Extreme low temperatures range to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, with an average temperature for December and January of 28.3 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer, Spring and Fall Summers are warm and dry, with high temperatures ranging between 80 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Spring and fall are the wetter months, with accompanying thunderstorms. Average annual rainfall in the area is 19.4 inches. The growing season in the region is approximately 150 days.
Winds are common both in winter and summer, predominantly from the northwest, west, or southwest.
Whereas Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and grasslands originally would have predominated on this site, today the EWU campus has a more cultivated, park-like character. In the historic district of campus, mature stands of native pine and fir intermingle with stately ornamental deciduous trees such as maples, elms, birches, horsechestnuts, and oaks as well as ornamental conifers. In more recently developed areas of campus younger stands of ornamental conifers and deciduous trees predominate with fewer native species intermingled. Beyond the sports fields on the western edge of campus are the previously mentioned agricultural lands. Trees in historic district Regional Setting Eastern Washington University is situated 16 miles southwest of Spokane, in the City of Cheney, Washington.