July 2018 Weather in the Pacific Northwest

[Front Ranger]

Down there.

 

Up here... my area is on the western edge of a large area through most of Montana that has been pretty wet this year.  

 

Andrew was talking about the last 3 months or so. Time for a reality check again.

 

[TT-SEA]

Going a month without rain for your location would be pretty unusual. Recent summers withstanding.

 

Naahhh... there are many summers with a 3 or 4 week stretch of totally dry weather here at some point.  

 

Even in years like 2011 and 2012.   It rained on only one day in August of 2011 and did not rain at all in August of 2012... and then rained on only 2 days in September of 2012.

[jakeinthevalley]

Alders are the real bastards of the tree world.   

Starting in March, they drop these ridiculous sappy, seed pods that are orange and are tracked in the house by the dog. 

 

Later in the Spring, they drop little clusters of maturing seed pods, covering the backyard.

 

First stretch of warm weather and the cotton/snow begins to fall and get everywhere.

 

Hot spells (like this) they suck up all the available water, making the branches heavy and susceptible to breaking without warning. Had one come down about a week ago. 6" diameter. Heard the tell tale crash in the garage.  Landed on the fence.

 

Only thing I don't mind is raking the leaves, but they are too acidic to do much for composting/mulching.

 

I'll take alders any day. At least I can dry the wood and use it for smoking fish.

[TT-SEA]

Andrew was talking about the last 3 months or so. Time for a reality check again.

 

90dPNormWRCC-NW.png

 

 

Does that show the last significant rain event?   Because for my area it was in the month of July.    And it rained on 8 out of 10 days from 6/22 - 7/2.

 

Andrew said they have gone almost 3 months with significant rain down there.   We have not gone even 3 weeks up here.

[Front Ranger]

Most of OR is now in severe drought, as well as parts of SW WA. Just befuddling, considering Jan-Apr wasn't that dry!

 

[Deweydog]

Today reminds me of yesterday.

[Front Ranger]

Does that show the last significant rain event?   Because for my area it was in the month of July.     

 

Andrew said they have gone almost 3 months with significant rain down there.   We have not gone even 3 weeks up here.

 

Yes, but then you fell back on "my area has been wet this year". That was not the discussion.

[Kayla]

Winter rainfall is pretty irrelevant at this point. He was talking about the last three months, which have been way drier than normal for the great majority of the PNW, including your area and stretching all the way out here to NW Montana.

 

1365AAAB-130C-4114-981D-F3CF0DC94224.png

 

That map actually corresponds to the current drought monitor maps for the region really well. Again proving that normal or even above normal rainfall during the winter isn't enough if it's a dry spring overall.

 

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/png/20180724/20180724_West_none.png

[Front Ranger]

I effing HATE cottonwoods. We have a few (removed 6 a few years back) along the creek in our back yard. They are the bastards of the tree world.

 

This may be the strongest tree opinion I've seen expressed on this forum. And there have been some strong ones.

[Kayla]

Today reminds me of yesterday.

 

Except 2 degrees hotter!

[TT-SEA]

That map actually corresponds to the current drought monitor maps for the region really well. Again proving that normal or even above normal rainfall during the winter isn't enough if it's a dry spring overall.

 

 

 

Correspondingly... it can easily be sufficiently wet here even with below normal rainfall.  

 

We went into July looking like early May in the Snoqualmie Valley even though rainfall had been a little below normal overall for a couple months.   This was primarily because May and June were quite cloudy with numerous light rain events.

[Front Ranger]

Naahhh... there are many summers with a 3 or 4 week stretch of totally dry weather here at some point.  

 

Even in years like 2011 and 2012.   It rained on only one day in August of 2011 and did not rain at all in August of 2012... and then rained on only 2 days in September of 2012.

 

It's been a very unusual stretch for dry summer months. Including August 2012. Just because it's happened more recently does not make it common climatologically. 

[Kayla]

Correspondingly... it can easily be sufficiently wet here even with below normal rainfall.  

 

We went into July looking like early May in the Snoqualmie Valley even though rainfall had been a little below normal overall for a couple months.   This was primarily because May and June were quite cloudy with numerous light rain events.

 

Again, I don't think anyone is talking about your small area. The region as a whole has been dry no matter how you slice it.

[TT-SEA]

It's been a very unusual stretch for dry summer months. Including August 2012. Just because it's happened more recently does not make it common climatologically. 

 

We had less than 1/10th of an inch of rain here for the 2 month period from mid-July to mid-September in 2011.   

 

2011 was a cool summer... it barely cracked 80 at SEA until September.   I remember Scott Sistek keeping tracking of the few minutes that SEA was above 80 that summer.  

 

And still... it did not rain for almost 2 months that year at my very wet location.   

[jakeinthevalley]

This may be the strongest tree opinion I've seen expressed on this forum. And there have been some strong ones.

All caps will do that

[TT-SEA]

Again, I don't think anyone is talking about your small area. The region as a whole has been dry no matter how you slice it.

 

There is a distinct line from Seattle to Boise to Cheyenne this year.

 

My area is part of a large area of generally wetter than normal conditions from western WA into the Dakotas this year so far.    

 

 

 

The last 3 months have been technically drier than normal here... but its only starting to dry out now.    This has been nothing like 2015 here.

[TT-SEA]

It's been a very unusual stretch for dry summer months. Including August 2012. Just because it's happened more recently does not make it common climatologically. 

 

 

Going back to 2010 (another crappy summer here overall) there was almost no rain for 7 weeks from early July to the end of August.  

 

Even in a train wreck summer like 1993... there was only 5 days with rain from the end of July into early October here.

 

A stretch of dry weather like we are experiencing now is totally normal here... even if it continued through most of August.    What has been unusual this month is the consistent warmth.  

[Front Ranger]

We had less than 1/10th of an inch of rain here for the 2 month period from mid-July to mid-September in 2011.   

 

2011 was a cool summer... it barely cracked 80 at SEA until September.   I remember Scott Sistek keeping tracking of the few minutes that SEA was above 80 that summer.  

 

And still... it did not rain for almost 2 months that year at my very wet location.   

 

Since 2012, Palmer has had 6 different months with less than 1" of rain.

 

Most 6 year stretches in their record, it happened 0-2 times. So yeah, it's happened way more recently than normal.

[MossMan]

Nice day to be checking out the sea life!

[Front Ranger]

There is a distinct line from Seattle to Boise to Cheyenne this year.

 

My area is part of a large area of generally wetter than normal conditions from western WA into the Dakotas this year so far.    

 

 

 

The last 3 months have been technically drier than normal here... but its only starting to dry out now.    This has been nothing like 2015 here.

 

No one but you is talking about YTD. 

[Jesse]

All caps will do that

i hope teh cotton woods go exstink soon

[Jesse]

Again, I don't think anyone is talking about your small area. The region as a whole has been dry no matter how you slice it.

I think Tim missed this but it is worth seeing again. Bump.

[Front Ranger]

I think Tim missed this but it is worth seeing again. Bump.

 

He sees it, but continues to ignore context and post irrelevant YTD maps. Had nothing to do with Andrew's point.

 

Just Tim being Tim!

[Deweydog]

i hope teh cotton woods go exstink soon

This post is filled with spelling and grammar and spelling errors! Klassic!

[TT-SEA]

He sees it, but continues to ignore context and post irrelevant YTD maps. Had nothing to do with Andrew's point.

 

Just Tim being Tim!

 

There has been almost no rain from Seattle southward over the last 3 months... there has been over 7 inches here.    And even that is below normal but sooooooo different than getting almost no rain.    That is what happened in 2015 here.

 

So... for 2018... my area is more appropriately included in the generally wet area from the northern half of western WA through Montana.    And not in the dry area in SW WA and OR.  

[Front Ranger]

There has been almost no rain from Seattle southward over the last 3 months... there has been over 7 inches here.    And even that is below normal but sooooooo different than getting almost no rain.    That is what happened in 2015 here.

 

So... for 2018... my area is more appropriately included in the generally wet area from the northern half of western WA through Montana.    And not in the dry area in SW WA and OR.  

 

The past 3.5 months have seen well below normal precip for the entire region.

 

That is a true statement, regardless of comparisons in your backyard to 2015. Which, of course, Andrew was not talking about.

[Jesse]

This post is filled with spelling and grammar and spelling errors! Klassic!

van’Kouver Komedy Klassics!

[jakeinthevalley]

i hope teh cotton woods go exstink soon

I hope they WOOD BRANCH out a bit and just LEAF my yard. It seems they have set ROOTS way too long. I may have come across as all BARK and no bite, but I really can be SAPPY sometimes

[Jesse]

I hope they WOOD BRANCH out a bit and just LEAF my yard. It seems they have set ROOTS way too long. I may have come across as all BARK and no bite, but I really can be SAPPY sometimes

I attreeciate these puns.

[TT-SEA]

Since 2012, Palmer has had 6 different months with less than 1" of rain.

 

Most 6 year stretches in their record, it happened 0-2 times. So yeah, it's happened way more recently than normal.

 

Well... you said a 4-week stretch of dry weather was so unusual in my area.   That does not mean one dry calendar month.    2010 is a good example... we had significant rain in early July and on the last day of August so both months look wet but there was a 7-week stretch of dry weather in there.   

 

I can tell you that we have experienced at least a 4-week stretch of almost totally dry weather almost every summer in our 15 years here.   2007 was a notable exception.  

[TT-SEA]

The past 3.5 months have seen well below normal precip for the entire region.

 

That is a true statement, regardless of comparisons in your backyard to 2015. Which, of course, Andrew was not talking about.

 

True statement indeed.

 

And yet its MUCH worse in SW WA and OR.     

 

The 7 inches of rain here in that period probably has something to do with that... compared to almost nothing down south. 

 

And Andrew did talk about 2015.    That was a situation in which the drought in my area was just as dire as the rest of the WA and OR.    That changed dramatically in August though.

[Front Ranger]

Well... you said a 4-week stretch of dry weather was so unusual in my area.   That does not mean one dry calendar month.    2010 is a good example... we had significant rain in early July and on the last day of August so both months look wet but there was a 7-week stretch of dry weather in there.   

 

I can tell you that we have experienced at least a 4-week stretch of almost totally dry weather almost every summer in our 15 years here.   2007 was a notable exception.  

 

Eh, either way the unusual dry stretches in the warm months have been more common than normal lately for the whole region. Including 2018.

[Front Ranger]

True statement indeed.

 

And yet its MUCH worse in SW WA and OR.     

 

The 7 inches of rain here in that period probably has something to do with that... compared to almost nothing down south. 

 

And Andrew did talk about 2015.    That was a situation in which the drought in my area was just as dire as the rest of the WA and OR.    That changed dramatically in August though.

 

Yes, that area is in severe drought while most of western WA is only in moderate drought or abnormally dry.

[jakeinthevalley]

I attreeciate these puns.

FIR sure. MAPLE I'll write some down. LILAC puns too.

 

I think I'll drive home in my FORESTer and park under the CANOPY that is close to the ARBOR.

 

BONSAI!!

[TT-SEA]

Eh, either way the unusual dry stretches in the warm months have been more common than normal lately for the whole region. Including 2018.

 

 

Maybe so... but it would not be unusual for this true dry spell (virtually no rain) to last well into August in my area given that were so many days with rain in May and June and even into early July.     

 

That is just looking at past years here compared to what has happened in 2018 so far.    We were much more due for rain locally at this point in 2015.   

 

I still think there will be significant rain at some point in August given how dry its been elsewhere in the region.   

 

For my area... we are just 2 weeks into the annual total dry spell that usually lasts 4 weeks or more.                       

[Front Ranger]

Maybe so... but it would not be unusual for this true dry spell (virtually no rain) to last well into August in my area given that were so many days with rain in May and June and even into early July.     

 

That is just looking at past years here compared to what has happened in 2018 so far.    We were much more due for rain locally at this point in 2015. 

 

I still think there will be significant rain at some point in August given how dry its been elsewhere in the region.   

 

For my area... we are just 2 weeks into the annual total dry spell that usually lasts 4 weeks or more.                       

 

Yes, we know.

 

I made the point last week that 2015 is the only year since 2000 (as far back as the drought maps go) that the drought situation was worse west of the Cascades. That was a truly exceptional year.

[jakeinthevalley]

SLE still running a couple degrees warmer than yesterday(93 vs 91). Lower DP also.......making a run at 100?

 

#nocloudssmokeshocker

[Timmy]

That really is unfortunate.

Good news! Trees grow back!

[Front Ranger]

Good news! Trees grow back!

Like weeds!!

[TigerWoodsLibido]

I have to say. You are quickly becoming one of my favorite posters on here...

Ditto man. I'm jelly of your place up there near the park. Beautiful with ample snow in the winter.