This information was taken out of the "Soil Survey of Grant County" provided by the USDA Soil Conservation Service.

GRANT COUNTY is in the central part of Washington. It has a total area of 1,707,870 acres, or about 2,669 square miles. Ephrata is the county seat. The population of the county in 1978 was about 48,000.

The Columbia River flows in a deep valley along the southwestern boundary of the county. The northern part of the county is characterized by loess mantled hills that have been dissected by the Channeled Scablands. The southern part in general is a smooth, southward-sloping plain that is deeply dissected and is interrupted by the Saddle Mountains and Frenchman Hills. Babcock Ridge and Beezly Hills border the northern part of the plain. Elevation ranges from 380 feet along the Columbia River in the southern part of the county to 2,882 feet on top of Monument Hill.

Soil scientists determined that there are about 62 different kinds of soil in Grant County. The soils have a wide range in texture, natural drainage, and other characteristics. Soil blowing and water erosion are the major soil-related problems in the southern part of the county, and water erosion is the major soil-related problem in the northern part. Control of erosion minimizes the pollution of streams by sediment and improves the quality of the water available for municipal use, for recreation, and for fish and wildlife.

Agriculture is the main economic enterprise in the county. About 19 percent of the total area is irrigated cropland, about 18 percent is nonirrigated cropland, and about 63 percent is rangeland. The main irrigated crops are winter wheat, alfalfa hay, potatoes, corn, and beans. The main nonirrigated crop is winter wheat.

Descriptions, names, and delineations of the soils in this survey do not fully agree with those on soil maps for adjacent counties. Differences are the result of better knowledge of soils, modifications in series concepts, intensity of mapping, or the extent of soils within the survey.

The climate in Grant County is influenced to a great extent by the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains shield the county from the more severe winter storms moving southward across Canada, while the Cascade Range forms a barrier to the easterly movement of moist air from over the ocean; however, some of the air from each of these sources reaches the county.

In Grant County, summers are warm or hot. Precipitation in summer falls mainly as, showers but some thunderstorms occur. In winter the ground is covered with snow much of the time. Chinook winds, which blow downslope and are warm and dry, often melt and evaporate the snow. Because of cold air drainage, precipitation occurs in the mountains in adjacent counties throughout the year, and a deep snowpack accumulates in winter. Snowmelt usually supplies irrigation water for intensive farming in parts of the Columbia Basin.

In winter the average temperatures at Quincy and Wilbur are 30 and 29 degrees F, respectively. The average daily minimum temperature is 21 degrees at Quincy and 22 degrees at Wilbur. The lowest temperature, which occurred at Wilbur on January 26, 1957, is -23 degrees. In summer the average temperature is 69 degrees at Quincy and 65 degrees at Wilbur. The average daily maximum temperature is about 83 degrees. The highest recorded temperature, which occurred at Quincy on June 17, 1961, and at Wilbur on August 4, 1961, is 106 degrees.

Growing degree days, are equivalent to "heat units." During the month, growing degree days accumulate by the amount that the average temperature each day exceeds a base temperature (40 degrees F). The normal monthly accumulation is used to schedule single or successive plantings of a crop between the last freeze in spring and the first freeze in fall.The total annual precipitation is 8 inches at Quincy and 12 inches at Wilbur. Of this, 35 percent usually falls in April through September, which includes the growing season for most crops. The heaviest 1-day rainfall during the period of record was 1.4 inches at Quincy on October 27, 1956. Thunderstorms occur on about 7 days each year, and most occur in summer.

Average seasonal snowfall is 22 inches at Quincy and 28 inches at Wilbur. The greatest snow depth at any one time during the period of record was 24 inches at both Quincy and Wilbur. On the average, 1 to 14 days have at least 1 inch of snow on the ground, but the number of such days varies greatly from year to year.

The average relative humidity in midafternoon is about 40 percent. Humidity is higher at night, and the average at dawn is about 75 percent. The sun shines 75 percent of the time possible in summer and 40 percent in winter. The prevailing wind is from the west-northwest. Average windspeed is highest, 8 miles per hour, in spring.