January 2019 Weather in the Pacific Northwest

[TigerWoodsLibido]

Pretty crazy how torchy things look after Wednesday or so this week. My January colder than December call could be in jeopardy. Which would mean another top warm January.

Shocker

[SilverFallsAndrew]

I think Jesse is going through the process I went through about 3 weeks ago. The realization that in all likelihood this winter will be a dud. Not giving up that we might see an event, but realizing chances are we won't. I'm to the point now where even the dusting I got this morning was like a gift. My expectations are 0 so its easy now for them to be met. 

[TigerWoodsLibido]

41 with light rain. Business as usual. If we don’t see a cold, wind, flood event or another high below 40, this will easily be the worst/most boring winter I have experienced since I moved to Oregon in 1989 and as far as I can tell, it’s the only year without one of those since EUG started keeping records in 1939.

 

I don’t see how next year’s cold season could be worse...which means it will be. I do think 20-21 we might get a reward, but there is a part of me that snow events are going to become a thing of the past pretty quickly here.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

It's mind boggling to me how les frequent upslope cold pooling snow events have decreased here over the years. They happened every year up till the last few years. There was a massive 2 day event here in feb 93 or 94 i can't remember but i remember going to a friends house 2 miles away from where i live now and there was 34 inches on the ground and only 3 inches in Port Orchard.

[Jesse]

I think Jesse is going through the process I went through about 3 weeks ago. The realization that in all likelihood this winter will be a dud. Not giving up that we might see an event, but realizing chances are we won't. I'm to the point now where even the dusting I got this morning was like a gift. My expectations are 0 so its easy now for them to be met.

I’ve never ruled out a dud. But that doesn’t make talking about forks in early December any less silly.

[Blizzard777]

Stormy day at the beach

Lincoln city

[North_County]

It seems like the area I live in has turned into a snow screw zone. The cold air gets here, but the moisture either stays north in Ferndale and Lynden, or the very southern edge of the county. We only plan to stay in this house another 4-5 years. From there we will either be moving into the north county or to Montana.

Where in the county are you? I seemed to recall you you were on the east side of Bellingham in the highlands around Mt. Baker Hwy and Britton Rd, or am I thinking of someone else? I would have thought that would be one of the better places in the city for snow, having just a bit more elevation.

[Front Ranger]

Not quite but close. The south valley just missed out as our winds didn’t get above the 40s much if at all. Minimal power outages and all back on now.

 

We still haven’t had any notable weather events down here.

 

From what I've heard, the south valley hasn't had any notable weather events since the 1800s.

[Phil]

So they trimmed every tree in Maryland? Very impressive. Just a few more years before the limbs start to grow back and they’ll have to do it all over again. No power outages at least!

Within PEPCO’s jurisdiction. They cut/trimmed trees in the vicinity of above-ground lines out 50-75ft from lines. In many cases trees won’t regrow that way once main bows are cut. In other cases there are trees growing right into lines.

 

It’s not perfect, as very tall trees still can/do fall into lines, and if your trees are those skinny evergreen types with short limbs, maybe it is less economic, but 216,000 outages after a few hours of 60mph winds is flat out absurd. I’d be pissed off.

[Jesse]

41 with light rain. Business as usual. If we don’t see a cold, wind, flood event or another high below 40, this will easily be the worst/most boring winter I have experienced since I moved to Oregon in 1989 and as far as I can tell, it’s the only year without one of those since EUG started keeping records in 1939.

 

 

You really need to stop making up stats as you go along man. Not to come down hard on you because you seem like genuinely good guy and I enjoy most of your posts, but so much of what you say regarding long term snow and cold records is incorrect. And it seems like every time anyone points out the inaccuracies you don’t acknowledge them, and just move on like nothing happened.

 

Sure, this cold season has sucked so far, but you can get that point across without facts and historically accurate stats having to take a back seat.

 

For instance, EUG has had two sub-40 highs this year (December 3rd and 7th). It took me about two minutes to check that.

[Omegaraptor]

41 with light rain. Business as usual. If we don’t see a cold, wind, flood event or another high below 40, this will easily be the worst/most boring winter I have experienced since I moved to Oregon in 1989 and as far as I can tell, it’s the only year without one of those since EUG started keeping records in 1939.

 

I don’t see how next year’s cold season could be worse...which means it will be. I do think 20-21 we might get a reward, but there is a part of me that snow events are going to become a thing of the past pretty quickly here.

 

At least you got two sub-40 highs. Here we've had a whopping zero. Coldest of the season was a 41 or 42.

[Front Ranger]

Geesh, 218,000 outages? Sorry, that’s just gross negligence on the part of PSE. They should carry out a large scale tree-trimming operation like PEPCO did back in 2012. Made a huge difference.

 

Nah, the tree situation in the PNW is a bit different than where you are.

[Phil]

It would take more like a decade and massive resources to clear around every line in western Wa...not going to happen. You have been to the northwest correct?

Yes, I was just there. The infrastructure looked very similar to here, actually. Lots of older, above-ground lines along densely-wooded roads that stretch many miles.

 

It would take maybe 1-2 years. Obviously it would be a state funded operation since it requires a very large workforce. It’s not as daunting as you think.

[Bryant]

Where in the county are you? I seemed to recall you you were on the east side of Bellingham in the highlands around Mt. Baker Hwy and Britton Rd, or am I thinking of someone else? I would have thought that would be one of the better places in the city for snow, having just a bit more elevation.

I grew up off Britton rd... our area did quite well. I was always jealous of those up on hillsdale though

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Within PEPCO’s jurisdiction. They cut/trimmed trees in the vicinity of above-ground lines out 50-75ft from lines. In many cases trees won’t regrow that way once main bows are cut. In other cases there are trees growing right into lines.

It’s not perfect, as very tall trees still can/do fall into lines, and if your trees are those skinny evergreen types with short limbs, maybe it is less economic, but 216,000 outages after a few hours of 60mph winds is flat out absurd. I’d be pissed off.

Some of these 120ft fir trees have 30 ft long branches. Combine that with recent heavy rain and some wind and happens.

[Phil]

Nah, the tree situation in the PNW is a bit different than where you are.

You do realize I work in arboriculture, correct? It’s not different at all. In fact, I’d wager we actually have more trees near lines. And ours have much more mass to them.

 

Not to mention PEPCO serves more customers than PSE. I’ll bet PSE could easily cut their outages numbers in half.

[Jesse]

You do realize I work in arboriculture, correct?

 

It’s not different at all. In fact, I’d wager we have vastly more trees near lines. And ours have much more mass to them. Also, I believe PEPCO serves more customers than PSE.

 

It’s more than possible.

This is close to Stampede Pass status.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

You do realize I work in arboriculture, correct? It’s not different at all. In fact, I’d wager we actually have more trees near lines. And ours have much more mass to them.

Not to mention PEPCO serves more customers than PSE. It’s more than possible to improvise.

More tree's and more mass lol. Most of the largest tree species in the world grow here except the giant redwood and sequoia trees.

[Phil]

This is close to Stampede Pass status.

Man, you’ve really lost it.

[Sometimesdylan]

There are a lot more people down here, but shouldn't that translate to a bigger customer base? More resources?

[TigerWoodsLibido]

Just sad right now. At this point I hope the year is historically boring so I can then use it as the benchmark for winter boredom.

[Timmy]

There are a lot more people down here, but shouldn't that translate to a bigger customer base? More resources?

Sjw lose it when you cut trees here. Think about it tho, with all the trees we cut around power lines we could build a wall on our southern border!

[Timmy]

This winter sucks, my moderate snow won’t even stick!

[Jesse]

Just sad right now. At this point I hope the year is historically boring so I can then use it as the benchmark for winter boredom.

 

Being sad isn't a good reason to make up stats. If your sadness is justified, the actual stats should be bad enough on their own!

[Phil]

More tree's and more mass lol. Most of the largest tree species in the world grow here except the giant redwood and sequoia trees.

Yeah, in old growth forests/state parks. Not in residential neighborhoods or along suburban parkways next to power lines .

 

I was just there..spent time all around western WA. I saw a bunch of tall, relatively skinny evergreens, most of them somewhere between 50-100ft. Not very different from here in terms of height. Certainly not as large (in overall size/girth) either.

[Jesse]

Sjw lose it when you cut trees here. Think about it tho, with all the trees we cut around power lines we could build a wall on our southern border!

 

I don't think it has anything to do with politics. Just the fact that we have a large region with lots of trees near powerlines. By the time we got done trimming every tree near a powerline in the state the ones we started with would have already grown their limbs back.

 

It would be a never ending job, and silly to waste that much energy when damaging windstorms are relatively infrequent and its impossible to know the localized areas they will hit the hardest well in advance.

[Timmy]

I don't think it has anything to do with politics. Just the fact that we have a large region with lots of trees near powerlines. By the time we got done trimming every tree near a powerline in the state the ones we started with would have already grown their limbs back. It would be a never ending job and silly to waste that much energy when damaging windstorms are relatively infrequent and its impossible to know the localized areas they will hit the hardest in advance.

I agree, just wanted to stir pot. They cut the trees back on skyline heavily every year and give like a 20’ buffer, but there are so many huge trees up here they find a way to hit power lines. Power companies would have to actually have trees logged to create an adequate buffer to eliminate outages which wouldn’t be feasible.

[Phil]

In Juneau we have year round crews trimming branches that are next to power lines. We regularly get gusts like this storm. It's totally possible. Since my move down to Everett I have been surprised at how little is done to protect the lines.

 

Slept through this last event, whoops. Nice big sucker hole over Everett right now. Sunny with a light breeze here.

This. They do it throughout the heavily wooded Appalachian mountains too.

 

I had no idea my post would spark so much outrage.

[Deweydog]

It’d be nice if they would kill two birds with one stone during this massive trimming exercise and throw all the homeless people in the chipper as well.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

They trim the trees near the powerlines on my road every year or so. I imagine they do most places since they do it here and I live in the middle of nowhere. Still lose power 4-5 times a year. They can't cut every tree down that might fall on a line. 

[Jesse]

This. Thank you. I had no idea my post would spark so much outrage.

 

Juneau and greater Seattle are pretty much identical in terms of size and population.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

It’d be nice if they would kill two birds with one stone during this massive trimming exercise and throw all the homeless people in the chipper as well.

 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Yeah, in old growth forests/state parks. Not in residential neighborhoods or along suburban parkways next to power lines .

I was just there..spent time all around western WA. I saw a bunch of tall, relatively skinny evergreens, most of them somewhere between 50-100ft. Not very different from here in terms of height. Certainly not as large (in overall size/girth) either.

I like you phil but this is a ridiculous statement. It's so false that i wont even be involved.

[Deweydog]

Sounds like the biggest outage in Vancouver, pretty much the heart of the city, was kind of a fluke when one of the breakers at a substation failed to trip for some reason.

[Phil]

Juneau and greater Seattle are pretty much identical in terms of size and population.

Again, PEPCO has just as much woodland in its jurisdiction as PSE, if not more given how massive it is. BGE did the same thing in 2014. It’s not as daunting a task as you might think.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

18z nam is very snowy for hood canal Tuesday. This is the 12k though. But it has increased over the last couple runs.

[Phil]

I like you phil but this is a ridiculous statement. It's so false that i wont even be involved.

I like you too. A lot.

 

But with all due respect, I think I have more firsthand knowledge of this topic, since I’ve been to both locations and work in arboriculture.

[Blizzard777]

I assuming IFred is asleep in some Denny’s booth on the North end

[Jesse]

It’d be nice if they would kill two birds with one stone during this massive trimming exercise and throw all the homeless people in the chipper as well.

SJW’s and Nancy Pelosi would probably step in and put and end to all the fun.

[Phil]

SJW’s and Nancy Pelosi would probably step in and put and end to all the fun.

I just want my 500mb maps back.