It is clear than our region has offended the great weather god. First piece of evidence: the below normal temperature and above normal precipitation of the past 1-2 weeks (see graphic of temperatures at Seattle Tacoma Airport compared to average high and low). For the past ten days the maximum temperature has remained well below normal.But what is...
Not Good
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I am afraid I am going to have to update the forecast substantially...and the changes are not good for tomorrow.Yesterday was very wet, particularly over NW Washington...take a look at the 48-h rainfall ending Saturday morning from RainWatch (www.atmos.washington.edu/SPU), a system we developed for Seattle Public Utilities (see graphic). Some places--N....
Memorial Day Weekend: One Day Out of Three
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What a difference a year makes.In 2009 the last week of May was nearly dry with temperatures above normal. 2010 will not be a repeat, unfortunately. I think we have a very good idea now of what will occur, and the weekend is going to be a mixed bag.Lets start with Friday. WET. In fact, quite wet.Rain will be moving in overnighttonight and will...
Looking Better for the Memorial Day Weekend
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Well, the forecast is looking up for Memorial Day, so it looks increasingly that you will be able to enjoy that picnic, trip, parade, or other outdoor activity. Not perfect, no heat wave, but good enough, and considerably better than the outlook a few days ago.But there is a real lesson in this--we have to be within 3-4 days to have some confidence...
Approaching Front and Some Light Rain
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ANNOUNCEMENT: Puget Sound Chapter of the American Meteorological Society Meeting Wednesday night!PRESENTATION: "The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center: How We Warn the Nation." Cindi Preller - West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center DATE and TIME: Wednesday, 26 May 2010, at 6:45 PM PDT.LOCATION and LOGISTICS: The meeting will be at NOAA,...
Cool and Convergence
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I hate to say this...but this has been a classic May in some ways: cooler than normal in the beginning, a warm spell mid-month, and a cool down at the end. Take a look at Seattle's temperatures versus the normal highs and lows (below) to see what I mean.The last few days have been roughly 10F below the normal maximum (which is around 65F). My tomatoes...
Powerful Storm
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The storm is now is moving into Vancouver Island and the model forecasts verified quite well. Below is the latest infrared satellite picture...you can clearly see the low center. Beneath that is the visible satellite photo at 5 PM. Really impressive... you can see the swirling clouds and the strong front that had just passed through Puget Sound.The...
Even Stronger
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The latest satellite pictures shows a profound enhancement of the high clouds around this system (see above). The latest forecast models are even more threatening that last night...this is going to be a major coastal wind event, with damage and power outages. NW Washington will be hit harder than expected last night. And another issue...when the...
A Serious Storm
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Long Beach will be vulnerable to this eventThe models are all on the same page now, confirming that the Northwest...and particularly our coastal regions...will be dealing with a serious storm event. There are some unusual aspects of this storm I want to talk about and some misconceptions that need to be cleared up.First, a storm this powerful...
Storm Update
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The new run is in and the forecast is basically the same as this morning. Thus, it is looking increasingly likely that a good windstorm is coming to the coast and NW Washington-an unusually strong one for this time of the year.Here is the latest forecast from the UW high-resolution forecasting system for 8 PM Wednesday. An intense pressure gradient...
Major Coastal Blow Possible On Wednesday
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I will update this more tonight...but an unusually strong low pressure system...and strong winds...will reach our coast on Wednesday. Also strong SE winds over NW Washington. See pressure forecast below for 5 PM on Wednesday. More tonight. The models are still shifting the low position, so there is some uncertainty in this forecast. But if you...
There is a bird in my radar!
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During the past few weeks, several of you have asked essentially the same question:" It's been completely dry but the weather radar last night showed lots of echos, suggesting it rained all night. What is going on ?"Well, I can give the you the answer: Birds!Weather radar can see more than raindrops. It can see the mountains, but that signal is...
