Spot on Wes.We do have very dry winters and the days with frosts usually result in sunny fairly mild days of 10 to 15 degrees celsius.Our coldest overall winter days are what we used to call in Scotland "Dreich" grey cold drizzly days.Also get the occasional Antarctic winter blast which can be bitterly cold with high wind chill factor.
This winter has been particularly dry Rainfall:June 12mm.July 37mm.
Averages are June:62mm and July 72 mm.
Our summer rainfall depends on wind direction can be cold and wet one day and warm and very dry the next (Foehn Wind)
Cheers:Ian Mc

Ian,
That makes all the difference in the world when you are trying to grow washingtonias. They have to have dry winters when it goes below freezing otherwise they get fungus in the spears. When we go below freezing it usually warms up above freezing but maybe to 5 or 6C not 10 to 15C. A normal winter day here in North Van is a raining day or overcast and lows of 4 or 5C and highs of 8 or 9C. That describes 80% of our winter days. If we get a sunny day we can get down to -6C at night but hit 5 or 6C during the day. We do get some real warm weather that can go to 15C as a high and never go below 10C at night. That makes up about 10% of our winters. Dry cool days as described above are even rarer and may only happen once a winter. A more typical sunny day is -2C as a low and 8C as a high and that makes up the other 10%.
So having said that we can not grow washingtonias in our climate, however trachycarpus (most species), chamaerops humilis, sabals (most species), chameadorea radicalis and microspadix, rhapidophyllium hystrix, jubaea chilensis and even brahea edulis and armata do fine here. Butia capitata and eriospatha are still in the experimental stage.

Thanks Wes
I read somewhere that W.Robusta takes a bit more winter wet than Filifera.
I have Chamaerops,Trachys,Butia Capitata,Syagrus Romanzoffianum in pot in pot.Phoenix Canariensis and Sylvestris and Jubaea.
I think all Washys hate transplanting and lost a fine plant that way.
Also have a small P.Roebelleni outside in pot next to house in full sun.However it does not grow as well as the one indoors.