March 2019 Weather Discussion in the PNW

[Phil]

Yes, the situations Tim is speaking of ususally involve inversions getting mixed out.

Ah, got it.

 

Thanks man.

[TT-SEA]

Just finished shoveling the pad in front of the garage.

Very light snow still falling. 32.2.

My driveway is wet... no shoveling required.

 

Tomorrow morning could be another story though.

[TT-SEA]

WRF shows a band of heavy snow moving through the Seattle area tomorrow morning between 7-10 a.m.

 

The GFS, FV3, and ICON all seem to send the Friday morning precip to the south of us through SW WA.

[HighlandExperience]

Rush hour is going to be a challenge I'm thinking.

Hope so

[VancouverIslandSouth]

Light snow continues, but looks to come to an end shortly. Received 2" of fresh snow today, with higher amounts on pre existing snow surfaces, bringing the seasonal total to 20" IMBY. Maybe a little more snow from passing showers? We'll see.

 

Got me beat, only 18.5" here this season, the last accumulating snow here was on the 14th. We were right on the western edge of that band for hours today, got a few flakes and it kept the daily high down to 38F but otherwise pretty uneventful.

[HighlandExperience]

Wow WRF looking nice for King County

[Requiem]

Got me beat, only 18.5" here this season, the last accumulating snow here was on the 14th. We were right on the western edge of that band for hours today, got a few flakes and it kept the daily high down to 38F but otherwise pretty uneventful.

Got me beat! Around 6 inches this season.

[bainbridgekid]

The UW site isn't loading for me. Can someone post the WRF snow map?

[snow_wizard]

Wow WRF looking nice for King County

 

This is kind of a King County classic.  I like these situations where we get WSW flow with moisture and a cold enough air mass for snow.  The plunging 700mb temps tonight are going to be a big factor in making this work out nicely...assuming the GFS isn't nuts.  BTW Pierce County looks very good also.

[TT-SEA]

The UW site isn't loading for me. Can someone post the WRF snow map?

 

 

It just went down.   

 

Going by memory... looked like about 2-3 inches for all of King County and up into Snohomish County.   Starting around 6 a.m. in Tacoma and then 7-9 in Seattle and 9-11 up in Snohomish County.  

[El_Nina]

Sandy seems like a good climate. 75” of rain a year and plenty of snow. Does it avoid the east wind and freezing rain garbage that Cascade Locks gets?

BTW, Portland is -20/-8 for today.

Sandy does avoid most freezing rain and is often left unscaved compared to other areas during gorge events. They get sorta warm nosed. Great performance on days like today though.

[snow_wizard]

The UW site isn't loading for me. Can someone post the WRF snow map?

 

Same problem here.

[TT-SEA]

HRRR shows the same thing around 7 or 8 a.m.

 

[TacomaWaWx]

This is kind of a King County classic. I like these situations where we get WSW flow with moisture and a cold enough air mass for snow. The plunging 700mb temps tonight are going to be a big factor in making this work out nicely...assuming the GFS isn't nuts. BTW Pierce County looks very good also.

hoping for the best tonight! I just Never count on anything until it happens haha

[Perturbed Member]

I'm actually Washington county thank god, just barely into it, but still a Portland address. It's technically unincorporated Washington county. I had no interest in being in multnomah county haha.

 

And I'm right there with you. The snow prospects of the property where right up there with location and house type. This is actually close to the lowest I wanted to go, but so far its turned out to be a great spot and can really tell the difference during these marginal setups. The snow line has been roughly 100 feet below me multiple times this winter.

 

 Did you purchase land and build your own place or did you just buy the house and the lot together? Awesome that you aren't in Multnomah county, I'm not even looking at anything that is in that county. Pretty amazing how big the tax difference can be.  

 

Glad to hear that you scored with your elevation. One day I hope I can also be above the peasants on the valley floor 

[TT-SEA]

For reference... here is what the 12Z ECMWF showed from 4-10 a.m.

 

[VancouverIslandSouth]

Got me beat! Around 6 inches this season.

 

But you got one heck of a gorge windstorm!

[wxmet]

If the HRRR is showing it, it probably won’t happen.

[VancouverIslandSouth]

The 0z GEM looks decent tomorrow morning:

 

[ShawniganLake]

Down to 30F. We should see our 34th consecutive freeze tomorrow morning

[wxmet]

NAM 3km is a heavy snow sounding at KSEA 8:00am tomorrow morning.

 

[VancouverIslandSouth]

Down to 30F. We should see our 34th consecutive freeze tomorrow morning

 

Probably at least another 4 more coming your way. Seems like it just takes a few hours of clearing overnight to get a freeze up there.

[MossMan]

Still sitting at 32.2. No melting going on tonight!

[Frontal Snowsquall]

Doesn't it suck to be in Multnomah county though? Seems the property taxes are kind of gross.

 

I'm looking for property that is 1000ft or higher but probably needs to be WA county. I can't believe I'm even thinking of making potential property investment decisions based on snow prospects. All non weather geeks think I'm a total loony.

Have you ever looked into the hilly area just to the W of Forest Grove? If I ever moved out that way, that's probably an area I'd try to live in.

 

I've always been intrigued by the cold air damming "Forest Grove Effect" and that area at much higher elevation would even do much better than down in Forest Grove. Plus it's not that far away from Hillsboro.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Down to 30F. We should see our 34th consecutive freeze tomorrow morning

 

Unfortunately I had a low of 33 on February 15th. Ruined my streak. Today was 32 days in a row with sub 45 high temps. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Still sitting at 32.2. No melting going on tonight!

 

How much snow did you end up with today? Looked like you really scored!

[MossMan]

How much snow did you end up with today? Looked like you really scored!

3.5”. I was thinking perhaps an inch but today really over performed!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

PDX sitting at 35. This is going to be a real nail biter. My guess is they hit 36 before midnight. These kinds of records stand for 50-60 years for a reason.

[TT-SEA]

PDX sitting at 35. This is going to be a real nail biter. My guess is they hit 36 before midnight. These kinds of records stand for 50-60 years for a reason.

The next update after the hourly reading is 36 there.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

3.5”. I was thinking perhaps an inch but today really over performed!

 

Very nice. I ended up with 2.5" which was about exactly what the models showed. The models tend to be a lot more accurate up here in terms of snowfall as most of what falls usually sticks whereas the 12 hours of snow falling the valley received today ended up not sticking, but had it would have verified the 1-2" the EURO was showing. 

[TT-SEA]

Very nice. I ended up with 2.5" which was about exactly what the models showed. The models tend to be a lot more accurate up here in terms of snowfall as most of what falls usually sticks whereas the 12 hours of snow falling the valley received today ended up not sticking, but had it would have verified the 1-2" the EURO was showing. 

 

12Z ECMWF showed about 1.5 inches here through 10 p.m. this evening but we got basically nothing.    We had several hours of non-sticking snow and just a light dusting before it ended and that is gone now.  

[El_Nina]

Looks like I underestimated how much snow I got earlier. Actually got an inch.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

12Z ECMWF showed about 1.5 inches here through 10 p.m. this evening but we got basically nothing.    We had several hours of non-sticking snow and just a light dusting before it ended and that is gone now.  

 

I was surprised how low the sticking snow level was. Basically once I left Silverton coming up the hill there was snow, so probably around 400'. 

 

A friend in Stayton which is about 350' east of Salem said they picked up about 1" with that late afternoon band of snow. 

 

Then I don't know if this has been discussed at all, but PDX officially recorded 0.5" of snow this afternoon!

 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

NWS current obs page has PDX at 36 right now .

 

[Thurston Howell III]

Have you ever looked into the hilly area just to the W of Forest Grove? If I ever moved out that way, that's probably an area I'd try to live in.

 

I've always been intrigued by the cold air damming "Forest Grove Effect" and that area at much higher elevation would even do much better than down in Forest Grove. Plus it's not that far away from Hillsboro.

My brother lives in the hills in that area.  He's had some big snows over the years.  

[Jesse]

The next update after the hourly reading is 36 there.

I think that is a celcius rounding error. They were reporting 36 this morning and afternoon too.

[TT-SEA]

NWS current obs page has PDX at 36 right now .

 

Use this link...

 

https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/zoa/getobext.php?sid=Kpdx

[TT-SEA]

I think that is a celcius rounding error. They were reporting 36 this morning and afternoon too.

 

I see that... numerous times actually.  

[SilverFallsAndrew]

I think that is a celcius rounding error. They were reporting 36 this morning and afternoon too.

 

Hopefully. It's weird their temp has gone up the past few hours with east winds, while several other stations have dropped 1-2 degrees during that time with south winds. Even if they do end up at 36 it's still a record min max. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

I see that... numerous times actually.  

 

I know this, but occasionally forget which is why I have reported a high/low that is off by one degree.