The Yakima Valley climate is mild and dry, having characteristics of both maritime and continental climates modified by the Cascade and Rocky Mountains. The summers are dry and hot, and the winters are cool with light snowfalls. The fall and spring are mild and dry, as the valley receives an average of 290 days of sunshine each year. On a clear day, the majestic Washington mountains, Mount Adams and Mount Rainier, are visible on the skyline.
Housing
Here you can find lakeside homes, condominiums, rental homes and apartments, strong healthy neighborhoods, large parcel ranches, and turn-of-the-century historic homes. The median price of a house in Yakima County in 2010 was $151,300.
Restaurants
Yakima's downtown district is home to a burgeoning mecca of fine restaurants and eateries. Most are locally owned, so you know each recipe has all the attention to detail you could want from a dinner out on the town or even a lunch with friends and family.
Yakima Hospitals
Yakima Regional Medical & Cardiac Center
Since opening their doors in 1891 as a seven room hospital, to performing Central Washington's first open heart surgery in 1978, Yakima Regional is now a 214 bed hospital and serves as the region's only full service cardiac care provider. They offer a spectrum of cardiac services – including life-saving open-heart surgery and a 24/7 heart team, giving patients a reason to stay in the valley for treatment.
Yakima Regional is the Valley’s only hospital with a full-service Cardiac Center that offers:
- 24/7 heart team
- Open-heart surgery
- Diagnostic & interventional cath lab (elective and emergent)
- Advanced Care Unit
- Accredited Chest Pain Center
- Accredited Cardiac Rehab Phase I through III
In addition to heart care, Yakima Regional offers:
- Inpatient rehab
- Outpatient therapy
- Home health and hospice
- The Sleep Disorders Center
- The Breast Health Center
- Cancer care
- Emergency services
- Technology and imaging
Visit their website at: www.yakimaregional.com
Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital
In recent years, Memorial has come to represent state-of-the-art, quality-of-life health care services, such as the addition of the Children's Village facility, cancer care available at North Star Lodge, occupational and return-to-function services available at The Springs or `Ohana, Memorial’s mammography and women’s health care center.
Through community collaborations, Memorial has built a network of support encompassing primary health care and health education. Trusted comprehensive medical and surgical care teamed with advanced technology provides patients with modern and immediate attention to acute medical needs. Our 225-bed not-for-profit campus hospital serves more than 130,000 patients annually.
Memorial is home to the following Centers of Excellence:
- Cancer care
- Heart care
- Children’s services,
- Family Birthplace
- Hospice and home care
- Orthopedics
- Mental health
- Sleep Center at Memorial
- Women’s services
- Wound care
- Work injury
A full list of Memorial’s services can be found on their website: www.yakmemorial.org
Entertainment
Three-on-three basketball, cycling clubs and soccer provide a sports fix for those in the Yakima Valley. There are plenty of museums and theaters for those who prefer the arts. Each fall, Yakima hosts the Central Washington State Fair. On Sundays, beginning with the first harvests and continuing through late fall, the Yakima Farmers Market offers a small-town experience second to none. The Yakima Valley is also the second largest premium wine producer in the United States, with hundreds of wineries located throughout the valley.
Click on the link below for a schedule of concerts and other entertainment at The Season's Performance Hall, one of downtown Yakima's venues for great music and special events.
http://www.theseasonsyakima.com/event-calendar/
Recreation
The Yakima Valley’s excellent weather makes it a wonderful location for outdoor activities. The Yakima River Canyon, a designated state scenic route connecting interstates 90 and 82, offers excellent wildlife viewing, world-class fly-fishing, river rafting, and camping. A 40-minute drive from Yakima will take you to the foot of two spectacular mountain passes, White Pass and Chinook Pass. Skiing, water sports, mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, and a myriad of other activities are all within an hour's drive of Yakima.
