jcmcgaffey

2 hours ago, Meatyorologist said:

Buddy and I went on a walk to enjoy the catastrophe today. Saw some cumulus shrouding Mt. Rainier, lots of high clouds, sunny, mild weather.

Him and I are both science nerds so we got to talking about adiabatic cooling and how it works... Neither of us really knew the exact answer, and none of the information we read online felt comprehensive or satisfying. After some shared thought my buddy tossed me a theory that I think makes the most sense. As he guessed, as a parcel rises, and the volume of that parcel increases, the fastest moving ("hottest") molecules in that parcel travel outwards towards the edge first, since they are faster. Those "hot" molecules, being the first of the parcel to make direct contact with the environent surrounding it, transfer their heat out via conduction. It's essentially a molecule sorting process, where the hottest molecules are most likely to conduct their thermal energy to the surroundings, since they are faster than the rest of the molecules, and fill in the expanding parcel first. As you can imagine, transferring heat out of the parcel via the warmest particales preferentially will cool off the parcel, and at a fixed, predictable rate, too.

Any seasoned mets want to pitch in? Are we onto something or shooting blanks? Don't know where else to ask. Maybe Reid Wolcott knows.

Adiabatic vs evaporative cooling is always a good debate in a mechanical engineer’s world in regards to most efficient cooling systems.  I’ll have to ask some folks at work next week and see what they think. 

46 for the high at SEA today. Good for a -11 departure.

Might sneak in one more high in the forties on Saturday but will be tough. 

34 minutes ago, DareDuck said:

Hoping to have 2-3” by morning. Snow wasn’t supposed to start for a few hours. Hoping the main band waits until 2-6am to maximize cooling. This is now the 7th straight month with at least non sticking snow. 

Looks like it will be in the upper 60s to low 70s when we visit family there next week. Will just miss the cold/snow. 

1 hour ago, TT-SEA said:

Over half an inch out here but only .02 at SEA.   That is disappointing considering there might not be much more rain in Seattle over the next week to 10 days.    Models did seem to back down a little on the ridge amplification for next week... probably stays below 70 for most places up here but still quite dry.  

SEA has been a bit of a dry anomaly lately. Locations starting a mile or two north they had up to a quarter inch. SEA has been either just north or just south of the rain.

Highs today in the 20s in northern Minnesota while upper 80s to 90s in Texas. 

45 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

What is the reason they have been centered so persistently over the PNW, and not other places?

I may be way off on this but that area of above normal heights seems to sit in an area for 7-10 years and then re-establishes again somewhere else for another 7-10 year period. It was in Texas for a while during those big drought years then was in California and now here. 

Little snow shower came through here in north seattle and put a dusting on the ground. 

I’ve done a lot of climbing around the world and seen beautiful scenes from the tops of a lot of peaks but for me nothing compares to the awe of the trees of the Redwoods for some reason. I went back last summer and was seriously awestruck for hours walking through them. I have no idea why it strung a chord in my heart. My wife was seriously concerned for me and then said why don’t you say those things about me.

2 hours ago, TT-SEA said:

On summer evenings there are usually cars all along the shoulder on 202 so you know where they are before you see the elk.    A couple summers ago they made a small dirt lot for people to park off the highway.   People will also walk way too close to get pics.  

I pulled off there last year on my way to take some clients golfing and was working on my laptop not knowing what it was. I looked up after working a bit and there was a huge herd of elk around my car!

1 hour ago, snow_wizard said:

Lauderdale which is the junction of 970 and 97 has had -11, -10, and -9 the last three days.  That is flat out impressive.

I wish they had a sensor in Liberty.  That place is perfect geographically for some really low readings on clear nights.

Looks like someone has a weather station out there. 

26 minutes ago, the_convergence_zone said:

Ok I see you're in Oregon. The snow that's falling in the Seattle area right now is not diamond dust. 

I can confirm there are now clouds around and there has been a constant flurrying the last few hours. I have seen this before but only once or twice before. 

Been having decent flurries the last hour here and no clouds around. Cold air just squeezing the moisture out. 

8 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Haven't cleared driveway because I figured it would melt like all other little snow events this week.  Not happening for some reason... might have to reconsider.       

Temp has not budged all day.   Sitting at 19. 

Ya didn’t hit our lowest temp so far until around 10-10:30 when we hit 14 now it bumped up 15 which is crazy for 11:30. 

Looks like Augusta Montana is going for a high of -30 today….

16 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

I’ve mentioned before my daughter had 18 full snow days last winter, and probably 6-7 late starts due to snow. She did have a couple in November, but something similar to what happened in your area happened with a school bus in Silverton in early December 2022 when a rogue snow/grapuel shower dropped 1-2” of snow across Silverton just as school let out. It was a very snowy winter, but that seemed excessive. They’ve had snow every day this week and she’s only had one two hour delay, so they’ve been trying a little harder this year. 

Wow. Do they do remote learning instead?

11 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Just got a text that Snoqualmie Valley schools are closed tomorrow.   Pretty wimpy for maybe 1-2 inches of snow across the district.   They have had school in session with this much snow many times particularly since the snow is done now and it won't be snowing in the morning.   But apparently they had not one but two buses sideways on hills this afternoon so I guess they figured they could burn a snow day in a Nino winter.  

Seattle schools announced at the beginning of the school year that there would be no school closures but just remote learning days so that no days have to be made up during the summer. Sort of ruins snow days for the kids though. 

15 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Yeah... radar does not tell the whole story for sure.     Some places over-achieving based on radar and some the opposite.   No idea why.

Ya have been in the heart of it just north of seattle but have only been getting light flakes. Much less than downtown. 

Seattle to Edmonds is going to miss out completely. First c-zone set up north and now this one will be south. 

It will drop south a little as the flow changes but will also fizzle out. 

3 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

That CZ looks healthier than any model showed. 

Yep was just going to say that. My weather app just completely flipped for the next 3hrs showing all snow now. 

Looks like a solid larger convergence growing north of seattle. Hopefully it stays strong. It has the look of juicier longer lasting one. 

3 minutes ago, RCola said:

4th and Cedar currently.

Haha that’s funny. Wait..do you work with BNBuilders…?

2 minutes ago, RCola said:

It's sleet and snow mix. Now almost 100% snow.

Are you in the same building as me? 4th and cedar?

10 minutes ago, AlTahoe said:

Tesla factory east of Reno tonight. approaching a foot of snow in like 5 hours 

Crazy going from a high of 43deg down to 6deg by midnight there.