Topography & Climate

Topography

The city sits astride an alluvial fan deposited by the Walla Walla River, the principal stream draining that section of The Blue Mountains located 10 miles to the east and rising to elevations of 5000 to 6000 feet. A high plateau immediately south of the City is the southern boundary of the Columbia Basin. To the north and west of Milton-Freewater, a moderately sized basin of land extends 20 miles in both directions reaching to low rolling hills that define the Walla Walla Valley.

Climate

In general, the climate is continental, but some oceanic storms from the west occur in the winter. The Columbia Gorge is a natural duct through the Coast and Cascade Mountain ranges for transporting modified marine air from the pacific Ocean eastward into the Walla Walla Valley. Here it meets and greatly moderates the dry continental air of the Intermountain Region.