PNW December 2022 - Part II

[SouthHillFrosty]

4 minutes ago, Seattle said:

I am quite surprised at the rate which this snow equivalent of heavy drizzle is accumulating. Already a thin layer recovering roofs, cars, grass, and anything else elevated. I don't have a thermometer, but it's clearly below 32.

Download weather underground. It’s pretty good at showing local temps with elevation, etc 

[Deweydog]

2 minutes ago, FroYoBro said:

All rain here.

How many street lights did you employ?

[Kolk1604]

Down to 35 here after a high of 37 

[KingstonWX]

Temp down to 29 here. Never even got above freezing today.

[FroYoBro]

1 minute ago, Deweydog said:

How many street lights did you employ?

I hire a helicopter to fly around my neighborhood and shine its search light near me on potential rain/snow mix nights. 
 

Not tonight.

[SnarkyGoblin]

Early in the battle, the cold air is winning. We need to watch this line and see the rate at which it warms up.

[Perturbed Member]

9 minutes ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

I'm rooting hard for you guys.  With all the effort you folks put in with tracking this stuff, it's the least mother nature could do.

Thanks! Likewise, I hope you guys do well up there tonight into tomorrow. Seems like more likely than not you have a legit snowstorm on the way there. 

[Cloud]

10 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

Those little dots of ice that look like tiny snowflakes are called snow pellets -- they form when supercooled water coats snowflakes and uses them as condensation nuclei to freeze! They form when there is a lot of moisture in the column and when snowfall is light.

Had a brief bout of that here, but have now transitioned to a steady light, normal snowfall. 31/29 here and holding steady, maybe dropping a tad. Other stations are cooling slightly. Slush is refreezing slowly.

They’re actually not that fun when they hit you in the face… got smacked with those this morning! 

[Hawksfan2008]

Here she comes 

[Skagit Weather]

33 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Total snow through 4 p.m. tomorrow...

 

Do you have a precip map? I'm interested in how much QPF rather than snow the 18z Euro shows just *in case* the temperatures end up being colder than modeled.

[Omegaraptor]

1 hour ago, Perturbed Member said:

Mark Nelsen thinks PDX is pretty screwed from ice and power outages.

"

• Assume much of the I-5 corridor could “shut down” driving-wise Friday, for one day. Then there’s a decent chance at least half the metro area is still frozen through Saturday. Maybe roads are much better west/south metro…maybe. Worst-case scenario is that it’ll be hard to move in much of the Portland metro area all of Friday and Saturday with lots of freezing rain and power outages. A memorable Christmas ice storm. Best case is that most of the I-5 corridor is in good shape by midday Saturday and ice storm conditions are only confined to east metro areas near the Gorge. That’s best case.

"

He also does not believe we will have snow for very long if we get it at all. 

"Most models have precipitation arriving 4pm-10pm Thursday. That’s just a first guess. So the first snow/ice pellets/freezing rain MAY impact the Thursday evening commute. If it starts as snow, it can’t last long because forecast soundings imply warming overhead happens quickly."

 

I hope PDX can somehow eek out a quick inch or two before that nasty ice but the models have all been consistent in showing significant WAA. The soundings show steady easterly flow up to 900mb even during the steady precip but I don't think that is quite deep enough for snow. 

Really hope the south/west metro can avoid ZR. Possibly the only weather worse than 110 degree heat.

[GHweatherChris]

Warm air is surging fast...

[Rubus Leucodermis]

17/21°F for the day. Now 19.6. Light snow falling now, expecting 6 or 7 inches IMBY overnight.

[Deweydog]

3 minutes ago, FroYoBro said:

I hire a helicopter to fly around my neighborhood and shine its search light near me on potential rain/snow mix nights. 
 

Not tonight.

Expensive but worth it.

[TT-SEA]

4 minutes ago, Skagit Weather said:

Do you have a precip map? I'm interested in how much QPF rather than snow the 18z Euro shows just *in case* the temperatures end up being colder than modeled.

 

[Kolk1604]

4 minutes ago, Skagit Weather said:

Do you have a precip map? I'm interested in how much QPF rather than snow the 18z Euro shows just *in case* the temperatures end up being colder than modeled.

 

[Doinko]

43 degrees at PDX right now

[TacomaWx]

Drizzle and 35 here but Tacoma narrows is 34 and snow so it should change over. 

[Doinko]

Hoping Western WA gets buried tomorrow. Slightly disappointing to be missing out on yet another snow event but it's not that bad considering we're not going to stay in the 40s for the rest of the event.

[Requiem]

Just now, Doinko said:

Hoping Western WA gets buried tomorrow. Slightly disappointing to be missing out on yet another snow event but it's not that bad considering we're not going to stay in the 40s for the rest of the event.

We've still got our flash freeze-esque easterly event coming later so I'm not too upset.

[MikeInEverett]

First flakes of the night have started to fall. Sticking to everything.

[Deweydog]

32 years ago right now PDX was about to advect into the teens.

[Frontal Snowsquall]

58 minutes ago, Requiem said:

Love Rod but I feel as though he's too optimistic about scouring us out that quickly Friday. Mark seems confident this will last through Saturday.

I agree, I think Rod will go colder as we get closer to the event.

[KingstonWX]

13 minutes ago, FroYoBro said:

I hire a helicopter to fly around my neighborhood and shine its search light near me on potential rain/snow mix nights. 
 

Not tonight.

You know, all my life I thought I was a weirdo due to my obsession with street lights and outdoor lighting in every house I've ever lived in, even going back to childhood, just so I could see snow. Then I found this forum....

[joelgombiner]

Just realizing how cold it is about to get in Seattle over the next couple nights. Low of 13 on Wednesday night?!! Time to bring my fig trees into the basement! 

[joelgombiner]

1 minute ago, KingstonWX said:

You know, all my life I thought I was a weirdo due to my obsession with street lights and outdoor lighting in every house I've ever lived in, even going back to childhood, just so I could see snow. Then I found this forum....

A good viewing light is essential! 

[gusky]

4 minutes ago, MillCreekMike said:

First flakes of the night have started to fall. Sticking to everything.

Roads too? Not sticking on pavement in N Sea yet

[MikeInEverett]

2 minutes ago, gusky said:

Roads too? Not sticking on pavement in N Sea yet

Only have a view of my alley and side street, but yeah it’s sticking to those streets.

[joelgombiner]

Temps starting to go negative on the Waterville Plateau... Brutally cold. 

[T-Town]

5 minutes ago, KingstonWX said:

You know, all my life I thought I was a weirdo due to my obsession with street lights and outdoor lighting in every house I've ever lived in, even going back to childhood, just so I could see snow. Then I found this forum....

Same. So I’m not the only adult in the world who stares at streetlights due to an irrational love of snow?  Nice!!

[SouthHillFrosty]

1 minute ago, MillCreekMike said:

Only have a view of my alley and side street, but yeah it’s sticking to those streets.

What’s your temp? Probably only like 25-30 up there 

[snow_wizard]

Not sure what to think of the very disappointing ECMWF runs today for the Seattle area snow prospects.  I guess we're just going to have to wait and see.  Not long to wait now.  The models have really sped up the timing of everything and the cold backwash behind the low begins late morning now.  In the end that might be the best bet for King County.

The wild card that could help things in the early stages of this would be the light east winds that are supposed to develop a bit later.  It is very cold in Central WA right now so that could help a little bit.

Too bad we didn't get more CAA from the North Interior today.

[BLI snowman]

44 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Maybe if we cancel it hard enough it will come back to us?!

Let's just all agree to not have a thread for it and see what happens.

Watched pot never boils theory at work....

[SnowWillarrive]

Light snow here now 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

8 minutes ago, joelgombiner said:

Just realizing how cold it is about to get in Seattle over the next couple nights. Low of 13 on Wednesday night?!! Time to bring my fig trees into the basement! 

Definitely a good idea idea they are potted. Just don't leave them inside too long or they will break dormancy.

If they are in the ground, I would not be concerned. A fig tree down the street came through single-digit temperatures last winter just fine.

[snow_wizard]

Has anyone read the text forecasts for the Seattle area today?  They are so badly worded as to be almost unreadable.  Really bizarre.

[WildrootParable]

Spent the last minutes of daylight running around the snowy yard with the doggo. Still snowing steadily here, and it's just starting to accumulate on the cement patio where it had melted before during the day. I would say we're at just shy of an inch of accumulation from last night and the day today. If history (and the models) serve us well, we could do pretty well tonight. Looking forward to finding out!  

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, SnowWillarrive said:

Moderate snow here now 

That wasn't supposed to happen according to the ECMWF.  Let's hope it's full of sheit.

[SnowySeeker50]

Light snow has begun.

[joelgombiner]

Just now, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Definitely a good idea id they are potted. Just don't leave them inside too long or they will break dormancy.

If they are in the ground, I would not be concerned. A fig tree down the street came through single-digit temperatures last winter just fine.

Agreed! Last winter I made the mistake of keeping them inside for way too long and they broke dormancy too early. This year planning to bring the potted ones inside for a few nights this week and then put them back out this weekend. Most of mine are Italian Honey which is very cold-hardy.