March Weather in the Pacific Northwest

[TT-SEA]

Yes, its easy to beat. Skiing in slush almost ruins the experience. I'll take a rainy village with decent snow on the mountain vs sunny weather and terrible snow any day of the week.

 

I doubt you have ever skied in real slush there in March without rain falling.    Soft snow is not slush.   

 

People rave about skiing there in April.   My sister and family were there in April 2016 and they said the conditions were great and people were golfing in the village at that time.    

[TT-SEA]

I'm not sure why Tim keeps insisting 40s and sunshine is good skiing weather. Especially with spring sun angles...some of the worst skiing I've experienced has been in the 40s and sunny. Snow gets soft and slushy, and then icy overnight. Which means the next morning you're dealing with bad ice.

 

My son hates bad snow conditions.   He is constantly correcting me when I assume its decent up there.  I cannot get him to go up there if its icy.    He could easily be part of the ski patrol.   He is infinitely better than me.  

 

He absolutely loved it up at Snoqualmie Summit today.   Of course 2 feet of powder is better... but there is a real appeal to spring skiing.  

 

Here he is doing pond skimming at Mt. Bachelor on Memorial Day weekend last year when it was in the 70s.  

 

 

This is from April 2016 at Snoqualmie Summit when it was in the upper 60s.

 

[Phil]

[seattleweatherguy]

Pretty cool to have the first late sunset of the year be on such a beautiful day. Does not usually work out that way.

Today was a late sunset? Appears to be the same as yesterday even though we sprang our clocks forward?

[TT-SEA]

This. My worst ever wipeout happened out in Park City when I hit a patch of slush while making a sharp turn. It was one of those bright, sunny, 45*F days. All I can say is thank god I was wearing a helmet.

 

I knew those pictures you tried to pass off as Snoqualmie were actually Park City.   The wide open terrain and the trees gave it away. 

[Front Ranger]

My son hates bad snow conditions.   He is constantly correcting me when I assume its decent up there.  I cannot get him to go up there if its icy.    He could easily be part of the ski patrol.   He is infinitely better than me.  

 

He absolutely loved it up at Snoqualmie Summit today.   Of course 2 feet of powder is better... but there is a real appeal to spring skiing.  

 

Here he is doing pond skimming at Mt. Bachelor on Memorial Day weekend last year when it was in the 70s.  

 

 

This is from April 2016 at Snoqualmie Summit when it was in the upper 60s.

 

 

I can't speak to your son's snow preferences. But I do know that 40s and sunshine usually leads to conditions I don't enjoy much. The snow absolutely gets soft/slushy (why wouldn't it?) and worse, that leads to bad ice the following day.

[TT-SEA]

Today was a late sunset? Appears to be the same as yesterday even though we sprang our clocks forward?

 

Sunset is at 7:09 tonight in Seattle.  It is precisely 1 hour and 2 minutes later than yesterday.   Despite how it "appears" to you.  

 

Its the first late sunset of the year.   The first time you have daylight lingering until almost 8 p.m.    

[Deweydog]

I prefer skiing during winter.

[TT-SEA]

I can't speak to your son's snow preferences. But I do know that 40s and sunshine usually leads to conditions I don't enjoy much. The snow absolutely gets soft/slushy (why wouldn't it?) and worse, that leads to bad ice the following day.

 

Have to wait for it to warm up again in the morning.   Soft snow is way better than ice.

 

I told him about this discussion and he laughed.   He said the only times he has ever seen slush at Snoqualmie is when its raining... never on a dry day regardless of the temperature.   He said it was downright hot at Mt. Bachelor last May and even then it was not slushy.   The snow was soft but held its form.

[Phil]

I knew those pictures you tried to pass off as Snoqualmie were actually Park City. The wide open terrain and the trees gave it away.

What pictures are you referring to? You’ll have to refresh my memory on this one.

[TT-SEA]

What pictures are you referring to?

 

Years ago when you were trying to prove you grew up skiing at Snoqualmie and had a house there.     Those pictures of you skiing with your family were so obviously not Snoqualmie.   Many of us said Utah... and I said Park City.   It has a distinct look there.

[Phil]

[TT-SEA]

I don’t remember that, but I’m sure it happened.

 

I did grow up skiing the Wasatch, though. Used to do it several times every year, but haven’t been out there since high school.

 

Best skiing in North America at Snowbird and Alta... or so they say.  

[Phil]

Best skiing in North America at Snowbird and Alta... or so they say.

Where is Snowbird in relation to Alta? I haven’t heard of that one. I’ve done Alta a few times, last time was in March of 2008 (IIRC).

[Phil]

Man I’m getting all nostalgic now. Those were some of the greatest trips of my life. I can’t believe it’s been almost decade since I was out there.

[TT-SEA]

A shirtless bainbridgekid posting on facebook just now raving about this sunny, warm weather.   

 

He also traveled to CA more than once this past winter just for a weekend to get away to sun and warmth.

 

And the dude loves snow and cold too.   Go figure.    

[TT-SEA]

Where is Snowbird in relation to Alta? I haven’t heard of that one. I’ve done Alta a few times, last time was in March of 2008 (IIRC).

 

Right next door.   End of the same road.  

[seattleweatherguy]

Sunset is at 7:09 tonight in Seattle. It is precisely 1 hour and 2 minutes later than yesterday. Despite how it "appears" to you.

 

Its the first late sunset of the year. The first time you have daylight lingering until almost 8 p.m.

Ah got it. Our days are longer now

[Phil]

Right next door. End of the same road.

Are you messing with me? I literally knew nothing of it.

[TT-SEA]

Ah got it. Our days are longer now

 

Technically the daylight today was only 3 minutes and 27 seconds longer than yesterday.   So our days are getting longer at a steady 3+ minute pace at this time of year.  

 

But tonight we jumped an hour later on the sunset so its the first late sunset of the year.    During the first week of November we will have the first early sunset of the year.   

[TT-SEA]

Are you messing with me? I literally knew nothing of it.

 

Look it up.   They are literally within sight of each other.   Maybe you just assumed it was all the same resort?

[Phil]

Ah got it. Our days are longer now

It’s all in our heads, minus the few minutes we’re adding every day.

[Phil]

Really is an amazing psychological phenomenon, at least for me. I love the later sunsets..it puts me in a much better mood for some reason.

 

It’s one of the few things I love about summer. Nothing like walking around outside at 9pm in broad daylight.

[Phil]

Look it up. They are literally within sight of each other. Maybe you just assumed it was all the same resort?

Yeah it must be that, because I’ve definitely skied Hidden Peak before.

[seattleweatherguy]

It’s all in our heads, minus the few minutes we’re adding every day.

Ahhhh I'm sooo old! Hopefully we can get one more snow this year!

[MossMan]

Nice day!

[Front Ranger]

Nice day!

 

Any offers on the house yet?

[Phil]

Lol yeah, I’ve definitely been there. That run off the spine called “Berry Barry steep” marks another memory, but I thought it was in Alta or The Canyons. My friend Anita (much stronger skier than me) harangued me into taking that run down on the last day of our trip, and I ended up falling into one of those tree wells where you just sort of sink into the snow like quicksand. Just one of many epic fails for me that year.

 

That was my actually last year out west. I only remember the name because we had a lame/dirty inside joke over it.

[Frontal Snowsquall]

One degree short of a record. Nowhere else really was that close. OLM's record is 70 from 2005.

The NWS is going with 70 tomorrow for SEA which would tie their record. It will be interesting to see if both PDX and SEA can tie or break their record for the date.

[Jesse]

The NWS is going with 70 tomorrow for SEA which would tie their record. It will be interesting to see if both PDX and SEA can tie or break their record for the date.

Afternoon cloudiness could be an issue for either location hitting 70, but it will be close, especially for PDX.

[TT-SEA]

Afternoon cloudiness could be an issue for either location hitting 70, but it will be close, especially for PDX.

 

 

FWIW... here was the 12Z WRF cloud depiction for tomorrow at 5 p.m.

 

Sort of wispy... but anything less than full sunshine will probably keep it below 70.

 

[FroYoBro]

A shirtless bainbridgekid posting on facebook just now raving about this sunny, warm weather.   

 

He also traveled to CA more than once this past winter just for a weekend to get away to sun and warmth.

 

And the dude loves snow and cold too.   Go figure.    

Nice.

 

You are making it seem like I'm his facebook friend too! 

[Jesse]

Lighthouse at Fort Worden and Cascade peaks in the background. I believe one of those is Whitehorse.

 

[Frontal Snowsquall]

Afternoon cloudiness could be an issue for either location hitting 70, but it will be close, especially for PDX.

Yeah it will be close. I think PDX has a better chance than SEA at getting to 70/71.

[TT-SEA]

Nice.

 

You are making it seem like I'm his facebook friend too! 

 

I hope he does not mind.   I did not show his post here... just that he loved the sunny and warm weather which is like almost everyone else living around here.  

 

And he posted pics of him hiking with Bryant and Brennan last week. 

[TT-SEA]

Solar fun fact of the day... every sunset for the next 6 months and 10 days is later than today.  

[Jesse]

I hope he does not mind. I did not show his post here... just that he loved the sunny and warm weather which is like almost everyone else living around here.

 

And he posted pics of him hiking with Bryant and Brennan last week.

Why does it matter so much to you that everyone think the same as you? To the point that you are constantly on a quest to prove it. Can’t you just be happy with the fact that you enjoy it?

[seattleweatherguy]

morning (KSEA-KEAT to -7 to -9 mb) as an offshore frontal system

approaches the area from the southwest. Some mesoscale models,

mainly the WRFGFS from the University of Washington, hint at the

development of a mountain wave easterly wind event along the west

slopes of the Cascades that will extend westward to the Puget

Sound late in the afternoon and in the evening. Winds at 925 mb

SE at 40-50 knots late in the day per the WRFGFS would support

surface gusts that reach advisory level in places around the

Central Puget Sound Region Monday evening. The WRFGFS is most

aggressive with this feature and other models much less so. Will

look at later guidance before going more than breezy later Monday.

 

From afternoon afd. 45 to 50 knots is pretty windy

[TT-SEA]

Why does it matter so much to you that everyone think the same as you? To the point that you are constantly on a quest to prove it. Can’t you just be happy with the fact that you enjoy it?

 

Why are you worried about what I think?  

[Deweydog]

00z is running late.

 

#daylightsavingstimejokeskickass