Front Ranger

And then you have January 1940...

So I guess calling it historic and impressive isn't enough, I also need to do nothing but gush about how it's just AMAZING, SPECTACULAR, and RECORD-BREAKING, and avoid referencing anything similar historically (even though we had a member ask about if/when we've seen this kind of thing before). You probably should be careful about referencing 1917 and 1980 like you did, kind of comes across as "downplaying" as well...just a "heads up".

Oh, between the hourly reports then?

Yup, and I explained why it was weak. Wasn't meant as an insult towards BLI, the city of Bellingham, or your family.

SEA will need to beat a gust of 41 mph. I'm taking the over.

I called it both impressive and historic. Just giving you some thread perspective.

2014-15 has plenty of time to catch up!

Absolutely. As you and I both pointed out, not unprecedented for the area by any means, but certainly historic.

Finally looks like a return of some interesting weather here next week. Chance of a decent storm Sun/Mon, but a lot still up in the air. Then some more seasonable weather and maybe some more chances of snow.

Looks like that station also hit 67 in 1980. With a warm low for that event of 51. The low this morning was 50. Yesterday's low of 55 at BLI was just insane. The warmest 2N ever saw in December was 53 in 1919 and 1963, and the previous record for BLI was 53 in both 1958 and 1980.

All that counts for that station! Just providing some more historical perspective for these kind of December temps in western WA.

It was definitely impressive. But certainly not unprecedented for the area.

Other notable December torches in western WA: 1906 (Olympia hit 70), 1993, 1937 (Landsburg recorded 72), 2005, and 1941 (when Bellingham hit 67).

That's kind of a weak record monthly high. The old Bellingham 2 N station with records from 1915-85 had a December record of 67, and a January record of 67 as well.

Unless you're windsurfing or flying a kite, or invested in wind power, 30-50 mph winds are pretty much useless. Get above 50 and it's kind of fun just to watch people freak out as they lose their hats, hair is messed up, strange objects fly by, etc.

Here, we see 60+ mph gusts frequently with Chinook winds, especially near the foothills. With far fewer trees, it rarely impacts much except to cause tumble weeds to blow around and make it a bit difficult to drive straight. Especially when drunk. LOL!

It seems that there is a real generation gap in appreciation for wind events on this forum.

But bananas grow in warm, tropical climates...bad.

You seem to have missed the point. Regardless of what the ECMWF is currently showing, it's been trending towards the GFS and may not be done doing so.

I'm betting the unexpectedly strong gusts already seen in parts of the region (like BLI) played a role.

Yeah, I mean if almost freezing highs in a couple places and ice storms float your boat...like I said, I was just looking for true Arctic blasts, not brushes to the east. If we saw a Jan 1978 redux, I doubt many people would call that a score. It would fall into the "darn, close but no cigar" category that leaves everyone wanting to kick kittens.

Hey, don't forget I do agree that weak ENSO provides the CONUS (including the PNW) a better overall chance of major Arctic outbreaks than most ENSO states. 1956-57, 1958-59, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1990-91, 1993-94, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2008-09, 2013-14...all weak/neutral ENSO years that featured major, and often top tier cold waves repeatedly hitting the U.S. And yes, a lot of them occurred in January.

Yes, 1992-93's +ENSO development was extremely late. Who knows where our ENSO will be in a couple months, but based on where it's been the last few months, 1992 was well behind 2014's +ENSO. Beyond that, it was also a winter influenced (to what degree is debatable) by the Pinatubo eruption. Jan 1978 was another weak backdoor event that mostly missed to the east. SEA put up a cold day of 44/32, and even though PDX had Gorge outflow, clouds, and precip they couldn't manage a sub-freezing high. I mean, if you want to count these teaser type events as something to hang your hat on, go for it. I was just looking at actual, full blown, regional Arctic events - the type that produce what people are actually hoping for. Jan 1978, Jan 1977, Jan 2013, Jan 2005, and Jan 1970 would not leave many people all that happy.

Because I'm not going all in and saying early January is a lock for an Arctic event? Just providing some perspective and facts. Almost all of the winters I included were in the .3 to .8 range. And again, I'm going off of the most recent fall ONI numbers we have for this year. But I can take out 1968-69 if you'd like (peaked at 1.1 later in the winter). As far as second year Ninos go, that means you'd also have to take out 1953-54 (it was the third winter in a +ENSO stretch, which included one previous Nino), 1958-59, and 2004-05 (again, going by the fact that it was the third +ENSO winter in a row, which included a Nino before it). Like I said, I think the most solid thing going for all of us is the fact that we've got weak ENSO and an atmosphere that has tended towards high latitude blocking.

I mentioned Jan 1977 in my post. It had a weak brush with modified Arctic air, but was far from anything notable. Coldest day at SEA was 34/24, same as Jan 2013. It was a little colder at PDX with more offshore flow, but wasn't true Arctic air...the 2 sub-freezing days happened due to fog/freezing drizzle, with a bunch of other days in the mid 30s with sunshine. It doesn't prove anything one way or another, just wanted to provide the overall perspective on early January with similar ENSO to what we're seeing.