PNW December 2022, winter might be coming; but mostly canceled.

[TacomaWx]

Just now, Terreboner said:

Going down as a 15" event at the minimum.

Getting that much snow at once is pretty special for a lot of places in the PNW. We had 13.5” in 24 hours during February 2021. Snowed hard for 18 hours straight. Biggest single snowstorm in my lifetime. Snow got deeper in February 2019 at 20 inches deep but that wasn’t one single event like that one. 

[Deweydog]

Got Judah, Cliff, Chubbs and Abraham Lincoln over here for a 00z GFS watch party. Good friends, good times.

[Phishy Wx]

fake cold fest?

 

 

[Doinko]

Retrogression seems to be happening a bit faster on this run

[Doinko]

Day 4


ECMWF Day 4 for comparison

[Cold Snap]

 

1 minute ago, Doinko said:

Retrogression seems to be happening a bit faster on this run

Noticed that too and the low off the coast of Northern California is slightly farther west than the 18z.

[Meatyorologist]

1 minute ago, TacomaWx said:

Getting that much snow at once is pretty special for a lot of places in the PNW. We had 13.5” in 24 hours during February 2021. Snowed hard for 18 hours straight. Biggest single snowstorm in my lifetime. Snow got deeper in February 2019 at 20 inches deep but that wasn’t one single event like that one. 

Finger of east winds kept it at 8.5" in the NE corner of the city. Just down at UW it was closer to 10.5".

But my god, were the winds worth it. A stiff ESE gale made for one of the most perplexing storms I've ever witnessed here. Usually easterlies are blocked in my neighborhood but the gradients were so powerful the current sunk down and overcame the local terrain. Snow was blowing everywhere and sticking to the sides of houses, much like the two BC slider systems during February 2019. Didn't get anything quite like that anywhere to the south. And besides, it's not like I'm gonna turn down an 8.5" snowstorm; even with the reduction in totals, it's still the largest single snowfall event I've ever had at my place.

[Anti Marine Layer]

10 days to go.

[Anti Marine Layer]

7 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

fake cold fest?

 

 

If it dries out too long, fake grass may be needed. 

[TacomaWx]

Hopefully we can see something like this again regionwide. It was insane getting so much snow at once. Some of our best stretches of winter with a lot of snow is built up over several events. Only single events in my lifetime that were close to this were 9” of snow in February 2019 and 8” in January 2012. 

[selkirks]

8 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

fake cold fest?

line go brrrr

[SilverFallsAndrew]

4 minutes ago, TacomaWx said:

Getting that much snow at once is pretty special for a lot of places in the PNW. We had 13.5” in 24 hours during February 2021. Snowed hard for 18 hours straight. Biggest single snowstorm in my lifetime. Snow got deeper in February 2019 at 20 inches deep but that wasn’t one single event like that one. 

We had 21" on 1/17/12. That was pretty ridiculous. It actually snowed continuously from about noon on 1/14/12 until 2am on the 18th. 32" total. Nothing since has topped that. We also had a 22", 16", and 11" event in the February 29-March 22, 2012 period. Since then our only single storms over over 10" have been March 5-6, 2017, and March 23-24, 2018. We had 52" of snow in February 2019, but no single storm over 6", just snowed pretty much every day that month. Last December we had 27" in about 5-6 days, but our highest daily total was 8" and those storms were kind of broken up, same with April 2022. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Growing up in the Willamette Valley our biggest event was 2/19/1993. We had 13" that day. 

Silverton had an insane 11" with the arctic front in February 1989, but we didn't move there from San Diego until that fall so we missed it. 

Edited December 12, 2022 by SilverFallsAndrew

[TacomaWx]

4 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

Finger of east winds kept it at 8.5" in the NE corner of the city. Just down at UW it was closer to 10.5".

But my god, were the winds worth it. A stiff ESE gale made for one of the most perplexing storms I've ever witnessed here. Usually easterlies are blocked in my neighborhood but the gradients were so powerful the current sunk down and overcame the local terrain. Snow was blowing everywhere and sticking to the sides of houses, much like the two BC slider systems during February 2019. Didn't get anything quite like that anywhere to the south. And besides, it's not like I'm gonna turn down an 8.5" snowstorm; even with the reduction in totals, it's still the largest single snowfall event I've ever had at my place.

We were one of the biggest winners along with Olympia in the Puget sound region. The whole lead up to the event it was clear I was going to get absolutely slammed. Just far enough west to get the heaviest totals and avoid the east wind. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

I am forever convinced February 2019 was the February equivalent of January 1969. 

[Doinko]

1 minute ago, Meatyorologist said:

Finger of east winds kept it at 8.5" in the NE corner of the city. Just down at UW it was closer to 10.5".

But my god, were the winds worth it. A stiff ESE gale made for one of the most perplexing storms I've ever witnessed here. Usually easterlies are blocked in my neighborhood but the gradients were so powerful the current sunk down and overcame the local terrain. Snow was blowing everywhere and sticking to the sides of houses, much like the two BC slider systems during February 2019. Didn't get anything quite like that anywhere to the south. And besides, it's not like I'm gonna turn down an 8.5" snowstorm; even with the reduction in totals, it's still the largest single snowfall event I've ever had at my place.

I think the strongest east winds I've seen while it's snowing was during the first February 2014 storm. It was around 19 degrees with extremely heavy snow and very strong east winds during the late afternoon/evening. I think we ended up with 5-6" of very powdery snow on the 6th with a 22/18 day. We ended up with around 9-10" of snow total with the three storms from the 6th to the 8th.

I didn't really watch the really heavy snow fall on 1/10/17 but I woke up to massive drifts under covered portions of yard so there probably were some really strong east winds with that too. Ended up with 13"

February 2021 was also really windy, but a sideways wintry mix isn't as fun as all snow. It was really unique waking up to basically a layer cake of ice sleet and snow though.

[TacomaWx]

4 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

We had 21" on 1/17/12. That was pretty ridiculous. It actually snowed continuously from about noon on 1/14/12 until 2am on the 18th. 32" total. Nothing since has topped that. We also had a 22", 16", and 11" event in the February 29-March 22, 2012 period. Since then our only single storms over over 10" have been March 5-6, 2017, and March 23-24, 2018. We had 52" of snow in February 2019, but no single storm over 6", just snowed pretty much every day that month. Last December we had 27" in about 5-6 days, but our highest daily total was 8" and those storms were kind of broken up, same with April 2022. 

I legitimately want to be moved out to an area that does better in snow overall like west kitsap or near the cascades by the time I’m 30. Not just for winter weather but just to get out of city life and have more space from people too. 

[Meatyorologist]

GFS looks lost, but it wants to do something good.

[Doinko]

5 minutes ago, TacomaWx said:

We were one of the biggest winners along with Olympia in the Puget sound region. The whole lead up to the event it was clear I was going to get absolutely slammed. Just far enough west to get the heaviest totals and avoid the east wind. 

I think portions of north/east Portland metro area had 10-15" as well. Downtown had around 7.5" and then totals reduced fast as you went west/south. How much did you have in Feb 2019?

[Deweydog]

9 minutes ago, Mr Marine Layer said:

10 days to go.

Those sun angles will creep up FAST.

[Doinko]

GEM is a lot stronger with the block and similar to the Euro at Day 4.
GEM:

Euro:

GFS:

[TacomaWx]

Just now, Doinko said:

I think portions of north/east Portland metro area had 10-15" as well. Downtown had around 7.5" and then totals reduced fast as you went west/south

I do remember a lot of people especially Portland north doing really well. Overall IIRC the biggest totals were west and south of Tacoma down to Portland. East of the I-5 corridor up here totals were definitely cut back…but it was still one of the most regional snow events I can remember so many people scored. 

[Anti Marine Layer]

3 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

Those sun angles will creep up FAST.

Not at first 

[Doinko]

GFS doesn't look that great. The ridge is a lot weaker

[LowerGarfield]

46 minutes ago, Terreboner said:

Still a beautiful snowfall here guys and gals.  Has been off and on this afternoon but now it picked up again.  Looks like a perfect band across us from NE to SW.  A very special event and I appreciate every minute of it.  Had family over earlier and we all just were in awe of the beauty of nature.  So blessed to have this happen here where we appreciate it the most.  

I hope everyone experiences this type of event this winter.   

Can't wait to hear your final totals! Excited for you!

[WildrootParable]

6 minutes ago, TacomaWx said:

I legitimately want to be moved out to an area that does better in snow overall like west kitsap or near the cascades by the time I’m 30. Not just for winter weather but just to get out of city life and have more space from people too. 

Can confirm that getting out of city life has its advantages. It's a good goal.  

[Doinko]

GEM is weirdly cold on Saturday

[Doinko]

I don't like the GFS so I'm going to post the GEM instead. Looks better

[RentonHill]

LOL wtf is this? 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, Doinko said:

GEM is weirdly cold on Saturday

Uhhhh lol. 

[Deweydog]

Looks Canadian.

[MossMan]

Model struggles. They had the exact same issues before January 1950 as well according to my late grandfather. 

[Ice_is_Everywhere]

2 minutes ago, RentonHillTC said:

LOL wtf is this? 

Nightmare fuel.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

2 minutes ago, RentonHillTC said:

LOL wtf is this? 

Well at least its cold? 

[Doinko]

Canadian looks like it's dropping the hammer

[RentonHill]

The guys at NCEP have to be sitting there looking at these runs like....jfc maybe its time to bail

[BLI snowman]

47 minutes ago, Requiem said:

We ended up with around 6", a thick ice glaze on top, and another inch of ice on top of that. Definitely the worst storm as far as tree damage goes in this area since at least 2016.

Amazing difference just 15 miles to your north, considering your elevation. Ended up with 15.5" from that storm here, with maybe 1/8" of sleet near the beginning of the event and a quick 1/4" of freezing rain at the end. 

[Doinko]

Day 7 Canadian

[LowerGarfield]

Looks like my location will not see a temperature above 32F after the middle of the night.... until Christmas Eve/Day.

I'm debating whether to delete the sub freezing high days on my signature. Subfreezing days are not rare here. We've already had several. I'd guess we probably have somewhere between 5-20 depending on the year. Besides TWL, who appreciates sub freezing highs? Or should I just record days with low temps in single digits or below? What does the forum think? It's ben a rough start to my location for snow compared to the last two years, but I still like following cold.

 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just now, Doinko said:

Day 7 Canadian

OMG