March 2019 Weather Discussion in the PNW

[Jesse]

Loving tghe high dewpoints today.

[MossMan]

Came home for lunch...both my dogs and I are hating this stupid horrible weather...

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Santiam Park Fire nearing containment now. 190 acres have burned.

[Jesse]

Santiam Park Fire nearing containment now. 190 acres have burned.

That is not a small fire. Wonder how much of the state park burned.

[MossMan]

What is left of my snow will be gone by tonight. RIP winter epicness 2/3/19 - 3/21/19.

[Phil]

Dewpoint is up to 43 there now. The air feels more humid here as well... and it smells more spring-like out there.

Lolwut.

 

There’s literally no decipherable difference between a dewpoint of 30 and a dewpoint of 43..or 53. They feel the exact same.

[TT-SEA]

Lolwut.

 

There’s literally no decipherable difference between a dewpoint of 30 and a dewpoint of 43..or 53. They feel the exact same.

 

 

No... the absence of the strong, dry east wind and low humidity is very noticeable today.   Everyone on here in the Seattle area will tell you the same thing.   There is a different feel and smell to the air.    Instead of a strong east wind... there is a very gentle south wind.

 

Either way... its an absolutely perfect March day.   I like this better than the last couple days.

[Phil]

No... the absence of the strong, dry east wind and low humidity is very noticeable today. Everyone on here in the Seattle area will tell you the same thing. There is a different feel and smell to the air.

 

Either way... its an absolutely perfect March day. I like this better than the last couple days.

Maybe I’m just weird. I feel almost no difference until it reaches 65, then it gets exponentially worse.

 

I “sort of” felt the sharp drop from 62 to 39 a few days ago, but that’s because it occurred in 5mins. It was still very subtle. I don’t know how you guys could pick up on something like that occurring over a full day.

[TT-SEA]

Life... it finds a way.

 

Here was our rock wall about 5 weeks ago... to the right of my son's car.

 

 

And now... with everything happily coming up almost right on schedule.

 

[Phil]

There is a different feel and smell to the air. Instead of a strong east wind... there is a very gentle south wind.

 

Either way... its an absolutely perfect March day. I like this better than the last couple days.

I know the “spring smell” you’re taking about though. It’s actually one of my favorite smells..so clean.

 

I forget what causes it. IIRC it has something to do with releases from nitrogen fixing bacteria in the soil near trees as their root metabolisms increase. I could be wrong about that, though. Research for another day.

[TT-SEA]

58 at SEA... while its 64 in North Bend and 63 here.

 

More marine influence at SEA.

[jakeinthevalley]

Lolwut.

 

There’s literally no decipherable difference between a dewpoint of 30 and a dewpoint of 43..or 53. They feel the exact same.

This time of year around here, there is a very noticeable feel and smell to the air when DP's start creeping up. When offshore winds are predominant, you can almost smell the sage and juniper on the breeze as it comes in from the east.  That extra moisture enhances and holds in the pollens that are just now getting ramped up.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

INCOMING

 

[Deweydog]

***GFS ALERT***

[MossMan]

It’s going to snow!

[TT-SEA]

Gorgeous 64-degree afternoon on the first full day of spring... won't be long now before all the trees are leafing out.

 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Gorgeous 64-degree afternoon on the first full day of spring... won't be long now before all the trees are leafing out.

 

 

Cloudy and light rain all day here in the SLE..

[TT-SEA]

Cloudy and light rain all day here in the SLE..

 

 

ECMWF does not show any all day rain events here for the next 10 days. 

 

What little rain it does show comes mostly overnight on 3 different days.

[TT-SEA]

Well we've definitively decided we are going to be moving to the Post Falls / Hayden, ID area within the next month, possibly two depending on job opportunities.

 

I'm so ready for snowy winters!

 

On another note, another beautiful day today with a high of 66 after reaching 80 yesterday.

 

 

That is a nice area.   

[TT-SEA]

Yeah, we wanted somewhere that was geographically similar but didn't have the insane COL like the Seattle area. (Among many other things.)

 

Obviously the Rathdrum Prairie is a little flatter than here but it's fairly similar overall. Trees, lakes, nearby mountains, etc. etc. 

 

Plus, I won't have to strain my eyes every winter to catch that obscure thing they call a snowflake. In fact, we'll probably be investing in a snowblower before the winter. That's a first!

 

 

My snowblower sat idle for 2 years and now its been used so much in the last 6 weeks that it probably needs maintenance.     It was a life saver... maybe literally! 

[epiceast]

155 block returns. I'm not sure if that's what either of us want at this point.

 

I'd love to see cutoff season begin right about now rather than another big blocking episode. 

Are you looking to cement that 3' snow depth in town? First ULL is on the house this weekend, 5000' snow levels forecast by MSO NWS(guaranteed accumulating snow in downtown Bozeman, one way or another).

[Kayla]

Are you looking to cement that 3' snow depth in town? First ULL is on the house this weekend, 5000' snow levels forecast by MSO NWS(guaranteed accumulating snow in downtown Bozeman, one way or another).

 

Well as you know, ULL's still usually mean mostly snow around here through April. I'm just looking for a more active pattern to break these inversions rather than a stagnate pattern that we've been stuck in.

 

This current pattern has done very little to melt any snow, would love to start seeing some bare ground at some point instead of just sun crusted snow.

[MossMan]

60/45 so far today.

[TacomaWaWx]

Well last winter was pretty good but the only problem with winters around here is the least amount of snow usually falls where I live. so many of the winters in my life I haven’t seen much snow since I’ve only lived in Tacoma and Auburn. I have been planning on moving out the Peninsula to the seabeck area this summer I’m very excited because they are certainly in a better spot for snow than Tacoma...which many times has had the least snow out of anyone. Overall I’ve lived close to the sound most of my life but the Hood Canal side is beautiful.

[Omegaraptor]

Well last winter was pretty good but the only problem with winters around here is the least amount of snow usually falls where I live. so many of the winters in my life I haven’t seen much snow since I’ve only lived in Tacoma and Auburn. I have been planning on moving out the Peninsula to the seabeck area this summer I’m very excited because they are certainly in a better spot for snow than Tacoma...which many times has had the least snow out of anyone. Overall I’ve lived close to the sound most of my life but the Hood Canal side is beautiful.

 

Try Washington County...

[jcmcgaffey]

Surprised NOAA has the Puget Sound under yellow already for current drought conditions. Looks like they are also expecting the area to be drier than normal for some time. I feel like they have been opposite of what really ends up happening. We’ll see if we end up with a water than normal April-June.

 

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov

[VancouverIslandSouth]

Quite the marine layer today, only hit 60F here.

[TT-SEA]

Surprised NOAA has the Puget Sound under yellow already for current drought conditions. Looks like they are also expecting the area to be drier than normal for some time. I feel like they have been opposite of what really ends up happening. We’ll see if we end up with a water than normal April-June.

 

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov

 

 

Its been dry.   No question about it.  

 

So many people on here wish our climate was more continental... and this year has been just that.    Very blocky patterns... delivering both cold and now hot weather.   But what this pattern does not usually deliver is our regular rain.  

[jcmcgaffey]

Its been dry. No question about it.

 

So many people on here wish our climate was more continental... and this year has been just that. Very blocky patterns... delivering both cold and now hot weather. But what this pattern does not usually deliver is our regular rain.

ya it’s definitely felt and been more dry but it doesn’t seem like we would be in yellow already as we are close to 90% of normal since the start of the year and only short by 1.8”.

[Jesse]

ya it’s definitely felt and been more dry but it doesn’t seem like we would be in yellow already as we are close to 90% of normal since the start of the year and only short by 1.8”.

Who’s we?

[Jesse]

FWIW

 

[Jesse]

Pretty crazy to see this even with the big warm spell now being included.

 

[TT-SEA]

Pretty crazy to see this even with the big warm spell now being included.

 

EF3BAE29-E67F-4A52-BA6C-3EA2C352F0AC.png

That scale is way too wide.

[TacomaWaWx]

Try Washington County...

haha well if I had a choice to move anywhere I wanted to I would want to live up in Bellingham, sometimes it’s not the best for snow but it’s beautiful there. If I was going to pick somewhere to move to see a lot of snow would be up in packwood or Ashford or darrington somewhere in the foothills. I’m actually moving out to the peninsula for work reasons. Close to Green Mountain which is a great hike about 1800’

[epiceast]

Well as you know, ULL's still usually mean mostly snow around here through April. I'm just looking for a more active pattern to break these inversions rather than a stagnate pattern that we've been stuck in.

 

This current pattern has done very little to melt any snow, would love to start seeing some bare ground at some point instead of just sun crusted snow.

There is no pattern that will melt this snow fast. Although Missoula and Mission valleys are pretty close to breaking out out of the inversion after substantial snow melt.

[Jesse]

That scale is way too wide.

Are you calling my map fat.

 

Regardless I don’t know how to change it.

[TT-SEA]

Are you calling my map fat.

 

Regardless I don’t know how to change it.

I know. But 0-6 degrees below normal is a huge range.

 

SEA is right at normal now.

[Jesse]

I know. But 0-6 degrees below normal is a huge range.

 

SEA is probably close to +6 at this point.

[El_Nina]

FWIW

 

C3FB7809-AB04-4574-82E5-92FD68922B84.png

Well at least southern and eastern Oregon have caught back up.

[jcmcgaffey]

Who’s we?

I was talking the Seattle area. Again not sure what that map generalizes from as the main stations in this area are all over 80%. However, I didn’t realize how dry it has been for the entire nw overall. It makes sense though.