PNW March 2023 Weather Discussion (2012 Redux)

[Cascadia_Wx]

2 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

I think we're forecasted a 51 next week.  will be the first since early November.  January and most of Feb still felt somewhat wasted.  it is what it is

The mild (but at least not torchy) January is definitely a black eye on what has been a good stretch of winter overall since November. And even that month had the cold snap toward the end.

I also just realized Spokane reported a trace or more of snow on the ground from November 7 to February 4. Not sure how normal that is there but it seems like a long time to have snowcover.

[Phishy Wx]

Just now, Cascadia_Wx said:

The mild (but at least not torchy) January is definitely a black eye on what has been a good stretch of winter overall since November. And even that month had the cold snap toward the end.

I also just realized Spokane reported a trace or more of snow on the ground from November 7 to February 4. Not sure how normal that is there but it seems like a long time to have snowcover.

yeah, I need to dig into that snow cover longevity stat.  not sure if its top 10 or not.  it's the longest in the 5 winters I've been here for sure and this will be the snowiest in the last 5 too

[SilverFallsAndrew]

It's hard to ignore the 10 sub-freezing highs we had in January 2017, but if we get to 75" of snow this season, I think I'll have to nudge this one ahead of that one for our best winter since I've been up here. We've been solidly cold all winter. It's unfortunate our two worst months were December and January, but December was still below average, and January was about average. November 2016 was quite mild, and February/March 2017 had a lot of snow, but were about average temperature wise. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Funny story here. My daughter was on a 2 hour delay from school this morning after we woke up to a little over an inch of new snow. During those two hours we picked up almost 4 more inches of snow, the roads were pretty horrible, yet they still had school. 

[Phishy Wx]

6 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Funny story here. My daughter was on a 2 hour delay from school this morning after we woke up to a little over an inch of new snow. During those two hours we picked up almost 4 more inches of snow, the roads were pretty horrible, yet they still had school. 

sounds like growing up in South Carolina, back in the 80s we had a storm on a 2 hour delay.  got to school and it started dumping and we had like 11" or something.  all the kids we're stuck at school and some even had to stay overnight cause the town had zero snow removal equipment.  they had to plow with road graders

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, Phishy Wx said:

sounds like growing up in South Carolina, back in the 80s we had a storm on a 2 hour delay.  got to school and it started dumping and we had like 11" or something.  all the kids we're stuck at school and some even had to stay overnight cause the town had zero snow removal equipment.  they had to plow with road graders

At least we live within walking distance of the school, if something like that ever happened. The school is part of the larger Silver Falls (Silverton) District though, and a number of the children are bused in from Silverton which is about 10 miles away on the valley floor, so I could see something like this theoretically happening. 

[LowerGarfield]

No snow though my coworkers in Spokane, Ellensburg, and Yakima all wish they didn't have any.

 

We had a really exciting hailstorm come through for about five minutes. West coast sized hail so no damage but pretty amazing. Watch with sound.

 

[Anti Marine Layer]

With a La Nina pretending to be El Nino this year, maybe El Nino will pretend to be La Nina next year. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just now, Mr Marine Layer said:

With a La Nina pretending to be El Nino this year, maybe El Nino will pretend to be La Nina next year. 

Good point. 

[LowerGarfield]

9 minutes ago, Mr Marine Layer said:

With a La Nina pretending to be El Nino this year, maybe El Nino will pretend to be La Nina next year. 

I bet you're probably over your seasonal total already in OC. The only part of CA missing out is the far northern fifth which resembles the PNW in climate.

[LowerGarfield]

Now getting some heavy sleet and falling sideways.

[TT-SEA]

45 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

At least we live within walking distance of the school, if something like that ever happened. The school is part of the larger Silver Falls (Silverton) District though, and a number of the children are bused in from Silverton which is about 10 miles away on the valley floor, so I could see something like this theoretically happening. 

I have seen our school district close just specific schools on rare occasions when the weather varies dramatically from east to west across the district.   All the schools are on the valley floor so elevation is not an issue but in certain situations its can be dumping snow in North Bend on the east side of the district and raining everywhere else.  

[SilverFallsAndrew]

23 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

I have seen our school district close just specific schools on rare occasions when the weather varies dramatically from east to west across the district.   All the schools are on the valley floor so elevation is not an issue but in certain situations its can be dumping snow in North Bend on the east side of the district and raining everywhere else.  

Silver Falls School District is pretty large from an area standpoint. 

https://www.zipdatamaps.com/school-district/oregon/silver-falls-school-district-4j

My daughters school is at about 1600'. There is another school on the other side of the Silver Creek canyon that is close to 1000' too. But there are 6 K-8 elementaries outside of town that feed into the main school, as well as 1 charter school, and one school in Clackamas County where I think some of the students go to Molalla and some go to Silverton once they get into HS. 

[Phishy Wx]

been snowing here steadily since 5am, some heavy bursts mixed in.  with settling and March sun angles probably 5" ish.  hard to tell, was windy most of the morning.  peak heating is over and snow continues.  curious if accumulations pick back up soon.  This thing could've been a blockbuster in December or January.

[Phishy Wx]

starting to wind down a little, been a fun event

 

[Cascadia_Wx]

Looks like PDX just barely broke their sub-50 stretch today. Hard to fight lengthy 2-3pm sunbreaks in mid March no matter how cold the upper levels are.

Great run. Nine days. Second longest March run sub-50 I believe. 1951 was first with 12 days.

49/36 day here so my stretch lives on, but will likely end tomorrow.

[Doinko]

8 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Looks like PDX just barely broke their sub-50 stretch today. Hard to fight lengthy 2-3pm sunbreaks in mid March no matter how cold the upper levels are.

Great run. Nine days. Second longest March run sub-50 I believe. 1951 was first with 12 days.

49/36 day here so my stretch lives on, but will likely end tomorrow.

I wonder how long we can last without a 60 degree day. Should easily break the record for longest stretch without one but maybe we could see latest first 60 as well

[Rubus Leucodermis]

6 minutes ago, Doinko said:

I wonder how long we can last without a 60 degree day. Should easily break the record for longest stretch without one but maybe we could see latest first 60 as well

Bet most of us will see at least one by the end of the month.

[Cascadia_Wx]

7 minutes ago, Doinko said:

I wonder how long we can last without a 60 degree day. Should easily break the record for longest stretch without one but maybe we could see latest first 60 as well

Hard to say. We’re definitely in a favorable pattern for extending it right now. Although even in a generally cool pattern at this point in the season all it really takes is one totally clear day. Right now next Thursday is looking like it could be a close shave but that could change.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Repeat after me. Below normal. 

[T-Town]

Rain all around me but dry here. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

13 minutes ago, Mr Marine Layer said:

Repeat after me. Below normal. 

Portland’s average first 60-degree day is in late February.

Their latest first 60-degree day on record is March 31, 2011.

Portland will have some 60-degree days this month.

[T-Town]

[Sandy rocks]

I didn't know they had a school out near Silver Falls. The last time I was out that way, there were few homes there. Have many moved up that way in the last few years?

[SilverFallsAndrew]

24 minutes ago, Sandy rocks said:

I didn't know they had a school out near Silver Falls. The last time I was out that way, there were few homes there. Have many moved up that way in the last few years?

No. People have lived up here since the 1800s the school was built in 1947. It is pretty rural, but draws from a large area. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by SilverFallsAndrew

[Phishy Wx]

well that's a wrap.  pretty much done except a few flurries.  not bad

[MossMan]

1 minute ago, Phishy Wx said:

well that's a wrap.  pretty much done except a few flurries.  not bad

What was your total? 

[Phishy Wx]

 

6 minutes ago, MossMan said:

What was your total? 

5.5" on the back yard in a sheltered area, looks like more in the front yard on the north side of the house, but I haven't checked yet.  still working

[Cascadia_Wx]

41 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

No. People have lived up here since the 1800s the school was built in 1947. It is pretty rural, but draws from a large area. 

I wonder if any of those old settlers remember the Silver Creek fire Andrew.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

6 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

I wonder if any of those old settlers remember the Silver Creek fire Andrew.

Good question. I wish there was more info about that beast from hell.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Can’t believe PDX hit 50

[Cascadia_Wx]

1 hour ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Can’t believe PDX hit 50

Really thought they would go all month

#nextmarch

[Doinko]

Bismarck, ND has had a pretty snowy winter so far. 86.9" so far with 3-7" forecasted for tonight. Looks like they'll probably make it to the top 3

[Chewbacca Defense]

5 hours ago, Phishy Wx said:

sounds like growing up in South Carolina, back in the 80s we had a storm on a 2 hour delay.  got to school and it started dumping and we had like 11" or something.  all the kids we're stuck at school and some even had to stay overnight cause the town had zero snow removal equipment.  they had to plow with road graders

There are some crazy winter stories in the south...we had a massive ice storm that caught everyone by surprise (that part's not funny, the next storm was).  It took my mom 5+ hours to get home on her 1 hour commute.  We were home alone (latch-key kids) so she *had* to get home.  Every square inch of freeway shoulder was covered with abandoned cars and people trying to walk to an exit.  She walked in the door, went straight to her room curled up on the bed and cried.

 

A few years later, and the threat of another storm just as bad as that last one.  Birmingham got buried in the morning, so they shut down Atlanta in anticipation of the storm hitting early afternoon....sent everyone home.  Massive traffic jams from everyone leaving at the same time and trying to get home before the storm hit.

Not a single snowflake fell, the storm completely fell apart between Atlanta and Birmingham (a 2 hour drive).  The weather folks caught a lot of hell for that one...

[SilverFallsAndrew]

48 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Really thought they would go all month

#nextmarch

Didn’t even cross my mind they might do it today though. 

[Cascadia_Wx]

6 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Didn’t even cross my mind they might do it today though. 

I feel ya. Most guidance had them mid-upper 40s. It all came down to luck with sunbreak timing. And they’ve been on a pretty good streak of luck with that lately.

[Requiem]

Speaking of fires, I was discussion the upcoming fear season with someone-- and mentioned this past year's Nakia Creek Fire and namely how genuinely lucky we were. If those northeasterly winds hadn't stopped when they did I could imagine that fire ripping through small communities around the Larch Mountain corridor. It's pretty remarkable how many very close shaves we've had recently in regards to local fires.

[Phil]

55 minutes ago, Doinko said:

Bismarck, ND has had a pretty snowy winter so far. 86.9" so far with 3-7" forecasted for tonight. Looks like they'll probably make it to the top 3

Top-3 on that list all transitioned to El Niño too.  

[Doinko]

Just now, Phil said:

Top-3 on that list all transitioned to El Niño too.  

1997/1998, 2009/2010 and 1994/1995 all had something here at least. 2009/2010 would also make up for the lack of a good winter over there this year.

[Phil]

17 minutes ago, Doinko said:

1997/1998, 2009/2010 and 1994/1995 all had something here at least. 2009/2010 would also make up for the lack of a good winter over there this year.

I’d pull out a toenail with a pair of pliers for a 2009/10 repeat.