Rain Forest Location

trail winding through sword ferns under trees with draperies of long green epiphytes hanging from branches

Image: National Park Service

Why is there a rain forest in the Pacific Northwest of the United States? Write a paragraph (at least three sentences) in your own words describing how the regional climate of the Pacific Northwest is affected by factors that include the Cascade Mountains, location near the Pacific Ocean, and the jet stream.

28 Responses

  1. emma says:

    I think there is a rain forest in the pacific northwest of the united states because the rain comes from the moisture in the ocean and as it gets closer to the mountain it is forced to rain, and there happens to be a lot of more rain due to the winds and location of the rain forest.

  2. carter says:

    because of the mountins why beacuse the river on one of the side so the coudes get make then the wind bow its

  3. Janessa says:

    The reasoning for this being were it is because there is a mountain but one side of the mountain is dry and the other side is a rain forest. When one side is on the side where there is a body of water there is a good chance there is gonna be more life there because of it. Because there is a forest in the Pacific Northwest because there is a body of water bringing water vapor each time there is a wind gust. the other side depending on if there is a body of water on that side would be very dry. So the reason of this is because this side of the mountain is on the side where there is a body of water giving the land water making plants grow!

  4. X says:

    There is a rainforest next to the pacific northwest for multiple reasons. The regional climate of this place is a major factor as it is very humid and sunny. Due to the placement of the Cascade mountains, this rainforest has the benefit of being humid all year round because of the passage of water that can pass through due to the lack of mountains. Warm water also plays a major factor because warm water rises easier the cold water. And this concludes my paragraph about why there is a rainforest right next to the pacific northwest.

  5. Matia says:

    There is a rainforest in the Pacific Northwest of the US because it is near the west coast with humid air. When that humid air goes over a mountain it bursts and becomes dry, but when that doesn’t happen it stays moist. The extreme moisture in the air nurtures the growth of the rain forest.

  6. madalyn says:

    There’s a rain forest up there because its by the ocean. The water from the ocean evaporates into the sky into the clouds. After its evaporated into the clouds it rains, so when it rains it goes onto one side of the mountain because it is stopping the clouds.

  7. Cole says:

    There is a rain forest up their because the ocean is evaporating water. The clouds hold moisture. So it rains on one side of the mountains because it stops the clouds on one side. So its a rain forest.

  8. Louis says:

    There is a rainforest in the pacific northwest of the United States for reasons relating to the ocean and the mountains. The wind that comes from the ocean takes in evaporating water and heads east toward the mountains. Once the air reaches the mountains it rises and condenses into clouds. They then precipitate as a form of ice or snow leaving little moisture to reach the other side. This makes the windward side have a much wetter climate sometimes resulting in a rain forest like in the pacific northwest of the United States.

  9. Leo says:

    There is a rainforest in the Pacific Northwest because of its placement right next to the Ocean it gets most or all of the rain when it comes from ocean side. It gets most of the rain because the mountains next to it stop the rain from making it to the other side of the mountain. The jet stream helps this by bringing in colder air.

  10. Julian says:

    There is a rainforest in the Pacific Northwest of the United States because of the rainshadow of the Cascade mountains making it rain due to one side of the mountain being drier more at the location of the rainforest. There is also the likelihood of the jet stream altering the pattern of the rain, which is making it rain more in the location of the rainforest. Also, it is very likely that the ocean is making it more of a wet place.

  11. Bella says:

    There’s a rain forest in the pacific northwest because of the ocean. The ocean makes a lot of vapor and then it starts to rain a lot. The Cascade Mountains kinda act like a block, on the west side of them, it rains a lot because of the water vapor. Once that water vapor hits the mountains, it condenses and becomes snow. By the time it is completely over the mountains, there isn’t enough water vapor.

  12. zoey says:

    There’s a rain forest in the northwest because of the rain shadows caused by the mountain range on the southeast. A shadow is when the wind from the ocean picks up the water vapor and accumulates it over the land. Ther is a mountain range to the east which causes more rain to fall on the northwest. This happens because the mountain blocks the wind r=from blowing farther southeast. The climate in the northwest is cooler and moister unlike the stereotypical hot and humid this is because the water currents come from the north rather than the west.

  13. Louis says:

    There is a rainforest in the pacific northwest of the United States for reasons relating to the ocean and the mountains. The wind that comes from the ocean takes in evaporating water and heads east toward the mountains. Once the air reaches the mountains it rises and condenses into clouds. It then precipitates as a form of rain or snow leaving little moisture to reach the other side. This makes the windward side have a much wetter climate sometimes resulting in a rain forest like in the pacific northwest of the United States.

  14. Chris says:

    I believe why there is a rain forest in the pacific northwest is due to. The pacific northwest being close to a ocean and some mountains. Then as the winds move across the ocean over to the rain forest the mountains force it to rain. Which then provides the pacific northwest with an atmosphere that then makes up a rain forest.

  15. Xavier Sc. says:

    i think why theres a rain forsest in the pacific northwest is because the ocean. it makes water evaporate into clouds. the clouds than travel with the wind and whenever it starts to get colder the cloud starts to rain helping the plants and trees to grow

  16. Tori says:

    There is a rain forest in the Pacific Northwest of the United States because it gets water evaporated from the ocean, and when the water gets evaporated it turns into clouds. The clouds move with the winds towards the mountains and creates most green spaces with the rain from the clouds. Then only one side of the mountain gets rain, the rain only goes on one side of the mountain because there isn’t enough water vapor to make it to the other side of the mountain.

  17. bruce says:

    There is a rainforest in the pacific northwest Do US because it is near the West Coast with humid air and the humid air goes over a mountain it burst and becomes dry but when it doesn’t happen it stays moist

  18. Marin says:

    There is a rainforest because of the jet stream picking up water molecules which causes the side of the mountain on the west to become more like a rainforest, this side is also colder than the other side due to the water molecules. The mountain blocks a lot of those water molecules from reaching the east side of the mountain causing it to be warm and have a desert climate.

  19. Rai says:

    First off rainforests are classified as rainforests because of the amount of rain they get. With that in mind we can now answer the prompt, there is a rainforest in the pacific northwest because of a rainshadow. The way this works is a cloud full of moisture gets pushed up the side of a mountain causing it to rain on one side and not have enough moisture to rain on the other, the side with all the rain in this case causes a rainforest.

  20. Caleb says:

    The reason why there is a rain forest in the Pacific North West is because of mountains. Mountains keep rainfall on pretty much one side, so I am guessing it is on the windward side of the mountain. This means that it gets a lot of rain and the clouds never get past it. The ocean creates a lot of precipitation so that factors into a lot of rainfall.

  21. Brogynn says:

    I think why there is a rain forest on the pacific northwest is because a lot if humid, moisture air goes up and attempts to get over the mountain, but most of the moisture keeps going up and expanding till it eventually forms a cloud and then it falls. most likely in this area it falls as rain, because its a rain forest. and then the humid air without all the moisture goes to the other side of the mountain and created a desert like area.

  22. victoria says:

    There is a rain forest in the pacific northwest of the US because it is by the west coast and over by the west coast there is humid air,so one side of the mountain is dry and it doesn’t get any moist and the other side gets moist and it doesn’t become dry.On the side that doesn’t go dry it gets water evaporated from the ocean and once the water gets evaporated it turns into clouds and that why the one side is dry,because the water vapor doesn’t go to the other side.

  23. Drake says:

    There is a rainforest in the Pacific Northwest, and the reason is because of the amount of water in the ocean, plus the mountain, rainfall in that area stays on only one side of the mountain. The other side is boring waterless, dumb zone. ):<

  24. Ellie says:

    as the cloud starts making its way across the mountain it collects water vapor and moisture and keeps going up! it collects the moisture because when something is taller the air going across changes temperature causing condensation on the grass which is then collected by the cloud and once the cloud starts going up it drops the condensation (which is now snow) onto the tippity top of the mountain and has nothing to drop on the other side. which is why on one side of the mountain has snow and the other side is super dry.

  25. Landon says:

    There is a rainforest in the pacific northwest of the united states because. the ocean causes water to evaporate into clouds. Then it gets windy causing the water vapor clouds to move over land. And when It’s cold enough the rain starts to fall, and as the wind keeps pushing the clouds over towards the more humid and dry side of the mountain. And by the time it is over to that side of the mountain it is to dry for any more rain to fall.

  26. Travis says:

    The Pacific Northwest has a Rain forest because its more humid from the heavy rainfall.

  27. mya says:

    The reason why there’s a rain forest on the pacific northwest is because of the mountains. Mountains keep the rainfall on one side, which means this probably gets a lot of rain and the clouds never get by.

  28. addie says:

    the reason there is a rain forest is that the water from the ocean is evaporating and the wind/jet stream is blowing in the moisture to the area and the water vapor is not able to go onto the other side of the mountain and it becomes a dry dessert area.

Leave a Reply to Marin Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *