This year we can take a huge step in turning around the troubled Seattle School District, but to do so will require replacing the current board members that are up for election.The multitude of problems in this poorly run and poorly performing district are manifest, and ultimately the origin of these deficiencies can be traced to a lack of leadership,...
Dry Time and Low Clouds
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We are now in the driest time of the year climatologically (see graph below of climatological probability of rain, click to enlarge)--in fact, the driest day of the year on average was yesterday July 29th, when .005 inches of rain has fallen on average at Seattle-Tacoma Airport over roughly the last half-century. We think of ourselves as being...
The Cold Truth
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Several of you have note that it is not the cool temperatures or even the rain that bothered you this last few months, but the lack of sunlight--sort of like a summer version of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). So what is the truth about clouds this spring and summer?In such situations there is ONE expert on our local murk that I trust,...
Heavy Showers and Thunderstorms
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I wasn't going to blog today...but had to mention the convection--heavy showers and thunder--that rolled through on both sides of the Cascades. The radar showed it nicely---here are a few samples.And all of this during one of the climatologically driest weeks of the year. A number of locations along the eastern slopes of Cascades, around...
East Coast versus West Coast: The Continental Weather Seesaw
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It often seems that the U.S. east and west coasts are on some kind of weather seesaw. Recently westerners have been complaining that the East Coast is warm and the West is cool, but sometimes it goes the other way. Quite frequently, warm records are found on one coast when cool records are occurring on the other. The coastal...
Why the Northwest is Nearly Heat Wave Proof
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As we complain about our cool summer, we should not forget that the central and eastern portions of the U.S. has been experiencing major drought and heat waves (as noted in my previous blog there is an intimate condition between our coolness and their heat). It turns out that when one does a careful accounting of the meteorological causes...
Why do we suffer?
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It is reminiscent of the Book of Job.We look to the heavens and ask: Why do we suffer? Why is the warmth of summer denied us? Is this a great test of a stormy Satan? If we accept the coolness and clouds without complaint, will the warmth of a true summer be restored, as Job was restored when he accepted God's will without complaint?Verily,...
Did Sea-Tac's Third Runway Change Our Climate?
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Last week the Seattle Times had a front page story about the Northwest becoming warmer and wetter based on recently updated climate statistics at Seattle-Tacoma Airport. But can we use one observing site to reliably determine region climate trends? In my previous blog I noted that this is a real problem: one site is not...
This is Getting Bizarre
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I think we communally must have sinned. I have followed the weather around here for a long time and I can't remember such sustained cool, cloudy weather during the middle to end of July (including what is going to occur). The latest round of model runs--including the ensemble forecasts--suggest this situation is not going to end during...
The Big Chill
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During the past two weeks we have enjoy fairly nice weather over the region, a break from the cooler and wetter-than-normal conditions this spring. I got some bad news for you...amazingly, the cool pattern is back and it isn't going away soon. And it will rain--today.But first a recap to make you feel better. Here are the temperatures...
Northwest Getting Warmer and Wetter? Not Really!
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On Thursday the Seattle Times had a banner headline: "Our new "normal" weather: wetter and warmer"It turns out there are a lot of issues with this claim if you really examine the facts. Lets do it!The story was based on the fact that the National Weather Service has just changed the period used to calculate our climate--what they...
