October 2017 PNW Discussion Thread

[Geos]

That marine layer is deeply entrenched today.

 

[ShawniganLake]

Not sure how warm the winds will be. I know they are being triggered by a cooler airmass moving into the interior. Might be relatively warm by the time they get to you I suppose.

It’s going to be a downslope kind of warm day up here. Probably pushing 70 in the Fraser Valley. Gonna dry out the atmosphere big time though. Dew points likely in the teens/ low 20s later today.

[Deweydog]

Arctic front has made its way into North Central Washington...

[Jesse]

Still socked in with fog here at about 500 ft. 

Dreary day so far.

Very nice change of pace.

[Geos]

Very nice change of pace.

 

It is. The sky has brightened up a little in the last 5 minutes.

Top of the cloud boundary is probably only a few hundred feet up.

[DareDuck]

As Shawnigan mentioned, it’s actually been colder down here, relative to average, than up north this month. We had a couple pretty meaty troughs mid Month that pulled the snow level below 4,000 a couple times.

To say we had “1600’ snow levels” in the central OR Cascades just seems wrong. Yes it snowed in Detroit but it was isolated, other locations around there up to around 3000’ were seeing rain. Snow levels have definitely been below 4000’ a couple times. Santiam Junction saw a decent accumulation and that’s around 3500’.

[ShawniganLake]

To say we had “1600’ snow levels” in the central OR Cascades just seems wrong. Yes it snowed in Detroit but it was isolated, other locations around there up to around 3000’ were seeing rain. Snow levels have definitely been below 4000’ a couple times. Santiam Junction saw a decent accumulation and that’s around 3500’.

I don’t think anyone said the snow level was 1600’, even though it clearly was in Detroit. 3000-3500’ sounds reasonable.

[Jesse]

To say we had “1600’ snow levels” in the central OR Cascades just seems wrong. Yes it snowed in Detroit but it was isolated, other locations around there up to around 3000’ were seeing rain. Snow levels have definitely been below 4000’ a couple times. Santiam Junction saw a decent accumulation and that’s around 3500’.

I didn’t say that. I said it was a legitimately cold trough that pulled snow levels below 4,000 (or much lower) at times. Seems accurate.

[DareDuck]

Yeah it came down to Santiam Pass and Hoodoo. Might have been flakes mixing in at Detroit. I guess it has been below normal for the month. Strange it doesn't feel like it.

Oops didn’t see this when I replied to Jesse. Detroit actually had sticking snow, not just flakes mixing in. It was isolated though with the snow level closer to 3500’. Still a pretty good October in terms of snowfall.

[DareDuck]

I didn’t say that. I said it was a legitimately cold trough that pulled snow levels below 4,000 (or much lower) at times. Seems accurate.

Yea that’s accurate. It was definitely a nice cold trough.

[wx_statman]

More than.  Thanks grammar police. 

 

BTW, do you even have a job?  Posting 24 hours a day on a weather forum, lol.

 

What kind of job are you talking about? Working 18 hours in a coal mine? Most modern jobs have enough down time to make a few posts on a weather forum, if one chooses. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Yea that’s accurate. It was definitely a nice cold trough.

 

Yeah, I am also at 1600, I think it got down to 40 here the day it snowed at Detroit. 

[Jesse]

Oops didn’t see this when I replied to Jesse. Detroit actually had sticking snow, not just flakes mixing in. It was isolated though with the snow level closer to 3500’. Still a pretty good October in terms of snowfall.

I don’t think the spots of low snow levels were all that isolated. Like some sort of inexplicable outlier descended upon Detroit that must be disregarded. Just depended on where heavy showers fell, especially on the 12th/13th. Anywhere that got a heavy enough shower got snow down to a fairly ridiculous elevation for that early.

 

We took a drive out to the Cedar Creek Grist Mill in north Clark County on the 13th, and you could see widespread snow in the foothills east of Yale Lake, Siouxon Creek from a viewpoint we stopped at on the way home. That area is generally between 1,500-2,500. It’s like a magnet for heavy shower activity though.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

What kind of job are you talking about? Working 18 hours in a coal mine? Most modern jobs have enough down time to make a few posts on a weather forum, if one chooses. 

 

Very true...I think it was a mocking/non-serious post.

[wx_statman]

Arctic front has made its way into North Central Washington...

 

BLI as well. Nice jump from 50 to 63 on NE winds. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

King Euro

 

[Jesse]

King Euro

 

 

He looks pretty blue.

[Geos]

Big difference in Bellingham.

 

 

Low 60s there.

[crf450ish]

Sounds pretty wild. It would have been a big mid-winter outbreak. For it to have happened in November is pretty remarkable. 

Lets not forget 2010. Although not as comparable to what you're talking about, still cool. 

 

November 2010, just before Thanksgiving, Eatonvile, WA experienced a rather unusual snow event. Just the way the storm tracked, perfectly and slowly with TONS of moisture. I clearly remember going to bed at midnight that night after looking at the thermometer reading of 16F and about 10" of snow on the ground. Woke up at 5am to another 6". I was up to my knees in snow, something that I had never experienced in my life, at home, in western WA. It was incredible. That is also the same time when Seattle public transit buses went for a skating session down many of the hills in Seattle. 

[DareDuck]

I don’t think the spots of low snow levels were all that isolated. Like some sort of magical outlier descended upon Detroit that must be disregarded. Just depended on where heavy showers fell, especially on the 12th/13th. Anywhere that got a heavy enough shower got snow down to a fairly ridiculous elevation for that early.

 

We took a drive out to the Cedar Creek Grist Mill in north Clark County on the 13th, and you could see widespread snow in the foothills east of Yale Lake, Siouxon Creek from a viewpoint we stopped at on the way home. That area is generally between 1,500-2,500. It’s like a magnet for heavy shower activity though.

I was talking more in terms of widespread accumulating snowfall which seemed to be around 3000-3500’. I agree there were probably a few spots that got a little dusting down lower and even more that saw flakes in the air. I also don’t follow the north OR Cascades as closely as I do the central OR Cascades.

[Geos]

What kind of job are you talking about? Working 18 hours in a coal mine? Most modern jobs have enough down time to make a few posts on a weather forum, if one chooses. 

 

Yeah I would say that's pretty true.

I work in a research lab and there's always down time waiting for equipment to do its thing at my job.

[Geos]

Lets not forget 2010. Although not as comparable to what you're talking about, still cool. 

 

November 2010, just before Thanksgiving, Eatonvile, WA experienced a rather unusual snow event. Just the way the storm tracked, perfectly and slowly with TONS of moisture. I clearly remember going to bed at midnight that night after looking at the thermometer reading of 16F and about 10" of snow on the ground. Woke up at 5am to another 6". I was up to my knees in snow, something that I had never experienced in my life, at home, in western WA. It was incredible. That is also the same time when Seattle public transit buses went for a skating session down many of the hills in Seattle. 

 

Wow, that sounds like quite an event. Was it like an upsloping type of event?

[Jesse]

Yeah I would say that's pretty true.

I work in a research lab and there's always down time waiting for equipment to do its thing at my job.

Sounds really interesting. What sort of research?

[Jesse]

I was talking more in terms of widespread accumulating snowfall which seemed to be around 3000-3500’. I agree there were probably a few spots that got a little dusting down lower and even more that saw flakes in the air. I also don’t follow the north OR Cascades as closely as I do the central OR Cascades.

I was talking about the south Washington Cascades. But yeah it sounds like we basically agree overall.

[DareDuck]

Another GFS vs Euro snow battle for next weekend. Euro has been showing 2-4” here for the past few runs. GFS has been showing a dusting to maybe 1”. Similar to a couple weeks ago where the Euro was consistently showing more snow and was wrong. Hopefully the Euro is right this time.

[Guest happ]

Anyone have any memories of the early Nov. 1985 cold snap. I noticed Silver Falls got an inch of snow on the 9th that year, and then a couple of 42/18 type days, about two weeks before the big cold outbreak. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_1985_cold_wave

 

Palm growers refer to 1985 as the worst event!

 

"Even Miami, whose average low in late January is 60 °F (16 °C), recorded a low of 34 °F (1 °C) on the 21st and 30 °F (−1 °C) on the 22nd, both record lows for the date, the latter being one of only 10 times the city has been that cold since 1895.^[12][13]"

[TT-SEA]

It is. The sky has brightened up a little in the last 5 minutes.

Top of the cloud boundary is probably only a few hundred feet up.

 

We had to go to Fall City a little while ago.

 

Blazing sun here... foggy in North Bend... blazing sun at the Snoqulamie Parkway exit... drizzling and dark in Fall City.

 

Came back home and the fog was stuck in all the same places.   As you as you start going up our hill it goes from really dark to really bright in about 1/10th of a mile.  

 

The sunny places looked much prettier. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Lets not forget 2010. Although not as comparable to what you're talking about, still cool. 

 

November 2010, just before Thanksgiving, Eatonvile, WA experienced a rather unusual snow event. Just the way the storm tracked, perfectly and slowly with TONS of moisture. I clearly remember going to bed at midnight that night after looking at the thermometer reading of 16F and about 10" of snow on the ground. Woke up at 5am to another 6". I was up to my knees in snow, something that I had never experienced in my life, at home, in western WA. It was incredible. That is also the same time when Seattle public transit buses went for a skating session down many of the hills in Seattle. 

 

Yeah 2010 was pretty good up here. I didn't live up here yet unfortunately. Silverton down the hill where I was living, officially had 1" of snow and recorded a 29/21 and 31/17. 

 

Up here there was about 4-6" of snow and Silver Falls recorded a 26/18 day followed by 30/16. 

 

For this area it was pretty similar to November 1993, though the cold lasted longer with that one. Silver Falls had a 28/12 with the 93' blast and Silverton had a 33/15 day.

 

There was a bit more snow up here in 2010 compared to 1993, down in Silverton it was about the same. 

[wx_statman]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_1985_cold_wave

 

Palm growers refer to 1985 as the worst event!

 

"Even Miami, whose average low in late January is 60 °F (16 °C), recorded a low of 34 °F (1 °C) on the 21st and 30 °F (−1 °C) on the 22nd, both record lows for the date, the latter being one of only 10 times the city has been that cold since 1895.^[12][13]"

That’s a different cold wave.

[TT-SEA]

Yeah 2010 was pretty good up here. I didn't live up here yet unfortunately. Silverton down the hill where I was living, officially had 1" of snow and recorded a 29/21 and 31/17. 

 

Up here there was about 4-6" of snow and Silver Falls recorded a 26/18 day followed by 30/16. 

 

For this area it was pretty similar to November 1993, though the cold lasted longer with that one. Silver Falls had a 28/12 with the 93' blast and Silverton had a 33/15 day.

 

There was a bit more snow up here in 2010 compared to 1993, down in Silverton it was about the same. 

 

November 2010 was gorgeous for 4 days here.   Then on Thanksgiving morning our pipe burst in the garage and we had to turn of the water and then it started pouring rain.   

 

Here was the scene on 11/23/2010...

 

 

[Geos]

Sounds really interesting. What sort of research?

 

Biotech

[crf450ish]

Wow, that sounds like quite an event. Was it like an upsloping type of event?

 

I’m not entirely sure. Making a semi-educated guess, I will say yes. Only because that night I left work in Yelm and it was already blowing about 20-25mph w/ 20F, vey little snow falling but it was falling.

 

As I drove east down HWY 702 I noticed that the snowfall became heavier and the road was completely covered. When I came to the intersection at the east end of 702, I noticed none of the highways were plowed as well (awesome). I continued east on Eatonville cutoff road and that’s when the snowfall became so heavy it was almost impossible to see, wipers were frozen. I was driving my heavy modified Jeep Cherokee at the time so I was excited to use 4wd in the snow. I decided to put it in 4-HI so as to maintain some sort of stability on the road, as there was easily 6" or so on the road.

 

From the east end of Eatonville-cutoff road to the actual entrance to the town of Eatonville was pure epicness. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was driving down a logging road in the mountains during a snowstorm. Nothing plowed, no other cars on the road, literally no tracks in the fresh snow, other than mine. 

 

Eatonville sits around 800' elevation compared to Yelm @ 350'. Ashford is 1,750'. I drove to Ashford the following morning to see the snow. Stupid me, didn't take a camera and cell phone pics were lost. Ashford had like nearly 2 feet from that event. 

[Geos]

Sun is trying to break out as close as Shoreline.

 

[TT-SEA]

Sun is trying to break out as close as Shoreline.

 

 

 

Northerly flow through the Sound is starting up.  

[wx_statman]

Anyone have any memories of the early Nov. 1985 cold snap. I noticed Silver Falls got an inch of snow on the 9th that year, and then a couple of 42/18 type days, about two weeks before the big cold outbreak.

 

That was an impressive little cold snap. Obviously got overshadowed by the madness later that month. I would say 11/10/1985 had the coldest gorge outflow pre-11/15 until Nov. 2014, at least back to 1980.

 

The 11/10-11/13 cold shot also had better southward penetration than the stuff later in the month, and produced the coldest readings of that month in places like Grants Pass (16f) and K Falls (2f).

[Jesse]

Northerly flow through the Sound is starting up.

Thank goodness. It feels like it’s been weeks since we’ve seen any warm sunshine.

[TT-SEA]

Thank goodness. It feels like it’s been weeks since we’ve seen any warm sunshine.

 

Shut up.   

 

Any sunshine is greatly appreciated as we head into November.    It will be a rare commodity for the next few months.

[Jesse]

Shut up.

 

Any sunshine is greatly appreciated as we head into November. It will be a rare commodity for the next few months.

Touchy!

 

October has been a very sunny month, despite being below average temperature wise with above average rainfall.

[TT-SEA]

Touchy!

 

October has been a very sunny month, despite being below average temperature wise with above average rainfall.

 

Ahhh... you made the snarky comment in response to a simple weather observation.     Always stirring it up!

 

Every moment of sun in October was greatly appreciated... it will be rare very soon.  

[Jesse]

Ahhh... you made the snarky comment in response to a simple weather observation. Always stirring it up!

 

Every moment of sun in October was greatly appreciated... it will be rare very soon.

Always. It’s all I ever contribute.

 

It’s been pretty darn sunny regionally since some time in May. Definitely a longer sun season than average. We are due for some extended gloom.