While waiting for the ferry in Friday Harbor, I passed some time at the window of a local real-estate agent, entertained by ads for houses I will never be able to afford (unless someone buys a few hundred thousand of my books!). In some of their literature, there was the claim that the San Juan's were "sun central" for western Washington with more...
San Juan Islands Weather
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San Juan Island prairie (top) and lavender farm (bottom)I just got back from giving some lectures in the San Juans and if any place has localized weather features...it is there. The complex combination of terrain and water caused large weather variations, as does the proximity to the Olympic and Vancouver Island rainshadows. First, there are...
Warm and Dry Ahead
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I don't want to hype the heat, but it will be warming up a bit in a few days. But before I talk about that, check out all the action in the Pacific visible satellite image (see image). Two tropical storms over the southern Pacific, a nice midlatitude cyclone in the central north Pacific, low stratus off of California, and thunderstorms over the Colorado...
Global Warming Misconception II and Two Talks on the San Juan Islands
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C02 at Mauna Loa, HawaiiGlobal Average Temperature Courtesy of NASAWell, let me start with the San Juan's first. I have been invited to give two talks there later this week. On Thursday night I will be speaking at the Senior Center, Eastsound, on Orcas at 7 PM and on Friday night at the Grange Hall in Friday Harbor (also 7 PM). These will be "meteorological...
Marine air Starting to move in...
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Marine air is starting to move along the coast..we should have a very weak marine push tonight...enough to cut the temps by 5-7F degrees tomorrow. The thermal trough is now moving over the mountains and an onshore pressure gradient has developed. Stratus is starting to push across the coast..and you can see this on an image I have never shown on...
Killer Heat Wave or Killer Hype?
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IRONY ALERT!!Updated 2 PM, Wednesday. Guess who showed up at my office just now????...a reporter (Glenn Farley) and cameraman from KING-5 TV!!! They wanted to talk about the hot, dry summer and how unusual it was! When they closed my room's shades, turned on their blinding lights, and closed the door...well, I was a little concerned. I am afraid...
Global Warming Misconceptions
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There are several questions dealing with global warming that come up frequently...and it happened again this week when I gave a lecture at Google in Kirkland."How can you meteorologists possibly predict global warming fifty years from now when you have problems forecasting the weather three days ahead?"(Some questioners use more earthy language to describe the current state of meteorological prediction skill, while others suggest that weather forecasters use dice for all the skill they have).Well, we CAN predict what is going to happen fifty years from now and the forecasts are worth listening to. How can that be?First,...
Lightning, the "Crouch", and Joan Baez
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I got a call yesterday from one of the organizers of the Joan Baez concert at the Woodland Park Zoo that was held tonight in Seattle. He was worried--the National Weather Service was forecasting showers and thunderstorms during the evening. Thousands of people would be out in the open...with the concert venue in a field surrounding by tall trees...
The Dangers of the First Day of Rain
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The first day of significant rain after a long dry period can be very dangerous on the roads. Why?During the dry period oil, dust and other debris collect on roadways and the addition of water produces a slippery emulsion. After a few days of rain, it washes off. The other issue is that people are used to dry-road driving and driving habits (like...
What season is this?
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I was struck by the latest infrared satellite picture...a winter-like front is heading for us tomorrow morning (see image)...and look a the predicted 24-h rainfall ending 5 AM on Tuesday (image)! Wow..this is serious rainfall, particularly in the north Cascades. We are going to cooler and wetter than normal for a few days...but guess what...we...
Was the heat wave a sign of global warming?
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Quite a few have emailed me asking whether last week's heat wave was a sign of global warming. Others have suggested that I have been strangely silent on this issue.Anything, although I have commented on this subject in my blog and KUOW, let me give you my take on this--and I think the take of most meteorologists.One heat wave, one storm, one event...
Why Such High Humidities Last Week?
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Several of you have asked why the humidities got so high last week. As I mentioned in the last blog, dew point is the preferred measure of how much moisture there is in the air and the dew points last week got into the mid to upper 60s--which are very high for us (the dew points today for example are in the lower 50s).So lets play detective! One...
The Other Side of the Heat Wave: Humidity
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There was another side of the heat wave of the past week--the high humidity. It really felt like the torrid east coast the day before the big record.Air with lots of water vapor makes us miserable in two ways: first, we can't evaporate water off our skin (sweat) as effectively...and thus feel warmer. Second, water vapor acts as an atmospheric blanket--keeping...
The Warmest July Ever at Sea Tac
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The numbers are in, July 2009 was the warmest since record-keeping began at Sea-Tac Airport (late 40s).The air above remains very warm above us right now...at 850 mb--around 5000 ft-- it is 20C (68F)...which is much above normal. At low levels we have had weak onshore flow, bringing marine air and some clouds in the lower few thousand feet. A vertical...
