Weather, Climate, and Other Science Topics
I’ve always said that there are far more snow days forecast for the Pacific Northwest than appear in reality. There are a few reasons for this. The first is that there are multiple weather models, running multiple times a day, that show nearly every possible weather solution under the sun over the course of the […]
On Friday, Seattle was cut off from the north, the south, and the east due to flooding from the Chehalis River inundating I-5, extreme amounts of snow in the Washington passes, and all roads out of Vancouver BC being closed due to heavy snowfall. None of these individual events are unprecedented – the Chehalis spilled […]
It now appears likely that Western Washington and NW Oregon will experience a series of significant winter storms from midday Thursday through Saturday evening, bringing snow, sleet, freezing rain, extremely strong east winds, and a prolonged period of subfreezing temperatures. I’ve been dying to write this post – I’ve been absolutely swamped the past several […]
I’m not a big beer drinker. However, I always have a few cans of Coors in my fridge in case some friends come over and want to crack a cold one. Why Coors? Because the mountains turn blue when it’s “as cold as the Rockies,” and since I have no stock in the taste, the […]
By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard of the infamous “polar vortex.” While this term has been in the meteorological literature since 1853, it sprung into the vernacular during the 2013-2014 winter, which featured repeated arctic outbreaks that punished the Midwest and Northeast with record low temperatures. The first “Sharknado” movie was released in the […]
After two weeks of subfreezing temperatures, snowfall, and even sleet and freezing rain for folks living in Bellingham and near the Columbia River Gorge, a major pattern change towards warmer and wetter weather is in store for us. Although I like the cold (and LOVE the snow that sometimes comes with it), I’m excited to transition back to a much more active pattern that promises to bring gobs of snow to the mountains, heavy rain to the lowlands, and blustery winds just about everywhere.
Monday, November 10, 2014 12:39 pm I think the above meme explains all you really need to know about the weather this coming week. But I shall oblige your curiosity and explain the meteorological situation that has led us to our first real chill of the winter. First, let’s learn what a “polar vortex” is. […]
Tuesday, January 7, 2014 12:14 a.m. I don’t know how many of you watched the Packers-49ers game on Sunday, but it looked absolutely frigid. The grass was brown. The surface temperature was 3 or 4 degrees. Green Bay actually got down to -18 that day, which is a record. That’ll freeze cheese. My cousin Colleen […]
