April 2019 Weather Discussion in the PNW

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Next couple weeks look nice. Classic spring greatness.

[Jesse]

Nice day!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Nice day!

 

If you happen to be a slug!

[Guest CulverJosh]

Beam me up Mt. Scotty!!

 

Hmm, not Mt. anymore. More like a Butte. The high desert fruit has company.

[High Desert Mat?]

Beam me up Mt. Scotty!!

 

Hmm, not Mt. anymore. More like a Butte. The high desert fruit has company.

What does that mean? Did you move?

[High Desert Mat?]

Bend broke their all time record snowfall in February of 43” with a solid 48” this year. Incredible that most of it fell within a 72 hour window. Redmond broke theirs too but with only a measly 44”. Crazy times. Seems it happens every two years or so with the major dumps. Then the years in between just get 2” here and 3” there a few times.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Not my ideal kind of weather up there, but better than the devastating tornadoes in middle of the country or the April blizzard in Chicago.

[ShawniganLake]

Ended up being a decent afternoon. Cool and breezy with a few sun breaks. You could hear a lot of lawn mowers around the neighbourhoods this afternoon

[Requiem]

Not my ideal kind of weather up there, but better than the devastating tornadoes in middle of the country or the April blizzard in Chicago.

 

I would have loved the April blizzard haha

[TigerWoodsLibido]

Occasional showers but otherwise a bit chilly and comfortable in Eugene. Making some food deliveries about town with the GF. Alton Baker Park still partly flooded.

[ShawniganLake]

Down to 37 here. Might see some frost tomorrow

[TigerWoodsLibido]

https://twitter.com/NWSPortland/status/1117721889873514501

[TT-SEA]

Interesting that 4 of the 6 wettest first half of April in the last 125 years were in this decade... 

 

 

 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Chilly morning. Some light frost. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Still looking like the rest of April will be pretty dry.

[TT-SEA]

New snow overnight on the ridge...

 

 

[Tyler Mode]

First clear cool morning of the month.  Dropped to 37 which is now my low temp for April.  Doesn't look to last long as the next system is moving onshore soon.

[TacomaWaWx]

Has been a little chilly the past couple mornings. Has dipped into the upper 30s here the 2nd night in a row. I live within a mile of the sound so it’s harder for it to frost or dip below freezing at night here. Looks like its going to be a nice day as well today. The second half of April looks like it’ll probably be drier than the 1st half of the month, shouldn’t be too hard considering in the 1st half of the month we had 12 consecutive measurable precip days.

[Jesse]

New snow overnight on the ridge...

 

 

Looks downright bizarre with the green filter.

[TacomaWaWx]

Yeah I was about to say that’s a beautiful picture tim!

[TT-SEA]

Looks downright bizarre with the green filter.

 

 

Except there is no "filter".     Brilliant rising sun against the ridge and a wet landscape.    Took a couple pics while getting the paper from the end of the driveway and uploaded them while standing there.   

[TT-SEA]

Drove down the hill just now to get another snow pic and got a pic of an elk instead.

 

The only problem is there was a little ground fog in that area making the pic look hazy.

[Jesse]

Another low in the 30s here. 37.

[Blizzard777]

Low of 37* here with blue skies currently

My hillside is draining water again....yeah!

[GHweatherChris]

Little frost on my truck this morning.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

River is about 3-4' lower this morning than it was on Thursday. I saw some fish swimming right below the deck. Wish I would have brought my pole!

[Front Ranger]

Interesting that 4 of the 6 wettest first half of April in the last 125 years were in this decade...

 

 

 

Big gap between first and last there.

[Front Ranger]

Drove down the hill just now to get another snow pic and got a pic of an elk instead.

 

The only problem is there was a little ground fog in that area making the pic look hazy.

 

Nice elk filter.

[TT-SEA]

Big gap between first and last there.

 

 

Still... the first half of April has been unusually wet this decade compared to the previous 125 years.  

[Front Ranger]

Still... the first half of April has been unusually wet this decade compared to the previous 125 years.  

 

No doubt. I'm sure an enterprising soul could find an equally unusually dry period over the past decade.

[Omegaraptor]

Still... the first half of April has been unusually wet this decade compared to the previous 125 years.

 

Summers have also been unusually hot, dry, and smoky this decade compared to the last 125 years. That’s a solid 3-4 months of the year compared to 15 days of April.

 

Just a trend.

[TT-SEA]

Summers have also been unusually hot, dry, and smoky this decade compared to the last 125 years. That’s a solid 3-4 months of the year compared to 15 days of April.

 

Just a trend.

 

And the first half of April has been unusually wet.

 

Maybe we are still in the same regime?

[TT-SEA]

No doubt. I'm sure an enterprising soul could find an equally unusually dry period over the past decade.

 

 

Maybe so... I just thought it was an interesting statistical quirk.    Particularly when considering our climate used to be sooooooo much wetter in the good ol' days.  

[Omegaraptor]

I’m not going to deny that this was actually a fairly wet decade...

 

But 2018 was a very dry year for anyone south of Longview.

 

However 2012 was a very wet year and 2014-17 were all wetter than normal. 2010-11 rainy season was very notably wet. 2015 would have been very dry if not for that impressive December.

[Omegaraptor]

One thing I’m also going to note is that looking at 30-year periods for PDX, there is no significant trend in precip. It’s not getting any drier or wetter.

 

I believe the rain is getting harder and more sporadic, however. Cliff Mass did an article on this at one point.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Big gap between first and last there.

 

The ultimate who cares post from Tim there... The next two weeks look pretty dry and Sea Tac will end the month with slightly above average rainfall. Nothing special.

[TT-SEA]

I’m not going to deny that this was actually a fairly wet decade...

 

But 2018 was a very dry year for anyone south of Longview.

 

However 2012 was a very wet year and 2014-17 were all wetter than normal. 2010-11 rainy season was very notably wet. 2015 would have been very dry if not for that impressive December.

 

 

2018 was actually dry from Seattle southward... and just slightly wetter than normal from my area north to the Canadian border.      We had numerous NW flow events last year that brought the central and north Cascades and adjacent foothill areas up to or just above normal for the year while places closer to the Sound and southward were dry in those patterns.    I realize this is built into the station averages... but that specific pattern was more prevalent than normal last year.

 

So there has not been a drier than normal year in the central and north Cascades and foothill areas since 2013.  

 

The 2014-17 period was wet for everyone.   It was the wettest 4-year period ever in Seattle.  

[TT-SEA]

The ultimate who cares post from Tim there... The next two weeks look pretty dry and Sea Tac will end the month with slightly above average rainfall. Nothing special.

 

Not my post or analysis... it was from the SEA NWS office.

 

Regardless... the data is still interesting.    The first half of April has been unusually wet this decade compared to the last 125 years (4 of the top 6 since 2011 and all top 6 since 1991).

 

I did not make any comment about the rest of April.   

[Omegaraptor]

It’s just an interesting trend. Nothing wrong with pointing it out.

[Jesse]

One thing I’m also going to note is that looking at 30-year periods for PDX, there is no significant trend in precip. It’s not getting any drier or wetter.

 

I believe the rain is getting harder and more sporadic, however. Cliff Mass did an article on this at one point.

Distribution of the rain has changed, especially the last several years. Much longer and drier dry seasons, generally. Heavy precip clustered around the cold season. Could just be a blip or part of a bigger trend.