Weather, Climate, and Other Science Topics
Freezing rain is finally over for most of Western Washington. I went out for a walk around Sandpoint Way earlier this evening, and though temperatures were above freezing and the roads were bare and wet, the sidewalks were still a slippery, icy mess. Reports ranged from around 1/8″ of an inch of ice near Bothell […]
Quick forecast update. The storm tracked slightly further north than modeled, meaning that mild southerlies (and rain) extended to the King/Snohomish County line instead of staying south of Seattle. The Everett area saw 1-3 inches overnight, depending on elevation, and totals increased northward from there. Whatcom County got clobbered, with reports of over a foot […]
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 […]
Snow is falling over Western Washington and parts of NW Oregon this morning. I’ve been riding the train down from Seattle to Portland and saw close to an inch in the higher elevations near Centralia. I’m now in Kelso and everything has switched to a cold rain, with no snow accumulation to be found. This […]
Yes – the rumors are true. There is a chance of lowland snow tonight into Monday morning for Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon. Some spots over Washington have already seen some snow showers this morning, but the main threat – and the focus of this blog – will be the snow potential Sunday night/Monday morning […]
On Friday, my brother and I traveled up to Stevens Pass and had an amazing time skiing in the sunshine. Conditions were a little icy to begin, but after 11am or so, the south-facing slopes on the backside of the mountain softened up a bit and we were treated to some amazing spring-like skiing. It […]
In a blow to professional meteorologists, a recent poll of 2,000 Americans showed that 58% of U.S. adults believe that Punxsutawney Phil seeing his shadow is an accurate indicator of whether there will be winter, with one quarter of Americans “strongly agreeing” with this statement. Unfortunately for America’s favorite groundhog, his forecasts verify even worse […]
Beginning around 1/14, a strong ridge of high pressure began to form over the Pacific Northwest, and although a few weak systems passing over it have brought a few sprinkles to Western Washington and Oregon at times, the weather is dead calm compared to the extreme mountain snow and river flooding we had to begin […]
Running out the door to head to my energy trading shift, but thought I’d post a quick update regarding the historic arctic blast and our accompanying lowland snow chances before then. Hope to have more tomorrow when there’s a bit more time! Arctic blast: Our extended/extremely strong arctic blast is still on tap, and […]
The Pacific Northwest has seen tons of mountain snow over the past 10 days. Since December 9, Snoqualmie Pass has seen approximately 8 feet of snow, and all of the major Cascade ski resorts, from Mt. Baker in the North Cascades to Mt. Bachelor in Central Oregon, opened for limited operations last week. I haven’t […]
