The extraordinary cool March continues.... the climatology (red-average max, blue-average min) at Seattle versus observed temperatures shows the sad situation (image). During the last month only 3 days have reached or exceeded the normal maximum temperature, while over half the days have had minima below the normal lows. We should have highs in...
Storms of the Pacific Museum
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What does the Washington coast have in spades? ... great storms. And people are very interested in severe weather. How can we provide a wonderful education resource on this topic, give a major boost to the economy of the Washington coast, and offer a wonderful recreational experience?Imagine a "Pacific Storms Museum" in Westport (or some other coastal town). A facility with exhibits on past great storms (like the Columbus Day Storm), explanations of the structure and nature of major Pacific storms, pictures and videos of strong events--perhaps even a surround-type experience for a strong event. An exhibit describing...
Snow Returns
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The mountains will be getting plenty of snow..but there is a chance the lowlands--particularly above 500 ft--could see some snow mixing in tomorrow AM. The latest WRF-GFS run in fact has light amounts over portions of the lowlands (see graphic for 3-h snow ending 11 AM), while the MM5-NAM keeps the lowlands snowfree. The biggest threat should be...
Snow! (In the Mountains)
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One of you asked about the snow in the mountains...well, the snowpack has recovered quite nicely the last week or so...take a look at the map. Southern and central Cascades..western slopes and crest..are now above normal. The northern Cascades and Okanogan have gotten some...but still are about 25-35% below normal. We had a cold winter and the spring...
The Storms of the Pacific Museum!
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What does the Washington coast have in spades? ... great storms. Andpeople are very interested in severe weather. How can we provide a wonderful education resource on this topic, give a major boost to the economy of the Washington coast, and offer a wonderful recreational experience?Imagine a "Pacific Storms Museum" in Westport (or some other coastaltown). A facility with exhibits on past great storms (like the Columbus Day Storm), explanations of the structure and nature of major Pacific storms, pictures and videos of strongevents--perhaps even a surround-type experience for a strong event. An exhibit describing...
Doppler Radar
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This is lots of talk about Doppler radar...but the interesting thing is that most of you NEVER see the Doppler part. That will end right now! Normally, the only radar images you see show you where it is precipitating. More technically, the normal radar images show you reflectivity...how much of the microwave radar beam is scattered back to the radar....
Ferry Weather
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If you ever do any boating...or just interested in weather over the water...few web sites are more educational than the Ferry Weather web site (http://i90.atmos.washington.edu/ferry/Ferryjs/mainframe1.htm). Many of the Washington State ferries have weather sensors on them and send the information back to WSDOT and the University of Washington in...
The "Weak" Front
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OK...that turned out not to be such a weak front. There was no indication in the models we would have such a sharp transition and with no coastal radar we could not see it coming. A convective line formed on the front with very heavy precipitation...take a look at the radar..you can see the reddish color of very intense precipitation. The observations...
Weak Front
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A weak front is moving through today...with good rainshadowing over Sequim and Port Townsend right now. It will move through this evening, with cooler air in its wake. Tomorrow should be mostly dry....which is unfortunate since I will be at the NW weather workshop all day tomorrow (info on this at right). Then another weak front Saturday night/Sunday AM, with a chance of showers on Sunday. Wish we had some exciting weather coming....nothing on the horiz...
Snow expose and other items
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The Seattle Times has a nice story on the poor snow removal of the December 2008 snows. Check out:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008885019_sdot19m.htmland KIRO TV is doing their storm special again at 10 PM.Nice example of rainshadowing today NE of the Olympics (both in the radar AND the visible satellite picture). Those retirees...
Cold Wave
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Over the weekend and Monday I was busy giving public talks...but I am back again. Nice to meet several of you.Many have complained about the cold temps...and in general we have seen substantially below normal temps during the past two weeks in western Washington. Above you see the temps for Seattle, Yakima, and Spokane...with the normal highs and...
Snow
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Snow piling up at Silverdale this morning (thanks to Dale Ireland cam)Huge flakes are falling around the area right now. In the central Sound it is really not accumulating at the surface because the temps are too warm...but cams in the south sound show perhaps a 1/2 inch. It is much worst on the Kitsap and near Hood Canal...take a look at Dale Ireland's...
Approach low and winds
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Today was the kind of typical Seattle weather that has been nearly absent this year, wet, showery, and windy. Makes you feel normal again. A front is moving through now and the rain should back off soon. But the real fun is later tomorrow afternoon. A developing low center will approach tomorrow afternoon and move north of us around dinner time...
Major Weather Changes Coming
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Today will be the last sunny, dry day for a long time. You can see the changes aloft as thin cirrus moves in aloft and contrails fill the sky. Contrails are a real sign of an approaching system since the air has to be close to saturation for them to form...the extra water vapor from combustion supplies the water needed to produce saturation and cloud droplets. A weak front will approach tonight....and rain should start in the lowlands after midnight. The front should get through around breakfast time and then there will be a few hour break before the next...and stronger...frontal system moves in. Both of...
How Snowy? How cold?
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The National Weather Service released some interesting snow statistics yesterday....this winter was the snowiest since 1971-72 and the 8th snow-filled on record.TOP TEN SNOW YEARS AT SEA-TAC (OCTOBER 15 - APRIL 15)SNOWFALL SNOW YEAR67.5 1968-963.6 1949-5027.4 1950-126.9 1971-224.2 1955-623.3 1953-422.9 1965-622.8 2008-9 (35 DAYS REMAINING)21.4 1948-920.3 1985-6As of 11 March, 2008-2009 now ranks as the 4th snowiest year inSpokane with 88.9 inches of snowfall....
Coastal Weather Radar Receives Partial Funding
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All, this is a big day for the local meteorological community and for the citizens of the state....2 million dollars for the coastal weather radar was in the omnibus spending bill passed by the Senate yesterday--and President Obama will sign it. For years the Northwest has been the only coastal area of the continental U.S. without weather radar coverage...perhaps...
The Geography of Cold
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This morning it was mightly cold out there...particularly as I biked into work. But such cold varies greatly over the area, particularly on cold mornings in winter when the winds are light. This morning was a good example (see map). At 8 AM the temps varied from the upper teens in the western foothills of the Cascades to the mid-30s over Puget...
A New Weather Survey
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A month ago, we had a weather survey designed to help us understand how people deal with weather forecast uncertainty. This was valuable information, but now we have a follow up. Only take this survey if YOU did NOT respond to the survey in January! We will post results in the next couple of months from both surveys.Here is the link, but don't try it if you did the last survey...it will mess up the statistics!We have all the responses we need right now...thanks for all your help...PS: Several people have asked me whether Costco still has copies of my book. The answer is yes. Unfortunately (for me), they highly...
3 PM Snow Story
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The northerly arctic air is now pushing south past Seattle, with clear skies behind. At its leading edge there is a wintry mix...particularly over the eastern suburbs (see radar and satellite). Sunny, dry conditions are found behind. So if you are north of Seattle..the game is over. Protect your plan...
snow update
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If it is going to snow signficantly in Seattle and the adjacent lowlands--it will be later this afternoon as the low rotates southeastward. This morning Seattle was rainshadowed by the westerly winds....and the eastern suburbs and foothills areas got a few inches. But as the low moves over (or even better south) of us the rainshadowing will weaken and the northerly winds will strengthen...that is when we will get it. You can see the enhanced cloud over the NW Olympic Peninsula...associated with the low..moving this way. The game is not over yet...although there are no guarantees here...
Snow showers
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Some snow showers are moving through the area...except for the northern Sound area, which is in the rainshadow (now snowshadow) of the Olympics. The rainshadow is there because the wind are from the southwest aloft. Northerly winds will push southward today and showers will be enhanced at and north of that interface, aided by a weak upper level shortwave...
More snow
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This is really quite extraordinary. We could actually get more snow tomorrow. Continental air is now moving through the Fraser (see map)...the sign is the low dewpoint...very dry air. But the big push comes tomorrow morning. The computer models show a great strengthening of the cold flow through the Fraser and lower terrain tomorrow morning between...
Arctic air in March
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Yesterday was a fairly successful day for the forecasting community, and the NWS forecasts of light snow amounts with the CZ were on target. The predicted heavy snow fell in the mountains...and the radar really helped us follow the action over the lowlands. Do you see how valuable having the radar is? Isn't it clear why the coastal zone, with its...
Convergence Zone snow hits I90
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My son is turning back from his trip to Snoqualmie Pass for his snowboard lesson. The reason....too much snow and chains are required. The convergence zone has moved south and is now aligned nearly NW-SE...with the heaviest amounts aligned on I90 at and west of the Pass. The radar shows the story...and look at the cam up there--snowy driving. Convergence...
