March 2019 Weather Discussion in the PNW

[SilverFallsAndrew]

At least Western Oregon managed to pull off a below average month. Hopefully it isn't like last year where February and March were the only two below average months during the year. Pendleton had a -9.5 monthly departure.

[TigerWoodsLibido]

RIP yard work and mowing the grass for 2+ weeks according to the GFS.

 

We need the rain but the grass is going to get so tall that the mower will have a lot of trouble with it. Mowed 2 days ago but it grows so D**n fast now.

[Jesse]

RIP yard work and mowing the grass for 2+ weeks according to the GFS.

 

We need the rain but the grass is going to get so tall that the mower will have a lot of trouble with it. Mowed 2 days ago but it grows so d**n fast now.

Probably won’t be that rainy.

 

It’s April. Even during wet periods, multi-day stretches of unbroken rainfall are pretty rare.

[Jesse]

PDX ended up with a -1.5 departure for the month.

[Jesse]

[TT-SEA]

936284DA-8511-4345-9990-3037CA38CAF4.png

 

 

Guess the cold and snow in the first part of the month just slightly outweighed the warmth and sun in the second half of the month up here.  

 

Although the long term March average at Snoqualmie Falls is 44.26 and North Bend came in with an average of 45.2 for the month.

[Front Ranger]

Summer is actually their “rainy” season. Their precip numbers start to increase with the beginning of ULL and convective season

 

Ah. So similar to here.

 

Although I would have to think they get more precip there than we get here in the winter, being more in the northern jet path.

[Jesse]

Ah. So similar to here.

 

Although I would have to think they get more precip there than we get here in the winter, being more in the northern jet path.

I would guess the northern jet is usually south of them in the winter.

[Front Ranger]

I would guess the northern jet is usually south of them in the winter.

 

Hard to say without knowing exactly where these places are. I know most of BC gets the northern jet quite a bit most winters.

[Jesse]

Hard to say without knowing exactly where these places are. I know most of BC gets the northern jet quite a bit most winters.

A simple google search can do wonders. They are in the North/Central BC Interior (of course Shawnigan said it too). Generally cold and dry in the winter. Mean jet is aimed farther south.

[GHweatherChris]

Good lord

[Front Ranger]

A simple google search can do wonders. They are in the North/Central BC Interior (of course Shawnigan said it too). Generally cold and dry in the winter. Mean jet is aimed farther south.

 

Did you actually look them up? The 3 locations he mentioned are quite far apart. Clinton is in south central BC, Burns Lake is right in the middle, and Dease Lake is far north. Very different as far as relation to the northern jet.

 

I'd imagine their overall dryness is tied much more to being on the lee side of the coastal mountains. Clinton is certainly much more in the path of the winter jet than Dease Lake. 

 

But given that they are over 800 miles apart, there are probably some significant climate differences overall.

[Jesse]

Did you actually look them up? The 3 locations he mentioned are quite far apart. Clinton is in south central BC, Burns Lake is right in the middle, and Dease Lake is far north. Very different as far as relation to the northern jet.

 

I'd imagine their overall dryness is tied much more to being on the lee side of the coastal mountains. Clinton is certainly much more in the path of the winter jet than Dease Lake.

Yes, all three. And now you are just splitting hairs.

[Front Ranger]

Yes, all three. And now you are just splitting hairs.

 

800 mi is not splitting hairs. 

 

That is a huge difference in terms of how close they are to the northern jet. And southern BC is definitely in the path of the northern jet quite a bit during most winters.

[Jesse]

800 mi is not splitting hairs.

That part isn’t. They are relatively far flung. Still, my general point stands. No need to try to reinvent the wheel here.

[Front Ranger]

That part isn’t. They are relatively far flung. Still, my general point stands. No need to try to reinvent the wheel here.

 

From what I can find online, it seems like areas from the central interior down to southern interior BC are definitely wetter than here in the winter. Prince George, for example, averages 2.14" in January, or about 4x what Denver does. So my guess that they are wetter in the winter, due to being more in the path of the northern jet, seems to have been correct. 

 

Interestingly, they definitely have a drier period in late winter/early spring. March is actually their driest month of the year. But Prince George averages 1-2.5" every month of the year, so not a ton of variation.

 

Far northern BC, of course, is different.

[ShawniganLake]

The stations I listed are more so in the rain shadow than say Prince George

 

Dease Lake

 

http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=Dease&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=1454&dispBack=1

 

100 mile house (likely similar climate to where the Clinton station is located)

 

http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=100+mi&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=1308&dispBack=1

[Jesse]

The stations I listed are more so in the rain shadow than say Prince George

 

Dease Lake

 

http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=Dease&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=1454&dispBack=1

 

100 mile house (likely similar climate to where the Clinton station is located)

 

http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=100+mi&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=1308&dispBack=1

Am I way off base about their winter means being drier up there since the jet stream is more frequently south of them on average? You would know the details of those climates better than I.

[ShawniganLake]

Am I way off base about their winter means being drier up there since the jet stream is more frequently south of them on average? You would know the details of those climate better than I.

I would expect the jet to be south of those northern areas pretty frequently. Not sure if it matters that much as those lee side locales can get totally rain shadowed even when the jet is active. Just going off memory here, I think the often dry Chilcotin region has historically seen their biggest snowfalls earlier in the season. I guess that could possibly be linked to the jet typically progressing southward during that season.

 

Edit. Looking at locations on the north coast, their rainfall peaks in October, with September and January being about equal as the 4th wettest month. So you may be correct with the southward jet idea.

[Front Ranger]

The stations I listed are more so in the rain shadow than say Prince George

 

Dease Lake

 

http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=Dease&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=1454&dispBack=1

 

100 mile house (likely similar climate to where the Clinton station is located)

 

http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=100+mi&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=1308&dispBack=1

Yeah, it would make sense that they are all shadowed in the winter. But they still all get more precip in the winter than the spring or fall, which is different than here.

[Front Ranger]

I would expect the jet to be south of those northern areas pretty frequently. Not sure if it matters that much as those lee side locales can get totally rain shadowed even when the jet is active. Just going off memory here, I think the often dry Chilcotin region has historically seen their biggest snowfalls earlier in the season. I guess that could possibly be linked to the jet typically progressing southward during that season.

 

Edit. Looking at locations on the north coast, their rainfall peaks in October, with September and January being about equal as the 4th wettest month. So you may be correct with the southward jet idea.

 

Yes, the northern polar jet progresses south normally over the winter. Which is even Seattle/Vancouver are wetter in Nov/Dec than January on average.

 

But that doesn't mean the northern jet isn't a major influence during the winter for BC...it's the primary source of storms. And that's why those interior BC locations are easily wetter than here in the winter, and see a lesser "wet season" in between fall and spring - which we don't see here at all.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

March 2019 was the coldest on record at John Day, OR.

 

https://www.bluemountaineagle.com/news/march-much-colder-than-normal/article_86ddaf0c-557c-11e9-9ad3-47ac36eba420.html

[Timmy Supercell]

March 2019 was the coldest on record at John Day, OR.

 

https://www.bluemountaineagle.com/news/march-much-colder-than-normal/article_86ddaf0c-557c-11e9-9ad3-47ac36eba420.html

 

#BumpingOldPosts