April Weather in the Pacific Northwest

[El Nina]

To be fair... PDX is at 3.10 inches for April which is about 200% of normal. Its not like its been dry down there this month.

 

PDX is also just about normal for the rainy season and for 2018... within a inch of both.

 

And Salem is at 4.68 inches for April... which is exactly the same as SEA. Salem is also above normal now for the rainy season and for 2018. This is also the 7th wettest April ever at Salem... with a period of record going way back to 1893.

 

I would say there has been no north-south gradient at all this month. PDX has just been a little drier than Seattle, Olympia, and Salem.

I think he's taking about winter/spring as a whole. There is a big N/S gradient on snowpack and rain this winter/spring, even though April has been wetter than normal and even record breaking everywhere.

[TT-SEA]

I think he's taking about winter/spring as a whole. There is a big N/S gradient on snowpack and rain this winter/spring, even though April has been wetter than normal and even record breaking everywhere.

 

 

For the rainy season since Oct 1:

 

BLI  32.64  (+6.58)

 

WFO SEA  36.29 (+7.77)

 

SEA  36.26  (+6.57)

 

OLM  47.94 (+6.88)

 

PDX  26.92 (-0.85)

 

SLE  32.53  (+0.07)

[GHweatherChris]

[El Nina]

2007 had a definite N/S gradient in terms of snowpack. Actually looks fairly similar to this year's situation.

[TT-SEA]

You are the only one really keeping an eye on the score on here.

 

Good.    

[TT-SEA]

For the rainy season since Oct 1:

 

BLI  32.64  (+6.58)

 

WFO SEA  36.29 (+7.77)

 

SEA  36.26  (+6.57)

 

OLM  47.94 (+6.88)

 

PDX  26.92 (-0.85)

 

SLE  32.53  (+0.07)

[El Nina]

For the rainy season since Oct 1:

 

BLI  32.64  (+6.58)

 

WFO SEA  36.29 (+7.77)

 

SEA  36.26  (+6.57)

 

OLM  47.94 (+6.88)

 

PDX  26.92 (-0.85)

 

SLE  32.53  (+0.07)

PDX and SLE are normal so far. Seattle and Olympia are half a foot above normal. There is a bit of a gradient N/S. You've had a wet year.

[TT-SEA]

PDX and SLE are normal so far. Seattle and Olympia are half a foot above normal. There is a bit of a gradient N/S. You've had a wet year.

 

Its really just been in my very tiny area here in the foothills according to some.   Everywhere else has been quite dry.    

 

Or maybe its been a fairly wet rainy season again across most of western WA based on actual data at the major stations?    Right Jared?     

[MossMan]

Was a nice few hour break in the rain today. Water was still flowing across the roads in many places up here. I borrowed a horse trailer today from a friends dad who has had his 60 acre farm for the last 40yrs said he has never seen it this wet this time of the year. The ground cannot take any more water here.

[TT-SEA]

Was a nice few hour break in the rain today. Water was still flowing across the roads in many places up here. I borrowed a horse trailer today from a friends dad who has had his 60 acre farm for the last 40yrs said he has never seen it this wet this time of the year. The ground cannot take any more water here.

 

It was seriously wet last year at this time too.    I remember that. 

 

It know it was also very wet in March and April of 2014.  

[El Nina]

What was the last winter/spring that was this N/S with precip? I don't remember a year since I moved here in 1989 when there was this much of a difference between Washington and Oregon.

I don't know how good of an indicator snowpack is of general precip, but in 1997 there was a very sharp cutoff in snowpack between WA and OR. It's also worth saying that in the past 22 years 1997 and 2007 are the only 2 with a snowpack cutoff from N/S.

 

[Frontal Snowsquall]

You’re dumber than a doornail. I referenced them as tropical forcing analogs, not as analogs for local PNW weather conditions.

 

Do you understand the difference? If not, then I’d recommend getting a lobotomy.

Ouch

 

Phil, your insults are as technical as when you talk about weather. Always makes me laugh. I didn't know what a lobotomy was until today. We always learn something new everyday.

[Frontal Snowsquall]

For the rainy season since Oct 1:

 

BLI  32.64  (+6.58)

 

WFO SEA  36.29 (+7.77)

 

SEA  36.26  (+6.57)

 

OLM  47.94 (+6.88)

 

PDX  26.92 (-0.85)

 

SLE  32.53  (+0.07)

 

So PDX only receives ~65-70% of the normal rainfall OLM gets? I didn't know it was that drastic.

[MossMan]

It was seriously wet last year at this time too. I remember that.

 

It know it was also very wet in March and April of 2014.

He did say that springs just continue to get more and more wet each year.

[TT-SEA]

So PDX only receives ~65-70% of the normal rainfall OLM gets? I didn't know it was that drastic.

 

Portland has the coast range and Seattle has the Olympics.     OLM has no such advantage.  

[TT-SEA]

He did say that springs just continue to get more and more wet each year.

 

There were some very wet springs in the 1990s.

 

1991, 1993, 1996, and 1997 were all in the top 5 wettest Aprils at SEA.    2018 knocked out 1997.  

 

But people don't usually remember 20-30 years ago as well as recent years.  

[MossMan]

[SilverFallsAndrew]

There were some very wet springs in the 1990s.

 

1991, 1993, 1996, and 1997 were all in the top 5 wettest Aprils at SEA.    2018 knocked out 1997.  

 

But people don't usually remember 20-30 years ago as well as recent years.  

 

I remember those springs pretty well. Lots of rained out little league games!

[TT-SEA]

I wasn’t going to argue with him...he’s like a Sam Elliott type in “The Ranch”

 

I know the feeling.   I don't bother to argue with anyone about the weather outside of this forum... I get it out of my system here!  

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Getting chilly out there! Down to 37 with some light rain and gusty winds!

[WeatherArchive]

Getting chilly out there! Down to 37 with some light rain and gusty winds!

Does this feel like March to you? I bet in May we will be having our "April" weather with a week or so above 65F like April should be with maybe a spurt into the high 70s.

[TT-SEA]

Does this feel like March to you? I bet in May we will be having our "April" weather with a week or so above 65F like April should be with maybe a spurt into the high 70s.

 

Sometimes months feel like other months.  

 

We had a couple days in early March that felt like June.    And a few days in April that have felt like January.

 

They say April is the cruelest month.  

[MossMan]

I know the feeling.   I don't bother to argue with anyone about the weather outside of this forum... I get it out of my system here!

 

So true! And if I did argue he might not have let me borrow his awesome horse trailer to store all of my dog training gear in!

[Frontal Snowsquall]

Portland has the coast range and Seattle has the Olympics. OLM has no such advantage.

You got to love the different microclimates of the PNW. On the other end of the spectrum is Sequim which barely gets over 15 inches of rain a year due to the Olympic Rain Shadow.

[stuffradio]

You got to love the different microclimates of the PNW. On the other end of the spectrum is Sequim which barely gets over 15 inches of rain a year due to the Olympic Rain Shadow.

Seems hard to imagine what 15 inches of rain a year is like.

[VancouverIslandSouth]

Nice rain shadow reversal this evening.

[Phil]

[TT-SEA]

Seems hard to imagine what 15 inches of rain a year is like.

 

That is just a little less than VIS's average.    I think its perpetually droughty.     I have had almost that much in the last 2 weeks.  

[VancouverIslandSouth]

That is just a little less than VIS's average.    I think its perpetually droughty.     I have had almost that much in the last 2 weeks.  

 

It's a darned desert out there:

 

[TT-SEA]

It's a darned desert out there:

 

 

 

Yeah... it looks green in Southern California in April too.   Its fleeting.   

[TT-SEA]

Really looking forward to the weather from Wednesday onward.   

[Jesse]

Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen the temperature at PDX drop this much on strong south winds.

[Timmy]

A good friend of mine is on Kauai now vacationing, he just sent me this along with some videos... “

I just heard on the news we have had 27" of rain in the last 24 hours. That was measured north of here, but we have had our share of the wet stuff down here near Poipu. We tried to get to the north shore today, but road closures turned us back.”

 

He also added, “but it’s a warm rain”...

[wx_statman]

Mid-April afternoon in Kansas City:

 

https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobext.php?wfo=pqr&sid=kmci&num=25&raw=0&banner=off

 

If they hang on to their 30 degree maximum, it will blow away the late season benchmark (a high of 36 on 4/20/1918). Latest sub-freezing max on the books is 4/9/1973. Incidentally, Kansas City just saw their latest maximum in the 30's on record (39 on 5/3/2013) during that historic May snowstorm on the plains. 

 

I keep running into 2013 numbers while researching the cold weather in the plains & Midwest lately (and the European cold in early March, for that matter). Interesting that both springs followed major SSW events. 

 

31 degrees was the final max in Kansas City yesterday. Latest sub-freezing by 6 days, previously 4/9/1973.

[wx_statman]

Meanwhile, about as chilly/wet/breezy of a combo as you can get in Portland this time of year. Straight up January weather out there. 

[TT-SEA]

31 degrees was the final max in Kansas City yesterday. Latest sub-freezing by 6 days, previously 4/9/1973.

 

What about the high at 28 at MSP yesterday?   Is that a record?

 

Look at the lovely April they are enjoying... 26 inches of snow so far and ridiculously cold.   And they have had snow on the ground almost all month.   They briefly cleared the deck late last week just in time to get buried again. 

 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Light snow and 35.

[MossMan]

Light snow and 35.

Light rain and I don’t know degrees here...I packed my weather station yesterday.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Light rain and I don’t know degrees here...I packed my weather station yesterday.

 

Snowed pretty hard there for 20-30 minutes.

[stuffradio]

It's raining cats and dogs this morning, almost .5 inches of rain about 20 minutes ago.