PNW March 2023 Weather Discussion (2012 Redux)

[Phil]

I’m pretty sure I’d be happier *in the summer* while living in the PNW or Scandinavia, both due to longer days and the lack of oppressive humidity/high heat indexes. Can’t really enjoy the outdoors at all here during the summer (except for swimming).

But as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized I would probably spiral into depression during the cold season living at such a high latitude. That’s why I’m more interested in climates like Denver, which have some of the same perks but none of the drawbacks.

[Winterdog]

29 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

While not as impressive as Andrew I have put up some impressive min temp numbers this month. Through today.

AVG Min = 31.9

Mins 32 or lower = 10

Mins 35 or lower = 16

Just had my 75th freeze with a 27F this morning.  My numbers are very similar to yours.  I've had 13 freezes so far this March, ave minimum of 31.1F, aver temp so far 38.3F. 

KSEA hit 37F this morning for 17 out of 17 sub 40F lows making it, I believe, the second longest consecutive streak to begin the month in history.

[TT-SEA]

2 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Big island. Staying on the NW corner of the island at Mauna Kea.

We love Waikoloa and Mauna Kea.   I think Mauna Kea is probably my favorite place in all of Hawaii.    And its almost always the warmest and sunniest place too.   

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

11 minutes ago, Phil said:

Or maybe you crave Florida summer weather because you live in western-WA, where such weather does not happen.

I doubt you’d enjoy that if if persisted 5+ months per year.

I'm not a PNW native. I grew up in the Southeast: Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas. I am very well versed in 100 degree humid AF summers while mowing grass and farming gardens. I have had my fill. 

I moved here 6 years ago for the mountains and summers. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Could be wrong but I think of modern Scandinavians as docile beta automatons. They are happy the way my dog is happy. 

[BLI snowman]

34 minutes ago, MossMan said:

I have always had a rough time between January and April. Not as bad now as it was when I was a kid, probably because I hated school and it was a long haul of darkness and getting back into the dreaded routine of school after the holidays. All I could think about was opening day of fishing season. As an adult and especially the last several years we have had awesome weather events (at least in February/March) that has helped a lot. 

I actually find myself cheering pretty hard for a little sun/warmth by mid February in the true dud winters where it's clear that we are SOL. Like 2015. All things being equal I still want the mountains to do well enough, but if it's clear that the weather is going to suck here either way then by that point in the season I'm always really ready to move on and not add to the winter gloom and misery.

[FroYoBro]

Can we ban Jesse again?

[BLI snowman]

24 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

We love Waikoloa and Mauna Kea.   I think Mauna Kea is probably my favorite place in all of Hawaii.    And its almost always the warmest and sunniest place too.   

Yeah, been there one other time in 2019. Gonna try to make it out to the golf course a little more this go around. Still gonna do some day trips around the island too and check out Mauna Loa and Kilauea. 

Edited March 17, 2023 by BLI snowman

[Phil]

49 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Yeah I actually love November with the weather change to more active stuff especially windstorms! 

Autumn depression is likewise amplified for me because it’s the most boring period of weather here. There is nothing to distract me from it.

January-June is when the fun weather happens, both snowfall and severe storms. Except for years like 2012, the humidity isn’t bad until July.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

12z GFS looks pretty snowy here. 

[MossMan]

12 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

12z GFS looks pretty snowy here. 

Got any regional colorful maps to share? 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

14 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Got any regional colorful maps to share? 

[Phishy Wx]

57 minutes ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

I'm not a PNW native. I grew up in the Southeast: Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas. I am very well versed in 100 degree humid AF summers while mowing grass and farming gardens. I have had my fill. 

I moved here 6 years ago for the mountains and summers. 

I grew up in SC.  I hear ya,  Lived in GA and TN too.  we know heat and humidity.  also lived in CO, CA and NH, NH can get humid in summer too, so can parts of coastal Socal (we lived in Long Beach for a stint). My fav place lived in terms of overall yearly comfort was Santa Cruz, CA

[Cascadia_Wx]

After one last mild day tomorrow, ensembles look pretty crazy chilly through the end of the month.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

2 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

After one last mild day tomorrow, ensembles look pretty crazy chilly through the end of the month.

Wow this is pretty incredible. 

[Cascadia_Wx]

Low of 36 at PDX. An impressive 30 at VUO. I noticed they decoupled pretty early last night.

[TT-SEA]

Might get to 65 in some places tomorrow.

[Thunder98]

1 hour ago, Phil said:

I’m pretty sure I’d be happier *in the summer* while living in the PNW or Scandinavia, both due to longer days and the lack of oppressive humidity/high heat indexes. Can’t really enjoy the outdoors at all here during the summer (except for swimming).

But as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized I would probably spiral into depression during the cold season living at such a high latitude. That’s why I’m more interested in climates like Denver, which have some of the same perks but none of the drawbacks.

Idlywild, CA might be a good fit for you, low mid latitude, snow in winter, mild highs, can see some monsoonal thunderstorms during the summer. Sunny overall.

[Phishy Wx]

Just now, Thunder98 said:

Idlywild, CA might be a good fit for you, low mid latitude, snow in winter, mild highs, can see some monsoonal thunderstorms during the summer. Sunny overall.

that's a neat town use to run up there on occasion on the way to Palm Desert from Long Beach (my bro n law has a place in Palm Desert)

[TT-SEA]

Crashing from the south on Sunday but maybe just as warm as Saturday from King County northward. 

[Omegaraptor]

1 hour ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Could be wrong but I think of modern Scandinavians as docile beta automatons. They are happy the way my dog is happy. 

Ya know about the booze cruises where Finns take the ferry to Estonia to get blackout drunk for pennies on the dollar?

[Phil]

17 minutes ago, Thunder98 said:

Idlywild, CA might be a good fit for you, low mid latitude, snow in winter, mild highs, can see some monsoonal thunderstorms during the summer. Sunny overall.

Would be an improvement in the snowfall department. How frequent are the thunderstorms, though? The summer rainfall averages look pretty skimpy.

[Omegaraptor]

Lima, Peru averages about 1/4" of rainfall a year. The Humboldt Current which travels up the west coast of South America makes their SSTs much colder than other tropical locations (which also makes it a very foggy climate).

So a cyclone just passed through.

https://twitter.com/WillGFreeman/status/1635787719015030784?s=20

[Thunder98]

9 minutes ago, Phil said:

Would be an improvement in the snowfall department. How frequent are the thunderstorms, though? The summer rainfall averages look pretty skimpy.

Probably around 15-20 days per year is my guess.

[Ken in Wood Village]

Not sure if anyone knows about this movie that just came out. You can stream it on Vudu. You can also do it on Amazon Video but the trailer is in Spanish (I think) so I did it on Vudu. It's actually pretty good. 

[lowlandsnow]

Looking good for Mossman

[TT-SEA]

Lots of smoke and a 3-alarm fire for Randy on the 12Z ECMWF next weekend!

 

[TT-SEA]

1 minute ago, lowlandsnow said:

Looking good for Mossman

You beat me!   

[westcoastexpat]

2 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

For me I'm still "stocked up" on light from all of the recent very sunny months.  In the spring I'm worn down.

Do you take Vitamin D3 at all?

[lowlandsnow]

Heavy snow with a bullseye right over Mossman's house temps are below freezing to

[SilverFallsAndrew]

6 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Lots of smoke and a 3-alarm fire for Randy on the 12Z ECMWF next weekend!

 

Holy cow!

[TT-SEA]

Appears that the 12Z ECMWF has stopped at 198 hours... not updating now.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

4 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Appears that the 12Z ECMWF has stopped at 198 hours... not updating now.

Too much snow. It overloaded. 

[TT-SEA]

60 in North Bend.

Only 54 at SEA.

 

[snow_wizard]

2 hours ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Maybe the people getting depressed every year should look at other things in their lives besides blaming short days and the weather. If those things alone make people depressed then why do far northern countries in places like Scandinavia report some of the world’s highest overall happiness in their populations. Just food for thought.

It's one of those things you can't really help.  You can't just tell yourself I'm not going to feel depressed today.

[snow_wizard]

11 minutes ago, westcoastexpat said:

Do you take Vitamin D3 at all?

Yes.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

2 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

It's one of those things you can't really help.  You can't just tell yourself I'm not going to feel depressed today.

Yeah, SAD is a real thing.

[snow_wizard]

17 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Lots of smoke and a 3-alarm fire for Randy on the 12Z ECMWF next weekend!

 

Low expectations for this area again.  As you mentioned in an earlier post if the trough stays just off the coast it's terrible for this area.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Looks like the GFS and EURO both show 10" of snow here. 

[Cascadia_Wx]

15 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

It's one of those things you can't really help.  You can't just tell yourself I'm not going to feel depressed today.

I don’t really want to get into this again. Don’t want to be banned for having a different viewpoint. I never said depression isn’t real or is easy to overcome. I have struggled with depression before. I just feel like blaming the weather or whatever can be an easy scapegoat when there are probably other underlying problems. I speak for myself when I say this too.