March 2019 Weather Discussion in the PNW

[SilverFallsAndrew]

People must have had a different perspective back then. What is normal, what is doable, how much suffering is acceptable. Hard to imagine today especially for city people like me. BTW, December 1884 had to be absolutely brutal up there. There was a signal service station at Eola at the time which recorded about 60" that month near the valley floor, with 50"+ coming in the span of one week. 

 

Unbelievable. I can't even imagine such a low elevation location getting so much snow. January 1969 recorded 95.5" at Silver Falls so pretty likely the area up here had well over 100" in December 1884. 

[Phil]

I am just excited to see some consistency on a return to near normal eventually.

 

Some 50-degree wind and rain would also be lovely.

Especially in July.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

My friend who lives a few miles away said his average was 11.5 degrees! Epic cold over there.

 

Republic's average temp was in the teens. I saw it today, but can't remember for sure, I want to say 16.5.

[Phil]

Unfortunately my shop has sustained major damage from the snow. A part of the roof has sagged and the beams in that area have cracked/broken and will need to be replaced. My in-laws were going to help me fix it up this summer, but hoping there is not a collapse of that section because it is where I store my wood. I put some extra supports in today and removed quite a bit of snow from the roof. If I end up having to re-do the roof I may do it at a steeper angle so the snow slides off like it does on the other section of the shop. The snow on the part that is damaged was 2-3' deep, with about a 4" layer of ice at the bottom. The whole column of snow was frozen into several layers that I had to break through when shoveling it off. I'm guessing the snow is deeper up there than on the ground because the cold metal of the roof prevented as much melting as the warm ground at the beginning of the month long snow event.

Sorry to hear, man. How old is the building? Also, is it more of a hip style roof or a gable style roof?

 

I don’t think a well-built and maintained roof should be collapsing under snow if the slope is > 10 degrees. Not even 3+ feet of snow with a layer of ice on the bottom. Hopefully it’s not ancient and still under warranty/insurance.

[ShawniganLake]

My average temp last month was 29.7.

That’s crazy. What were your average min and max. In BC, I think you’d have to go as Far East as Hope to find anything colder than that. And Hope is at the entrance to the Fraser River Canyon.

[snow_wizard]

My average temp last month was 29.7.

 

That snow cover really kept you cold.  29.7 probably beats 1936 for your area.  That month was very dry so it's doubtful your area had much snow cover to help out with that.  I think for your area this Feb was probably bigger than anything at least back to 1891.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Sorry to hear, man. How old is the building? Also, is it more of a hip style roof or a gable style roof?

 

I don’t think a well-built and maintained roof should be collapsing under snow if the slope is > 10 degrees. Not even 3+ feet of snow with a layer of ice on the bottom. Hopefully it’s not ancient and still under warranty/insurance.

 

I think there could have been some rot issues.

[snow_wizard]

I'm pretty excited to see just how this coming cold snap plays out.  The numbers look pretty impressive for this late in the season.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

I'm pretty excited to see just how this coming cold snap plays out.  The numbers look pretty impressive for this late in the season.

 

I could see wind sheltered parts of the Willamette Valley having lows in the upper teens or low 20s. We are projected to see some very low dewpoints. 

[Phil]

We’ve now had 30 consecutive spotless days.

 

The two longest spotless stretches of the last minimum were 32 days and 31 days, respectively, so if we can extend this streak 3 more days, we’ll beat the longest spotless streak of the 2008/09 solar minimum.

 

FWIW, there was an anomalously long spotless stretch during the SC22/23 minimum of 42 days (9/13 to

10/24,1996...which whether by coincidence or not preceded the December 1996 craziness in the northern parts of the PNW). I’m not sure we’ll be able to match that streak this go around, but it would really be something if we can pull it off.

 

http://sidc.oma.be/silso/IMAGES/GRAPHICS/spotlessJJ/SC25_periods.png

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Eugene dropped to 28 before midnight. They start the month with a solidly cold 46/28.

 

Looks like PDX hit 31 before midnight, SLE 32. 

[TigerWoodsLibido]

Maybe this 150 block can be as persistent as the Greenland vortex had been. A nice multi-year stretch with plenty of chances at the dartboard.

[Cloud]

I'm pretty excited to see just how this coming cold snap plays out.  The numbers look pretty impressive for this late in the season.

45/25 type.

[Phil]

Maybe this 150 block can be as persistent as the Greenland vortex had been. A nice multi-year stretch with plenty of chances at the dartboard.

That would produce a very angry Tim.

[Cloud]

Amazing what being closer to the ocean and the other side of the Cascades can do. Spokane is downright chilly and set a March 1st record with -1F. Still looking at single digits lows next few nights.

[Cloud]

Maybe this 150 block can be as persistent as the Greenland vortex had been. A nice multi-year stretch with plenty of chances at the dartboard.

Hopefully this is the beginning. I’m definitely okay with the next decade being chillier and snowier.

[VancouverIslandSouth]

30F here. Tomorrow will be my 29th consecutive freeze

 

Quite the streak and it looks to continue a little longer, meanwhile there were only 13 freezes here last month.

[wx_statman]

-14 (F) forecast low for Cranbrook, BC with this cold shot. Within striking distance of the monthly record, which is a surprisingly cold -19F from March 2, 1976.

[MossMan]

27 currently.

[MikeInEverett]

Took these yesterday but if this makes it through today I can officially say I’ve had snow on the ground in spots for a whole month! A few hundred feet above and 2 minutes away from me some of my friends houses still have solid snow cover in their front or back yards.

 

Here's a mediocre picture of the solid snow cover a few minutes away from me.

 

[Tyler Mode]

Away from the gorge winds I managed 57 yesterday...I was outside relaxing on the patio like it was July.

 

This morning, 25.  In the 9 years I've been here it's never even dropped below 34 on this date.

[TacomaWaWx]

Looks like some outflow winds are gonna start today, I hope the winds are strong like the other night here that was pretty impressive

[SilverFallsAndrew]

It appears PDX has fallen to 27 this morning so far. Which as mentioned yesterday would be their coldest March low since 1989. I see SLE has hit 30, EUG 25. 

[Blizzard777]

Clear

33*

NE wind 2

 

Been noticing more birds songs every morning

[TigerWoodsLibido]

28 and still beautiful out there.

[snow_wizard]

People must have had a different perspective back then. What is normal, what is doable, how much suffering is acceptable. Hard to imagine today especially for city people like me. BTW, December 1884 had to be absolutely brutal up there. There was a signal service station at Eola at the time which recorded about 60" that month near the valley floor, with 50"+ coming in the span of one week. 

 

Dec 1884 was a beast and came after an almost identical February to this one earlier in the year.

[ShawniganLake]

Outflow reached Hope around 2am. And Abbotsford around 6am. Not much low level cold with it at this point. YXX is 38 this morning with a NE wind gusting to 28mph.

[High Desert Mat?]

Still a solid 24” on the ground here. Trees are flocked, side streets are still snow packed, and now the fog is here. You can barely distinguish the sky from the ground now, looks amazing. Current temp at 17

[snow_wizard]

Quite the streak and it looks to continue a little longer, meanwhile there were only 13 freezes here last month.

 

Wow!  Even SEA got more than that.  The water probably has too much moderating influence for your area with the later cold waves.

[snow_wizard]

Still a solid 24” on the ground here. Trees are flocked, side streets are still snow packed, and now the fog is here. You can barely distinguish the sky from the ground now, looks amazing. Current temp at 17

 

Conditions like that have to be pretty much unheard of in early March in the modern era.  Sounds like dead of winter conditions.

[TT-SEA]

Beautiful morning in North Bend...

 

[snow_wizard]

Outflow reached Hope around 2am. And Abbotsford around 6am. Not much low level cold with it at this point. YXX is 38 this morning with a NE wind gusting to 28mph.

 

This is a case where the persistence of the outflow pressure gradient is going to have huge dividends.  Achieving really epic cold outflow this late is much harder than it was even a month ago.  That having been said there is evidence the mid March 1870 blast may have managed single digit cold as far down as Abbottsford.

[Canadian guy]

Wow!  Even SEA got more than that.  The water probably has too much moderating influence for your area with the later cold waves.

 

Yes the water moderates us but being in an outflow exposed area also keeps our temperature up during night time hours when the wind is going but keeps us cooler in the day.

[ShawniganLake]

This is a case where the persistence of the outflow pressure gradient is going to have huge dividends. Achieving really epic cold outflow this late is much harder than it was even a month ago. That having been said there is evidence the mid March 1870 blast may have managed single digit cold as far down as Abbottsford.

March 1955 came close. Lots of low level cold with that.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Looking back at records this was the 3rd deepest snowpack here since 1994. #1 39 inches Dec 1996.#2 32 inches Feb 1995.#3 27 inches Feb 2019. #4 24 inches Dec 2008. #5 15 inches Dec 2007.

[TacomaWaWx]

This winter unfortunately doesn’t look like it’ll have close to the same effects as those winters from the 50s and 1800s, would be pretty cool to see, will be pretty cool temps the next couple weeks but not very cold compared to those years

[TT-SEA]

Meaningful fronts and rain are still 300+ hours away on the GFS and FV3.

 

Almost no precip for the next 12 days on both runs this morning.  

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Meaningful fronts and rain are still 300+ hours away on the GFS and FV3.

 

Almost no precip for the next 12 days on both runs this morning.

 

You will need a stiff south wind and some rain to get the snow melted off. What is the longest strech of snow cover there for you?

[wx_statman]

Dec 1884 was a beast and came after an almost identical February to this one earlier in the year.

 

It was quite the year. That same Eola station recorded about 95" for the year, with around 30" falling in February and around 60" in December. Can't remember the exact numbers. That signal service station was only about 400-500 feet elevation in the hills west of Salem. Incidentally, January 1884 also had a historic Midwest cold wave with all-time record lows in the same places as we saw this past January. 

[TT-SEA]

You will need a stiff south wind and some rain to get the snow melted off. What is the longest strech of snow cover there for you?

Not sure.

 

This would not be that unusual in December and January... but really strange at this time of year.