In materials science, quenching is the rapid cooling of a workpiece in water, oil or air to obtain certain material properties. A type of heat treating, quenching prevents undesired low-temperature processes, such as phase transformations, from occurring. It does this by reducing the window of time during which these undesired reactions are both thermodynamically favorable, and kinetically accessible; for instance, quenching can reduce the crystal grain size of both metallic and plastic material
The length of the day in Walla Walla varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2017, the shortest day is December 21, with 8 hours, 38 minutes of daylight; the longest day is June 21, with 15 hours, 46 minutes of daylight.
Bellingham hit 67 on Dec. 10 to crush its previous December record of 63 -- which had just been tied the day before. Walla Walla had its first 70-degree day on record in the month of December, hitting 71 on Dec. 10. The previous records in both cities had been set Dec. 26, 1980. Rapid City, South Dakota reached 71 on both Thursday and Friday, marking its first back-to-back readings above 70 on record in the month of December.