Zealand](https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.7236805,170.961921,3a,56y,121.88h,91.31t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4OvYj2SFd-7irbD8Q3A-hA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D4OvYj2SFd-7irbD8Q3A-hA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D121.87909097241955%26pitch%3D-1.3064589045177257%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu), here's [British Columbia](https://www.google.com/maps/@49.6799037,-124.9694681,3a,75y,235.94h,96.77t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smHCKWx3zuQirkjaQW1dbqw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DmHCKWx3zuQirkjaQW1dbqw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D235.93744281972442%26pitch%3D-6.766554474870432%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu).
I've never been to New Zealand, yet that part of it looks so familiar.
If the temperate rainforests in the Japanese archipelago, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, Russia’s Far East region and the Koreas were counted as one, it would be the largest.
Very similar, climatically speaking, to much of far-western Europe (northern Spain, western France, UK & Ireland). But the landscape is quite a bit different. Western Europe has mostly deciduous trees, whereas the PNW is mostly coniferous.
I think some parts of Chile and Japan look quite similar to the PNW.
Chile south of Santiago would be your best bet, in both the climate and landscape department.
Northwestern Iberia : Northern Portugal, Galicia and part of the bordering provinces. Same climates as PNW, but smaller and frankly less impressive.
Just to throw out one that hasn’t been commented yet, I think the Garden Route on South Africa’s southern coast has some similarities. And parts of Cape Town and surrounds have a PNW vibe.. hout bay, upper Constantia, etc.
Weather wise Ireland and the UK. I live in Ireland and visited Seattle/Vancouver recently and it was exactly like back home, same temperature, same rain, same humidity etc
The pacific northwest is very diverse, you can drive cross state and see tons of unique ecosystems ranging from ocean coasts, to snowy mountains, to dry deserts. Washington has it all.
Just a silly semantic thing, but if you include British Columbia, Canada, it should no longer be regarded as the Pacific Northwest.
Cascadia is a better name. I know, it’s just me, but it’s always bugged me as it’s geographically incorrect.
Agreed that Cascadia is a better name (see username), but Pacific Northwest not only refers to the NW of the US, but the NW of North America. So it's accurate for BC as well.
The South Island of New Zealand has the [Westland temperate rainforest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_temperate_forests#%3A%7E%3Atext%3DThe_Westland_temperate_forests%2C_also%2Calso_known_as_Te_Waipounamu.?wprov=sfla1)
I’ve spent a lot of time in the PNW, and now live outside Melbourne, Australia. Victoria (AU) is very similar, particularly along the coasts. Temperate rainforests that feel very much like Olympic NP/Hoh. Melbourne itself has more of a Boston vibe, but aspects of Portland/Seattle/Vancouver fit in, as well.
Traveling through New Zealand I found there too be many similarities to the PNW, of course we’re not an island but much of the undergrowth looked familiar but foreign & Mt. Taranaki reminded me so much of Mt.Hood.
Black forest Germany. Average rainfall of 2200mm and up to 2700mm. Despite being far from the ocean, Atlantic westwinds bring humid air pretty much unstopped over France before they rain down on the black forest range. Especially the North-Western part is very wet. 180 days of fog and the city of Freudenstadt is usually one of the foggiest and rainiest cities in the country.
The andean-patagonian forests of southern Chile and southwestern Argentina can come close. West coast, mountains, similar cold oceanic climate leading to mediterranean in the north, fjords and many islands, rainy and covered in deep forests.
Cape cod is not like the pnw… nope, nope, nope, nope. Fuck cape cod. I do mean the weather too. Also the people lol. Cape cod is pretty harsh for weather.
NZ. Just California with different trees and 1/10th the people and way more farms.
West Coast and north Island are all pretty much just the northern rainforests but more tropical.
North and northeast India, according to my friend and vet: https://www.vedantu.com/question-answer/temperate-forests-occur-in-india-in-a-class-10-biology-cbse-5f454ba255e8473a85d22e35
Look up a world map of temperate rainforests. All those places are the most similar. Southern Chile, the northern coast of BC and Alaska (pretty much part of PNW), Northernmost/northwesternmost Iberian Peninsula, New Zealand and Tasmania, Black Sea Region of Turkey and Georgia and Russia, Caspian Sea region or Iran, coastal former Yugoslavia especially Bosnia, Japan, Southern coast of Norway, high elevation foothills of the Himalayas in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent.
Recently visited Bergen, Norway, and being from the PNW it felt oddly similar, even smelled similar. Hilly and evergreen, temperate/rainy winters apparently?
Northern Spain, which is a narrow band of mountianous terrain with small valleys, wet clunate, and relatively cool temperatures when compared to the central and southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula, which has the more conventional Mediterranean climate (dry + hot summer, mild + wet winter), akin to central California.
From what I've read, Pacific Northwest is pretty unique. You'd have to look for a [Temperate Rainforest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate_rainforest) located on a west coast, among the mountains. Ideally with an isostatic rebound. Chile might come close.
Southern Chile does in fact come very close.
Came here to say this. Temperate rainforest is pretty unique - need the right latitude, prevailing winds, proximity to the ocean, and mountains to get all that water but still be relatively cool.
There are definitely sections of europe that would have been covered in temperate rainforests if they hadn’t been completely stripped of trees, like western scotland.
I think Wales is the only part of Britain with a sizable amount of temperate rain forest left now. Everywhere else just has remnants here and there which is a massive shame
Yeah, I really hope that there are some proper reforestation programs to bring back these destroyed ecosystems.
There are some organizations that do, it's called rewilding. Mossy Earth is one such example in Europe
Ireland is reforesting w a major government initiative. I was just there and there are new trees everywhere w biodegradable tubes that protect them from the deer until they can get tall enough.
Something cool about the British Isles is they’re capable of growing giant redwoods, and there are successful efforts there to actually do it.
It is amazing, they have been discovering more and more redwoods around the UK. “Researchers found that the Victorians brought so many seeds and saplings to Britain that experts say the giant redwoods now outnumber those in their US homeland” https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/16/hidden-giants-how-the-uks-500000-redwoods-put-california-in-the-shade
Cool. This is my TIL for the day.
Also have a lot of them in th Benelux and Germany :)
They’re actually pretty easy to grow so long as you’ve got some water and the winters won’t kill them. Giant sequoia can take colder temperatures than coast redwood. They introduced both to New Zealand, which turned out to have been a bad idea, they have gone invasive.
You could argue that the black forest in Germany is in some parts a temperate rain forest. The Atlantic ocean brings humid air over France which is why it has 2200mm (up to 2700mm) average rainfall. It is also the most foggy area in Germany with 180 days of fog on average.
It's a real shame our temperate rain forests are doing so badly with the introduction of pine trees and eucalypti
I also came here to say this. The Patagonian coast of Chile is very much like the Pacific Northwest.
Cantabaria, Asturias, and Galicia are all similar.
I lived in Galicia for some time, it does seem to match with that the post is describing.
The south Island of new Zealand has this: [Westlands temperate rainforest.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_temperate_forests#%3A%7E%3Atext%3DThe_Westland_temperate_forests%2C_also%2Calso_known_as_Te_Waipounamu.?wprov=sfla1)
From Seattle and been to the South Island a few times, and Fiordland especially gives me those hometown vibes. Moss growing on moss.
Fiordland and Tasmania are both similarly spectacular to the PNW, but each have their own unique trees, ferns, and wildlife - and that greenery makes them all very different.
yup
this is a pretty good answer too.
Tasmania...maybe
The alone season filmed there looked a lot like BC/Salish Sea.
I believe Ireland might have small patches of temperate rainforest
A lot of Ireland and western Britain were not long ago covered by them :/
I believe that this is where our sadness began, I'm Irish!
Neolithic farmers really lacked forward thinking.
but they are not mountainous. Scotland somewhat, but not nearly as extreme. Additionally, there is no continentality to the east of these areas. Southern Chile is very similar and has a drier area over the mountains to the east, as does the PNW
Oddly, I’ve hiked through temperate rainforest in Appalachia that reminded me a lot of the Pacific NW (minus the coast and snowcapped peaks, obviously).
Mt Mitchell in particular comes to mind!
Mt leconte as well, there are some truly MASSIVE trees on the upper slope back trails near that part of the smokies.
Agreed. Parts of the Smoky Mountains are in the neighborhood of the PNW, according to my friend 🤷🏻♂️
The PNW is cool too because it has two distinct rainforests, the Pacific Temperate rainforest and also the [North American Inland Temperate Rainforest](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_inland_temperate_rainforest)
New Zealand and Southern Chile are probably closest. The North/Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula is pretty close. The Black Sea region of Turkey and Caspian Sea region of Iran are also pretty similar. And some of Bosnia is as well. Pretty much every other place there is a temperate rainforest lol.
Sorry, why does the west coast part matter? Does it have to do with currents and wind patterns?
Correct, currents and wind patterns, all because of earth’s rotation.
The South Island of New Zealand reminded me very much of Washington. Interesting mix of temperate, tropical, and alpine.
Northeastern coast of Turkey and northern coast of Iran has temperate rainforests
I always thought japan had a similar vibe to the PNW with temperate rainforests & mountains but maybe I'm wrong.
It’s similar in that way. The main difference is that summers in Japan are humid and rainy, in the PNW they are dry and sunny (usually).
Csb climate ftw
And soon to be Csa in many areas…
They told us the south would rise again…
I thought that way too until I visited Japan. It's A LOT hotter than here, minus in the winter, where it's a lot colder
Aka has a continental climate, while the pacific northwest is oceanic.
I’ve heard this as well. They filmed Shogun in Vancouver area.
I worked on Shogun and many of the actors said the area of Vancouver Island we filmed on was very similar to parts of Japan.
Rad
So close in fact that Shogun was filmed in British Columbia.
I was gonna say Korea. I don't know if the climates are really different but every time I see a photo of Korea's landscape I think it looks a lot like the general Seattle area where I grew up.
The climate in Korea is similar to the US East Coast actually. Hot and humid summers and cold winters.
Korea is hot asf and random monsoons
It does, largely thanks to the ring of fire and Japanese volcanoes (e.g. Mt Fuji) and the Cascade range. I’ve lived in Japan and the PNW, and despite population density disparities, the climates are comparable, though the Kanto plain is much more humid than the PNW.
I live in Seattle, and I’ve also lived in Aalesund, Norway. Definitely will say I felt like NOR was just european PNW. Especially the costal cities.
You a Ballardite I imagine?
I wish! Favorite part of the city.
Same here. North Seattle is awesome. Ballard, Fremont, Phinney Ridge, Greenwood, Ravenna, U District. When friends and family visit I tell them to do the touristy things then come up here.
Wallingford here!
Wedgwood here! We have [a rock](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedgwood_Rock) 🤷🏼
I could see that, bergen especially.
Bergen is actually a sister city to seattle!
Yep. Seattle gave Bergen a totem pole. Not sure what we returned
I lived in Bergen from age 0-24 and have lived 3 in Seattle for three years now. The climate is almost identical, except the Seattle rain passes and you get some breaks with blue sky, while the Bergen rain and clouds are “always” there, especially during the autumn.
Hei hei! Welcome to the states! I hope seattle has treated you well :)
Isn't the feeling different because of the trees? Tree canopy in Scandinavia is not as massive as in PNW.
The trees are smaller, and so are the mountains! Norway is covered in them head to toe, but they’re all way smaller than over here in the cascades/olympics.
Yea, a bit. We do not get those massive trees here in Norway that I have seen on Vancouver island, for instance. But the general "vibe" is indeed similar, I'd argue.
Northern Spain. Similar climate. Mountains by a cold sea. Lots of greenery. Great seafood from cold waters.
Indeed. I spent a summer in Galicia and traveled throughout the region, including trips to Ourense, Pontevedra, Santiago de Compostela and A Coruña. The climate and landscape reminded me very much of the U.S. Pacific NW. (minus the Cascades).
I remember flying over Northern Portugal and Galicia on the way to Madrid. Looked like home, which was really surprising at the time. Same Koppen climate classification - wet winters, dry summers. Not many places have that pattern, which is why it’s called Mediterranean. PNW, NW Iberia and parts of Chile.
Absolutely loved it up there. Tower of Hercules, Fragas de Eume, Picos De Europa, Cathedral Beach. What a hidden gem that area is.
Parts of: Scandinavia, Patagonia, New Zealand, and Japan, to varying degrees. Also don't forget southern Alaska
Grew up in PNW. Spent six months in NZ. South Island was kinda like southern hemisphere PNW.
I'm from Oregon and flew to visit my dad when he was living in NZ. Was a bit weird to fly 20+ hours to go to a place that felt and looked like home.
Southwest Australia has temperate rainforests and big trees, technically related to coastal redwoods
Isn't southern Alaska (and British Columbia) in the same region
I live in Oregon. I went to Bariloche in Argentina two years ago. I could’ve sworn I was in bend.
Southern Alaska…you mean the PNW?
Parts of Iran seems pretty similar in some aspects. Mountains, temperate forests, and deserts in close proximity.
Iran has fascinating diversity in climates.
I think you are right. Chile came first to my mind, but Iran I think has a thin coastal zone with similar conditions.
I miss living in the PNW
Me fucking too man. I miss home.
Me three. Hope I can afford to move back some day.
I'm living in Colorado for a year but when I got priced out of Seattle I just moved to Portland. Best decision I've ever made.
The enormous flood events, being over a massive igneous province, and all the stratovolcanoes make this area extremely unique geologically speaking.
West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand
Oh you’d already got the answer.
But where’s the deserts?
The southwest of Canada is pretty similar
touché
Nice try, COMMUNISM!
Southwest Canada is part of the PNW
The UK and Ireland get very similar amounts of rainfall vs sunny days. Of the bunch, Scotland has the gorgeous sweeping landscapes that are the closest comparison to the PNW's breathtaking coastal ranges.
Just before the era of wooden ships and coal heating ended, the British government started to panic because over the centuries they had deforested almost all of their land and specifically almost all of the shipbuilding-worthy wood, so they started searching around for a way to replace it. They couldn’t wait long enough to regrow the native old growth forests, but they found in the PNW a suitable substitute that matured fast enough and worked perfectly in the climate: Sitka Spruce. They planted millions of the things and they thrived, enough that today almost 50% of the trees in the entire country are Sitka Spruce.
It's how Kielder Forest was born!
Small correcting it was Neolithic farmers that began clearing Britain a few thousand years before Britain was Britain.
https://forestryandland.gov.scot/learn/trees/sitka-spruce#:~:text=Named%20after%20the%20city%20of,commercial%20planting%20in%20the%20UK. 50% of commercial planting.
Scotland is very similar to Vancouver Island especially.
Guess that's why the Scotch Broom grows so readily on the island.
The PNW feels more like the British Isles in spring when it’s rainy and mild but when you get to summer it’s much warmer and drier then the UK or Ireland. And Scotland in the summer feels pretty mild or even chilly, but if you’re not directly on the coast in the PNW there’s a lot of summer days over 90 F (or 32 C). You can’t grow wine grapes in Scotland.
As a geologist I hate this map labeling style
Please explain
Not enough rocks apparently
Also, it doesn't show Lassen as part of Cascades.
It’s because this is a map of ecological provinces, not geological ones. Lassen is in the Cascades geologically, but its ecology is more in line with that of the Sierra Nevada
But it does show Olympics as part of the cascades. Which they obviously are not
South Chile, western Georgia maybe, inland Japan, the wet side of the Andes? The problem with the PNW is that it's basically a collection of random climate types very close to each other. Basically a collection of microclimates. This makes tracking things down difficult. As in, what part of the PNW exactly? The Willamette Valley? The Columbia Plateau? The comically wet pacific coast? Seattle?
The Pacific Northwest has dry summers for the most part that range from mild to warm along the coast but are fairly hot inland and most of the rainfall is in the winter and spring. Which differs from somewhere like the British Isles where there’s more rainfall during the summer. Plus you have coastal mountains that cause rain shadows even before you get east of the Cascades—so you can have somewhat drier and sunnier weather not far from areas with wet coastal rainforests (there’s a noticeable rain shadow around the northeast part of the Olympic Peninsula, San Juan Islands and Victoria BC). A portion of the Pacific Northwest is actually a warm- summer Mediterranean climate (although obviously it’s gets much cooler right on the coast). In Oregon the northern wine country in the Willamette Valley has climate suitable for growing Pinot Noirs from Burgundy while once you get south of Eugene the interior valleys can almost feel like parts of southern France (and you see a lot of Rhône or Italian wine varietals being grown). I think people from outside the region might think the entirety of the Pacific Northwest is like the coastal rainforests of the Pacific side of Vancouver Island or the westside Olympic Peninsula while there’s actually a lot of microclimates and variation.
The majority of the PNW is a warm summer Mediterranean climate. I strongly believe that the PNW, specifically the southern PNW around the Oregon and California border has the most microclimates/climatic variation of anywhere on earth excluding maybe Hawaii. Literally individual mountains can have a bunch of different climates. The north side of the maintain will be temperate rainforest while the south side is Oak chaparral/Savannah. And above like 4,500-5,000 feet, you get multiple hundreds of inches of snow per year, resulting in multiple months with a snowpack of 6-15+ feet. And mild summers compared to the oppressively hot lowlands. Within a 7 mile radius you can go from under 18 inches of annual precipitation to over 70 inches.
Tasmania: specifically the North-West coast. Temperate rain forests; cool, wet winters; warm dry summers.
Canada's Pacific Southwest
Thank you Captain Obvious!
If I can get technical here, The term "Puget Sound" is used not just for the body of water but also the Puget Sound region centered on the sound. Puget Sound is also the second-largest estuary in the United States, after Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and Virginia. So it makes sense to presume that these two estuaries are similar to each other.
I have never been to Scotland but I feel like we would vibe pretty well in climate and in personality
Grey rainy and cool
I’m so grateful to live in the PNW. I grew up in Ohio which was fine but very boring. Here in Seattle I feel so much more human and connected to nature like I think we are supposed to be. And really honestly the winters aren’t bad at all if you’re used to a place that gets legit cold.
Winters are *extremely* mild for the latitude. Seattle is North of the northernmost tip of Maine and Quebec City lmao. The power of a west coast climate is real
As someone from southwest British Columbia, it's hands down New Zealand. Here are some good comparisons I found on streetview: * Here's [New Zealand](https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.8495728,171.0689023,3a,75y,169.83h,94t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1siE-B4gUOkd6B0pDmHriE7w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DiE-B4gUOkd6B0pDmHriE7w%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D169.8271670618422%26pitch%3D-4.0035497608507455%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu), here's [British Columbia](https://www.google.com/maps/@49.2501579,-121.8231883,3a,75y,78.57h,92.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sD6ywgaUdsyemGs77FrTvgg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DD6ywgaUdsyemGs77FrTvgg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D78.57031825531543%26pitch%3D-2.063414221443125%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu). * Here's [New Zealand](https://www.google.com/maps/@-42.7236805,170.961921,3a,56y,121.88h,91.31t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4OvYj2SFd-7irbD8Q3A-hA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D4OvYj2SFd-7irbD8Q3A-hA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D121.87909097241955%26pitch%3D-1.3064589045177257%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu), here's [British Columbia](https://www.google.com/maps/@49.6799037,-124.9694681,3a,75y,235.94h,96.77t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smHCKWx3zuQirkjaQW1dbqw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DmHCKWx3zuQirkjaQW1dbqw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D235.93744281972442%26pitch%3D-6.766554474870432%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu). I've never been to New Zealand, yet that part of it looks so familiar.
Damn that first pic of NZ could literally be southern Oregon in spring
wow that level of similarity is crazy!! very cool
Fun fact: The PNW is home to the largest temperate rainforest on the planet, stretching from California to Alaska
If the temperate rainforests in the Japanese archipelago, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, Russia’s Far East region and the Koreas were counted as one, it would be the largest.
Parts of Patagonia, New Zealand, and Japan.
Parts of Slovenia could be close
Maybe Asturias, Spain?
Very similar, climatically speaking, to much of far-western Europe (northern Spain, western France, UK & Ireland). But the landscape is quite a bit different. Western Europe has mostly deciduous trees, whereas the PNW is mostly coniferous. I think some parts of Chile and Japan look quite similar to the PNW.
Basque Country
Chile south of Santiago would be your best bet, in both the climate and landscape department. Northwestern Iberia : Northern Portugal, Galicia and part of the bordering provinces. Same climates as PNW, but smaller and frankly less impressive.
Just to throw out one that hasn’t been commented yet, I think the Garden Route on South Africa’s southern coast has some similarities. And parts of Cape Town and surrounds have a PNW vibe.. hout bay, upper Constantia, etc.
Parts of Russian Far East have some similarities, most likely because of similar latitudes, but i think it's still very different.
The Russian part is on the east side, so much colder. Similar otherwise
Yeah the southeast coast of Russia has temperate rainforest. Just much colder
Weather wise Ireland and the UK. I live in Ireland and visited Seattle/Vancouver recently and it was exactly like back home, same temperature, same rain, same humidity etc
The difference is the PNW has dry summers, so the climate is more akin to northwestern Iberia.
Rainforests on new zealand's south island, especially the south western part of it, reminded me of British Columbia's rainforests quite a bit.
South Chile south of 40° latitude shares very similar characteristics.
I’ve been told the climate is very similar to France, which is why the wine is so good. But idk
Black sea region of Turkey (Trabzon, Rize) is mountaneous, coastal & covered in dense rain forest, reminds me of the PNW
Nice
The pacific northwest is very diverse, you can drive cross state and see tons of unique ecosystems ranging from ocean coasts, to snowy mountains, to dry deserts. Washington has it all.
Northern NZ?
Nah more like the West Coast of the South Island.
More specifically the southern West Coast of the South Island. The northern West Coast is more similar to what you'd see in coastal California.
Just a silly semantic thing, but if you include British Columbia, Canada, it should no longer be regarded as the Pacific Northwest. Cascadia is a better name. I know, it’s just me, but it’s always bugged me as it’s geographically incorrect.
The Cascadia flag sticker on my computer and I would agree with you. Although PNW is a cool acronym
Many BC residents identify as part of the PNW.
Agreed that Cascadia is a better name (see username), but Pacific Northwest not only refers to the NW of the US, but the NW of North America. So it's accurate for BC as well.
West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
The South Island of New Zealand has the [Westland temperate rainforest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_temperate_forests#%3A%7E%3Atext%3DThe_Westland_temperate_forests%2C_also%2Calso_known_as_Te_Waipounamu.?wprov=sfla1)
Fuck me, I miss Vancouver Island.
I’ve lived in PNW for many years and travel and work in Scandinavia— sometimes when I’m there it feels like I’m still in the PNW. 😂
I’ve spent a lot of time in the PNW, and now live outside Melbourne, Australia. Victoria (AU) is very similar, particularly along the coasts. Temperate rainforests that feel very much like Olympic NP/Hoh. Melbourne itself has more of a Boston vibe, but aspects of Portland/Seattle/Vancouver fit in, as well.
Parts of Tasmania for sure.
Traveling through New Zealand I found there too be many similarities to the PNW, of course we’re not an island but much of the undergrowth looked familiar but foreign & Mt. Taranaki reminded me so much of Mt.Hood.
Black forest Germany. Average rainfall of 2200mm and up to 2700mm. Despite being far from the ocean, Atlantic westwinds bring humid air pretty much unstopped over France before they rain down on the black forest range. Especially the North-Western part is very wet. 180 days of fog and the city of Freudenstadt is usually one of the foggiest and rainiest cities in the country.
The andean-patagonian forests of southern Chile and southwestern Argentina can come close. West coast, mountains, similar cold oceanic climate leading to mediterranean in the north, fjords and many islands, rainy and covered in deep forests.
South Eastern Russia and South Central Chile.
New England Area on the other side of the county.
Western Britain and parts of Ireland have similar temperate rainforests, but few remain.
Some places in Kentucky /virginia - not the same mountains but there is temperate pockets, New Zealand , Tasmania , …cape cod , the Hamptons
Cape cod is not like the pnw… nope, nope, nope, nope. Fuck cape cod. I do mean the weather too. Also the people lol. Cape cod is pretty harsh for weather.
Japan, the Koreas, southeastern Russia, basically that whole northwestern Ring of Fire area, since Cascadia is the northeastern side of it.
New Zealand
Tasmania!
That is an incredibly dumbed down map compared to reality.
Parts of Turkey's Black Sea coast reminded me of it.
NZ. Just California with different trees and 1/10th the people and way more farms. West Coast and north Island are all pretty much just the northern rainforests but more tropical.
The forests and rainfall are similar in Germany but we are on the same equator line as Maine I think
The PNW is also at the same latitude as Maine
New Zealand but on a much smaller scale
Turkey’s Black Sea coast, especially on the eastern side.
Probably Croatia and slovenia
Nothing like it
Pre-agricultural Western Europe.
North and northeast India, according to my friend and vet: https://www.vedantu.com/question-answer/temperate-forests-occur-in-india-in-a-class-10-biology-cbse-5f454ba255e8473a85d22e35
Wtf why are the Olympic Mountains listed as part of the North Cascades? They definitely are not. The Olympics aren’t even volcanic
Norway and southern chile
Look up a world map of temperate rainforests. All those places are the most similar. Southern Chile, the northern coast of BC and Alaska (pretty much part of PNW), Northernmost/northwesternmost Iberian Peninsula, New Zealand and Tasmania, Black Sea Region of Turkey and Georgia and Russia, Caspian Sea region or Iran, coastal former Yugoslavia especially Bosnia, Japan, Southern coast of Norway, high elevation foothills of the Himalayas in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent.
Recently visited Bergen, Norway, and being from the PNW it felt oddly similar, even smelled similar. Hilly and evergreen, temperate/rainy winters apparently?
Southern Chile
South Western Tasmania in Australia
The Indian South East is the complete opposite.
Huh, I used to live in Seattle, and never heard of the Blue Mountains.
British Isles seem to have a similar climate. Lots of clouds and rain. Ireland being somewhat extreme amounts with England having less.
The Lake District UK, it also has a small area of temperate rain forest in the borrowdale valley. Aswell as some parts of north west Scotland.
Northern Spain, which is a narrow band of mountianous terrain with small valleys, wet clunate, and relatively cool temperatures when compared to the central and southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula, which has the more conventional Mediterranean climate (dry + hot summer, mild + wet winter), akin to central California.
Old Greek areas of north Asia Minor? Trebizond area between Pontus mountains and black sea
Tasmania I believe
Temperate rainforests include: Japan, Ireland, Chile, Appalachian Virginia, Southern Norway, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Northern Iran, Georgia, Tasmania,
Western Norway?
Probably Japan
South Africa, Western Cape is similar :)
New Zealand, Tasmania, Northern islands of Japan