April 2019 Weather Discussion in the PNW

[TT-SEA]

Planting garden today... now I will need to water it a little each day that it does not rain.

 

[El_Nina]

No amount of rain?? You can’t be serious. Give me some of what you have please!!!!

I was implying that even with a wet pattern in either June or July, it wouldn't be enough to protect us from wildfires later on.

[TT-SEA]

67 at SEA and 66 here today.

 

Absolutely perfect day.

[Deweydog]

21 years ago today it was 90. The next day it thundered. Ugh.

[TT-SEA]

And the sprinkler is on... last month the garden was buried in snow.

 

[Front Ranger]

In my area... a dry first half of May is almost always offset by a wet second half of the month.    There is usually a really nice period in May at some point... looks like it will be the first part of the month this year.  

 

May was fairly dry overall here last year... but we had almost 4 inches of rain in June and it was green well into July.     The really dry part of the year is almost always a short window (notable exception in 2015).    Not something people around here worry about.  You should move north.  

 

Try top 5 driest on record. 

[TT-SEA]

Try top 5 driest on record.

There was rain here though and it was a fairly cloudy month in this area... never dried out.

[Front Ranger]

The really dry part of the year is almost always a short window (notable exception in 2015).    Not something people around here worry about.  You should move north.  

 

The last two July-August have been extremely dry in your area. Only .13" in Snoqualmie Falls those two months in 2017, and just .60" in 2018.

[TT-SEA]

The last two July-August have been extremely dry in your area. Only .13" in Snoqualmie Falls those two months in 2017, and just .60" in 2018.

 

 

Well aware.   Although there was 8 days with rain in those two months combined last year... compared to just 4 days with rain in those months in 2012.  

 

I am a big fan of getting rain in focused doses.   Total amount of rain is not as important as the number of days with rain in terms of my enjoyment of a particular month or season.    Above normal rainfall with lots of sun and warm weather... good combination.

[jcmcgaffey]

The last two July-August have been extremely dry in your area. Only .13" in Snoqualmie Falls those two months in 2017, and just .60" in 2018.

. I hope we get more rain this summer. I miss that and some good summer thunderstorms.

[Front Ranger]

I was implying that even with a wet pattern in either June or July, it wouldn't be enough to protect us from wildfires later on.

 

Pretty sure a widespread wet pattern in July or August would make a big difference. Even if only for a couple days.

 

That's only happened a couple of times for the Portland area since 2013.

[Omegaraptor]

Why is the air in Oregon so dry today? The DP at PDX bottomed out at 17ºF on a 71ºF day and RH was just 14%. That's Phoenix-like humidity. According to Ventusky some parts of southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada had DPs below -10ºF. Oregon had the driest air in the country today. I can't see any explanation as to why, but does anyone here know what's causing it?

[Frontal Snowsquall]

12Z ECMWF looks nice.

Hot anomalies by day 10. Might as well enjoy as much outdoor activities now incase the latter half of the summer is smoke filled.

 

[TacomaWaWx]

Why is the air in Oregon so dry today? The DP at PDX bottomed out at 17ºF on a 71ºF day and RH was just 14%. That's Phoenix-like humidity. According to Ventusky some parts of southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada had DPs below -10ºF. Oregon had the driest air in the country today. I can't see any explanation as to why, but does anyone here know what's causing it?

Yeah I just checked our dew point here in Tacoma is 17 right now there’s been winds coming from the northeast here bringing in dry air from east of the mountains which is why the dew point is low across the area. Usually the air is moist because it comes off the ocean. Air is pretty dry had to use chapstick today which I don’t normally do. Last time I had to use chapstick was when we also had really dry air when the dew points were around 0 for many in late February.

[GHweatherChris]

#passiveaggressive

[TacomaWaWx]

Hot anomalies by day 10. Might as well enjoy as much outdoor activities now incase the latter half of the summer is smoke filled.

 

There’s a chance this summer may be smoky again maybe, hopefully it won’t it’s been fairly dry hasn’t rained much the last 10 days here with not much in the forecast coming up. Could have a wet second half of this month or some rain in June to help out. It’s still early it could end up being different than last year.

[El_Nina]

Pretty sure a widespread wet pattern in July or August would make a big difference. Even if only for a couple days.

 

That's only happened a couple of times for the Portland area since 2013.

An inch or two won't cut it. I had nearly 9 inches of rain fall in the first 2 weeks of the month and now it is already getting very dry outside. It's looking to stay dry for the next 15 days as well, so we'll be really primed up for the upcoming summer.

Wet patterns in June are always very short lived, and only drop an inch or two of rain. That will not be enough to cut it when we enter a hot and dry pattern again thereafter.

[BLI snowman]

Why is the air in Oregon so dry today? The DP at PDX bottomed out at 17ºF on a 71ºF day and RH was just 14%. That's Phoenix-like humidity. According to Ventusky some parts of southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada had DPs below -10ºF. Oregon had the driest air in the country today. I can't see any explanation as to why, but does anyone here know what's causing it?

 

Continental airmass to our east and deep offshore flow.

 

Record low this morning at Pendleton with 27.

[Guest CulverJosh]

Hot dogs and donuts for dinner. Hoping there is no glaze on the couch in the morning. Supposed to be humid.

[BLI snowman]

The Portland region is incredibly overdue for a significant wet month between May and August. You have to go back to July 2014 to find a reasonably large surplus from any one month.

[Requiem]

Hot dogs and donuts for dinner. Hoping there is no glaze on the couch in the morning. Supposed to be humid.

 

Is this a sexual metaphor?

[TT-SEA]

An inch or two won't cut it. I had nearly 9 inches of rain fall in the first 2 weeks of the month and now it is already getting very dry outside. It's looking to stay dry for the next 15 days as well, so we'll be really primed up for the upcoming summer.

Wet patterns in June are always very short lived, and only drop an inch or two of rain. That will not be enough to cut it when we enter a hot and dry pattern again thereafter.

 

Its a catastrophe!!    Everyone is the PNW is very worried about that as we emerge from winter darkness.  

 

The western part of the U.S. is as good as gone at this point.    Its never been this bad.     

 

[Esquimalt]

Is this a sexual metaphor?

Metaphor or analogy?

[TT-SEA]

The Portland region is incredibly overdue for a significant wet month between May and August. You have to go back to July 2014 to find a reasonably large surplus from any one month.

 

I would love some 68-degree dewpoints and thunderstorms this summer.  

[TacomaWaWx]

Continental airmass to our east and deep offshore flow.

 

Record low this morning at Pendleton with 27.

here locally I have had the coldest nights recorded in the last 10 years for late April looking back at my records. Was 38 last night and no frost here but the other night it got to 35 and some frost. 35 degrees isn’t exactly cold but for late April it is.

[El_Nina]

Its a catastrophe!!    Everyone is the PNW is very worried about that as we emerge from winter darkness.  

 

The western part of the U.S. is as good as gone at this point.    Its never been this bad.     

 

All it takes is for the surface to dry out in order for fires to begin. It doesn't take long either, especially with these very long hot and dry spells that have become so common in our region.

And that winter darkness you talked about was preceded by a very dry and warm spell for a large portion of March and was succeeded by what is now turning into a long and dry spell once more. It doesn't mean much now.

[TT-SEA]

All it takes is for the surface to dry out in order for fires to begin. It doesn't take long either, especially with these very long hot and dry spells that have become so common in our region.

And that winter darkness you talked about was preceded by a very dry and warm spell for a large portion of March and was succeeded by what is now turning into a long and dry spell once more. It doesn't mean much now.

Winter rain never seems to mean much.

 

Nothing you can do about it... just enjoy the nice weather. I am sure it will rain plenty more soon enough.

[Requiem]

Winter rain never seems to mean much.

 

Nothing you can do about it... just enjoy the nice weather. I am sure it will rain plenty more soon enough.

 

It depends what you mean by soon enough. Doesn't appear to be in the next three weeks.

[MossMan]

Nice day!

[TT-SEA]

It depends what you mean by soon enough. Doesn't appear to be in the next three weeks.

 

3 weeks is longer than the models can accurately see out.

 

I just enjoy whatever sunshine and dry weather that nature provides.  

[TacomaWaWx]

3 weeks is longer than the models can accurately see out.

 

I just enjoy whatever sunshine and dry weather that nature provides.

very true all you can do is enjoy the weather God throws our way. Maybe there will be smoke this year maybe not either way just best to enjoy the nice smoke free/rain free skies and don’t take them for granted.

[TT-SEA]

very true all you can do is enjoy the weather God throws our way. Maybe there will be smoke this year maybe not either way just best to enjoy the nice smoke free/rain free skies and don’t take them for granted.

 

 

Even if it was dumping rain here every day right now... we could still be inundated with smoke from CA or BC in July and August.  

[El_Nina]

Winter rain never seems to mean much.

 

Nothing you can do about it... just enjoy the nice weather. I am sure it will rain plenty more soon enough.

It's just plain draining and not good for the entire ecosystem in which we live. Underground aquifers will also suffer. But most of all, it's a big nuisance to walk outside and immediately feel hot and fatigued. I couldn't even run half the distance I usually do today because the sun was out in such full force.

Soon enough would be about right now, so we could set back the dryness already developing, but it appears we don't even have any rain coming within the next 15 days. It's also going to be extremely warmer than normal as this happens which will just exacerbate the dryness further.

[TacomaWaWx]

Even if it was dumping rain here every day right now... we could still be inundated with smoke from CA or BC in July and August.

yeah that’s something I’ve come to realize recently.

[TT-SEA]

It's just plain draining and not good for the entire ecosystem in which we live. Underground aquifers will also suffer. But most of all, it's a big nuisance to walk outside and immediately feel hot and fatigued. I couldn't even run half the distance I usually do today because the sun was out in such full force.

Soon enough would be about right now, so we could set back the dryness already developing, but it appears we don't even have any rain coming within the next 15 days. It's also going to be extremely warmer than normal as this happens which will just exacerbate the dryness further.

 

 

Wow.

 

It was 70 degrees down there and the air was bone dry.    The dewpoint was in the teens!   That is rare almost any time of the year around here.

 

If you want 45-degree rain all summer then you should move to coastal Alaska.    Its just silly to say the sun should never shine and the temp should always be cold so you can run.    Not going to happen.   That is not even close to climo. 

[High Desert Mat?]

 

Wow.

 

It was 70 degrees down there and the air was bone dry. The dewpoint was in the teens! That is rare almost any time of the year around here.

 

If you want 45-degree rain all summer then you should move to coastal Alaska. Its just silly to say the sun should never shine and the temp should always be cold so you can run. Not going to happen. That is not even close to climo.

Thanks Nino. Here comes the trigger.

[GHweatherChris]

Words and posts increasing as I type this....

[TT-SEA]

The sun was out on April 30th... how could this happen?   It was so miserable.   I fainted from heat exhaustion upon walking out the door.   The sun should never shine.   That is normal.  

 

That is like someone saying its unbelievable that its raining in November.     Give me 2 dry days a week in November and I am perfectly happy.    That is climo. 

[El_Nina]

 

Wow.

 

It was 70 degrees down there and the air was bone dry. The dewpoint was in the teens! That is rare almost any time of the year around here.

 

If you want 45-degree rain all summer then you should move to coastal Alaska. Its just silly to say the sun should never shine and the temp should always be cold so you can run. Not going to happen. That is not even close to climo.

I never said the sun should never shine or that it should be raining and 45 degrees all summer. You're exaggerating what I am saying.

I'm saying that these anomalies for so long are not normal and are having negative impacts on our ecosystem. I'm also not used to this so often here, like the plants, and am beginning to grow tired if it.

[TT-SEA]

I never said the sun should never shine or that it should be raining and 45 degrees all summer. You're exaggerating what I am saying.

I'm saying that these anomalies for so long are not normal and are having negative impacts on our ecosystem. I'm also not used to this so often here, like the plants, and am beginning to grow tired if it.

 

 

You said today was miserable like it was so unusual to ever see the sun or experience a temp close to 70.   You were immediately fatigued from the heat after walking out the door.    Pretty goofy.    

 

And if its true... then even normal summer weather is terrible to you.