Arctic Outbreak and Lowland Snow Expected This Week For Western Washington

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 […]

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A Review of the December 2021 Arctic Blast and January 2022 Snow/Flooding

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 […]

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Major Snowstorm and Icestorm Increasingly Likely for Western Washington and NW Oregon

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 […]

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How The Rockies Protect The West From Arctic Outbreaks

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 […]

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Insanely Strong Polar Vortex Pummels the Midwest

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 […]

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Warmer and Wetter Weather On The Way

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.

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The Polar Vortex – Winter is Coming

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. […]

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Don’t Mess with the Polar Vortex – The Midwest Arctic Outbreak and Climate Change

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 […]

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