January 2019 Weather in the Pacific Northwest

[Jesse]

Oh absolutely. But I wouldn't minimize the overall grandeur of the mountains in Colorado.

Didn’t seem like anyone was. I will never forget crossing Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. Spectacular. The high point is a little over 12,000, higher than the top of Mt. Hood. That was in August 2001 during a family vacation to Steamboat Springs. There was one day when we were hiking near the pass and had some snow flurries.

[Jesse]

Now if you really want to run with the big boys you better start name dropping some of those NW Maryland peaks. Some of the most impressive mountains in the Western Hemisphere in terms of height, prominence and near continuous snowcover/glacial ice pack.

[Jbolin]

Yeah, but as far as sheer stand alone bulk it’s hard to outdo our volanoes out here. At least within the lower 48. Alaska has some even bigger ones of course. Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in Hawaii are no slouches either, but they are rather broad and aren’t glaciated, so don’t look as impressive.

And both of Hawaii's main volcano's are also nearly three times the height. 

 

Mauna Kea by definition is the tallest mountain in the world (below sea level) 33,476 feet

 

Mt Everest is still the tallest above sea level but for all intents and purposes Mauna Kea is the tallest

[Phil]

Also, this more expansive ice-pack (relatively speaking of course) could be thought of as another (albeit very modest) looping preconditioner of the antecedent boundary state(s) favoring an active spring wavetrain and belated termination of the cold season wavetrain, similar to 1997 et al.

 

- The SSW effects will inevitably terminate and yeild to vortex inception/recovery during February, and typically the photochemical/thermodynamic inertia of this process makes it tough to break, so you end up with a stronger than average vortex in late February/March, and often times a more winter like wave structure.

 

- Assuming we don’t flip back to the giant +NAO and stupid-fat Pacific Hadley Cell (unlikely given ENSO and solar radiative forcing) the more expansive icepack could theoretically aid in shifting the latitudinal thermal gradient southward towards the equinox as insolation increases and latent heat absorption+albedo effects from the ice become more pronounced.

[Requiem]

Hood is awesome!

[Jbolin]

Hood is awesome!

If you like slowly sagging slopes, sure

[BLI snowman]

The mountains in Colorado are much more impressive overall than the mountains here. Also some mountains are pretty impressive. Pikes Peak from Colorado Springs is nothing to sneeze at.

 

And the Washington Cascades are much more impressive than the Oregon Cascades. 

 

In terms of prominence our mountains are easily more impressive on average. Mt. Elbert is the only CO mountain that compares to Rainier, Baker, Hood, Adams, Glacier Peak etc. 

[Requiem]

If you like slowly sagging slopes, sure

It’s quite picturesque, in my opinion. Sure, Rainier is great too, but Hood has the better skiing, is less dangerous, and though it’s prominence isn’t much, but I’m still partial to it. Maybe Portland natives just prefer it as Seattle natives do with Rainier.

[Jesse]

It’s quite picturesque, in my opinion. Sure, Rainier is great too, but Hood has the better skiing, is less dangerous, and though it’s prominence isn’t much, but I’m still partial to it. Maybe Portland natives just prefer it as Seattle natives do with Rainier.

Both are nice.

[Kayla]

I love Mt Hood. There is a very similar peak here called Lone Peak in the Gallatin Mountain Range. Similar in how it stands out from the rest of the range and is very “pointy” like Hood. Of course it’s not volcanic though. I’d also add the Tetons to that impressive list.

 

[Esquimalt]

This morning's FV3 got close to a blast here but unfortunately the cold air got sent east.  A little run to run improvement though.  

[Omegaraptor]

Mount Shasta is a pretty impressive volcano as well. Too bad it’s not easily visible from any major metro area and is also hours from any major metro.

[jcmcgaffey]

Nothing like this in Colorado. Only one major hwy intersects the North Cascades. You gotta work to see most of its beauty. The only thing close is the Wind River in Wyoming. Also the peaks in British Columbia are mostly between 7-8K but are true giants compared to anything in the lower 48.

I have never been more impressed than I was with the Canadian Rockies.  And I have seen most all major mountain ranges in the world.  

[Frontal Snowsquall]

Here are the rainfall totals for the next ten 10 days from the 12z EURO. It shows a ton of rain for California.

 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

I have never been more impressed than I was with the Canadian Rockies.  And I have seen most all major mountain ranges in the world.

 

I used to ride snowmobiles professionally and have been all over the west and my favorite place to ride is

Revelstoke. Followed by Mt Baker.

[Phil]

It’s quite picturesque, in my opinion. Sure, Rainier is great too, but Hood has the better skiing, is less dangerous, and though it’s prominence isn’t much, but I’m still partial to it. Maybe Portland natives just prefer it as Seattle natives do with Rainier.

I haven’t visited OR yet, but I can tell you that Mt. Rainier is probably the most “picturesque” topographical feature I’ve seen (so far, at least). I’ve visited UT, AZ, CA, AK, BC, and much of upstate New England. So far nothing has come close to the sight of Rainier looming in the background.

 

A close call might have been the drive into Vancouver BC with those skyscrapers dwarfed by the giant mountains in the background. That was pretty awe inspiring as well.

 

Either way, it easily beats the s**t out of the little hills we have here, which by comparison look more like cellulite on the thighs of a 70 year old.

[Shawn]

That is a great picture.  I have had fun observing the weather of the Tetons and Big Sky weather this winter.  And possibly seeking a area to relocate in the future.

I love Mt Hood. There is a very similar peak here called Lone Peak in the Gallatin Mountain Range. Similar in how it stands out from the rest of the range and is very “pointy” like Hood. Of course it’s not volcanic though. I’d also add the Tetons to that impressive list.

F04FB10D-D2B0-4CB4-87C8-344C91EA707F.jpeg

[HighlandExperience]

I have never been more impressed than I was with the Canadian Rockies. And I have seen most all major mountain ranges in the world.

I agree on the Canadian Rockies. Although they are not as amazing as some of the ranges in BC like the Waddington. The problem for most people is easy access.

[TT-SEA]

 

 

And another post from Scott Sistek (who loves rain) from late December...

 

https://komonews.com/weather/scotts-weather-blog/yep-it-rains-a-lot-here-seattle-sloshes-to-157th-rainy-day-of-2018

 

Seattle's reputation as Rain Town, USA earned its stripes again this year.

 

The rains that fell on Thursday morning was the 157th time this year the Emerald City has had measurable rain (defined as 0.01" of rain or more). For those scoring at home, that means it's rained on more than 4 of every 10 days this year.

 

But as dreary as that might seem, it might even be more surprising that...

 

It's completely normal.

 

In any given year, Seattle averages 156 days with measurable rain. With a few more rainy days left in the hopper in 2018, we'll go a bit more above average, but not significantly so. We'll actually end up drier than the past two years with 162 days in 2017 and 172 rainy days in 2016.

[FroYoBro]

 

 

And another post from Scott Sistek (who loves rain) from late December...

 

https://komonews.com/weather/scotts-weather-blog/yep-it-rains-a-lot-here-seattle-sloshes-to-157th-rainy-day-of-2018

 

Seattle's reputation as Rain Town, USA earned its stripes again this year.

 

The rains that fell on Thursday morning was the 157th time this year the Emerald City has had measurable rain (defined as 0.01" of rain or more). For those scoring at home, that means it's rained on more than 4 of every 10 days this year.

 

But as dreary as that might seem, it might even be more surprising that...

 

It's completely normal.

 

In any given year, Seattle averages 156 days with measurable rain. With a few more rainy days left in the hopper in 2018, we'll go a bit more above average, but not significantly so. We'll actually end up drier than the past two years with 162 days in 2017 and 172 rainy days in 2016.

 

 

REALLY interesting. Thanks. 

[Jesse]

47 with light east winds here, after a low of 36.

[Phil]

Seattle is only a “rain town” in the winter when nobody is outside anyway. No Seattle dweller in their right mind would complain about a few drizzly days in May or June given the guaranteed summer paradise every year during the heart of summer.

 

There are places that saw 50-70” of rain in May-Sep last year. Imagine if that happened in Seattle. Lol.

[Jesse]

Seattle is only a “rain town” in the winter when nobody is outside anyway. No Seattle dweller in their right mind would complain about a few drizzly days in May or June given the guaranteed summer paradise every year during the heart of summer.

 

There are places that saw 50-70” of rain in May-Sep last year. Imagine if that happened in Seattle. Lol.

 

Here we go....

[Phil]

I'd trade a couple of piss poor winters for some nice ice pack growth.

Well, so far you’re getting your wish. Ice volume has ticked higher compared to this time last year.

[Phil]

And there’s more ice locked in the Beaufort Gyre as well, which is exactly where you want it if you’re hoping to build a thicker multiyear pack, since ice outside the Gyre tends be lost to flushing through the Fram Strait in 1-2 years or melting in the warmer peripheral shallows.

[TT-SEA]

Fred, can you get rid of the fight picking reference to me above?

 

 

Not even close to the same thing... but I need to start deploying this method.    

[Jesse]

And there’s more ice locked in the Beaufort Gyre as well, which is exactly where you want it if you’re hoping to build a thicker multiyear pack, since ice outside the Gyre tends be lost to flushing through the Fram Strait in 1-2 years or melting in the warmer peripheral shallows.

 

Seems like icepack always has some good years and some bad years, but the bad years are always worse than the good years are good. And thus the multi-decadal downward trend continues behind all the month to month/season to season noise.

[Phil]

Seems like icepack always has some good years and some bad years, but the bad years are always worse than the good years are good. And thus the multi-decadal downward trend continues behind all the month to month/season to season noise.

True, but the loss of the multiyear ice and weakening of the Beaufort Gyre (starting in the 1990s) was largely a result of the big change in the cold season circulation towards the +NAM state, which preconditions the icepack for enhanced summer melting by:

 

1) Pushing the multiyear ice towards the Fram Strait where it leaves the Arctic/melts.

 

2) Weakens the Beaufort Gyre that holds said multiyear ice in place.

 

3) Promotes vigorous warm air advection through the NATL/Eurasia that thins the first-year ice edge and/or blows it poleward.

 

4) It dramatically increases cloud cover which inhibits radiative surface cooling throughout the Arctic, since there is little to no insolation up there during the winter.

 

5) It increases wind speeds/vertical mixing of the Arctic Ocean and subpolar NATL, which slows freezing.

 

Through all this, it warms the Arctic substantially in the long run. This long term +NAM background state is responsible for “Arctic enhancement”, not the albedo effect. If it was albedo, you would see the warm anomalies peak during the summer up there, not the heart of winter like they currently do (there’s little to no sunlight during the winters, so clearly it’s not the albedo effect causing the warmth).

[Phil]

Also, multiyear ice has a lower salinity than first year ice, hence its “effective” melting temperature is ever so slightly higher than that of first year ice. So perhaps its ability to withstand warm temperature spikes is greater than that of first year ice.

 

And there’s a good chance its sublimation rate is slightly lower than first year ice in subfreezing temperatures though if you factor in insolation I’m not 100% sure if that still holds true. Will have to check.

[Deweydog]

This has been a weird ice age.

[Omegaraptor]

Seattle is only a “rain town” in the winter when nobody is outside anyway. No Seattle dweller in their right mind would complain about a few drizzly days in May or June given the guaranteed summer paradise every year during the heart of summer.

There are places that saw 50-70” of rain in May-Sep last year. Imagine if that happened in Seattle. Lol.

Guaranteed summer paradise? Not anymore. May and June are the best months of the year now. Far preferable to the smoke in late summer. Enjoy late spring while you can.

[Phil]

This has been a weird ice age.

Seriously man you’re just like a schoolgirl. Always running your mouth, trying to impress the clique with your sassy remarks. Lame and Cliché.

[Deweydog]

Seriously man you’re just like a schoolgirl. Always running your mouth, trying to impress the clique with your sassy remarks. Lame and cliché.

Oh brother...

[Phil]

Oh brother...

Pointing it out for your own good. I’m not offended by the ice age puns or the stampede pass stuff. The redundancy has just become a bit overbearing as of late.

[Deweydog]

Pointing it out for your own good. I’m not offended by the ice age puns or the stampede pass stuff. The redundancy has just become a bit overbearing as of late.

I think you’re lumping. I haven’t said a word about your Stampede Pass heritage in a coon’s age. Stand down.

 

There are a lot of people here that like to have a lot of fun with you.

[van city]

[Requiem]

Things look very boring the next few weeks. Not at all surprised if 1/6/18 becomes the most noteworthy thing this winter for areas south of Centralia. That was a fun event!

[TT-SEA]

58 at SEA... 56 here.

 

Surprisingly warm considering the mid-level clouds.

[TT-SEA]

12Z EPS for the 10-15 day period:

 

[Esquimalt]

12Z EPS for the 10-15 day period:

 

A little retrogression and we’ll be in buisiness.