>> Hmmm, could we devise some way to add regional information to the climate zones?
That's why I like the Sunset Climate Zones. They seem to narrow down to really pretty specific climates. But they might be TOO small: Zone 5 is ONLY "Marine influence along the Northwest coast, Puget Sound, and South Vancouver Island". I'm sure there are other places FAIRLY similar to Seattle, but I wouldn't know it from Sunset.
They USDA Zones are useless for most purposes: 8b Texas and 8B Maritime Pacific Northwest are totally different.
The Koppen climate zones have the right idea, but they are too broad. I'm sure that millions of fellow gardeners all over the world also live in a Koppen Zone Csb climate (Dry-summer, sub-tropical, "Mediterranean climate"). However, the very wide range of temperatures and non-summer rainfalls mean that most of us have few plants in common.
Koppen Climate Zone maps
Zoppen zone by County in WA State
Climate Zones:
~ Sunset Climate Zones
~ USDA Hardiness Zones (average winter lows)
Koppen Climate Classification System
~ Koppen Climate System in Wikipedia
~ Koppen Climate System
~ Download Maps
~ Many Koppen Maps
~ Koppen Zones by County
