PNW April 2023 Weather Discussion

[TT-SEA]

4 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Over spring break my daughters school announced they would be making up their snow days by starting 15 minutes early each day the rest of the year. But they are currently on a two hour delay today...

Never heard of that before... that is clever idea to avoid going later into summer.  

[Doinko]

3 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

I went to bed around 11p and we picked up 2.5" between then and 6am, not sure when though, but looks like more moisture about to move in. Great trough to end winter with, though I'm not convinced it is our final flirtation with snow up here...

Snow covered roads at only 250 feet in the coast range. Areas above 700ft there are below 30 with snow on the ground. Really impressive

 

[TT-SEA]

Might be just transient... but the 06Z EPS shows ridging across the entire CONUS this weekend.   Something that has not happened for a long time.  

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Snow pack in the Willamette Basin is now 171% of average. It is very close to the 2017 peak, which happened much earlier on March 9th that year. If we can move ahead of that year then it will be the best snow pack year in the Willamette Basin since 2008. 

[Blizzard777]

Snow or hail on the hills down at the coast 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, TT-SEA said:

Might be just transient... but the 06Z EPS shows ridging across the entire CONUS this weekend.   Something that has not happened for a long time.  

I actually would enjoy a sunny weekend. The GFS says no, but it seems like there may still be some hope. 

[TT-SEA]

1 minute ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

I actually would enjoy a sunny weekend. The GFS says no, but it seems like there may still be some hope. 

Even the GFS is showing Saturday being nice... at least up here.

[Phil]

The worm is NOT turning.

[Doinko]

Snowing!

[Cascadia_Wx]

Some nice shower development over the metro area this morning, right around the easiest time of day to see snow.

Low of 34 here, it’s cloudy and 35 currently. Ended up with a very chilly 43/35 yesterday.

[TT-SEA]

4 minutes ago, Phil said:

The worm is NOT turning.

At least it's going to be more variable.   And a trough just offshore is warmer than a trough centered across the Intermountain west.

[Doinko]

Snowing pretty heavily but not sticking. Second year in a row with snow in April!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

8 minutes ago, Doinko said:

Snowing pretty heavily but not sticking. Second year in a row with snow in April!

Nice band of moderate snow moving through right now. The band going through your area appears to be holding together pretty well on radar and moving pretty quickly this way. Should be a snowy morning, better plead with my wife to take measurements while I'm at work. 

[Phil]

9 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

At least it's going to be more variable.   And a trough just offshore is warmer than a trough centered across the Intermountain west.

Looks like more of the same out here. Running out of time to see any legitimately chilly days.  

[TT-SEA]

1 minute ago, Phil said:

Looks like more of the same out here. Running out of time to see any legitimately chilly days.  

Devil is in the details of course.   There will be some nice days and it likely will be warmer than it has been relative to normal. 

[FroYoBro]

It’s snowing! April miracle!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Pretty impressive for April. 

[Ken in Wood Village]

I'm having a rain/snow mix here. If the precipitation was a little harder, it probably be all snow.

[Ken in Wood Village]

There is a heavy band of moisture coming down close to the Seattle area. Someone's going to get lucky

[Phil]

By far the most disappointing winter I can remember. Seasonal total stands at 0.5”. Lmao. Only comparable winters are 2011/12 and 2012/13, and those were light years better than 2022/23. If we don’t flip to El Niño another turdfest is quite likely as well, statistically.

I would mention 1997/98, which might have been slightly worse in the snowfall department, but there were some massive storms that winter, one of which ripped off our antenna and stripped the shingles from much of the roof. It was fun. This winter was a snoozer outside one arctic front in December.

And before you ask, yes, I was 5 years old in 1997/98 and already fascinated by the weather. It probably started as soon as I could walk/talk. Maybe before that.

[bainbridgekid]

1 minute ago, Ken in Wood Village said:

There is a heavy band of moisture coming down close to the Seattle area. Someone's going to get lucky

Almost looks like an arctic front. Cool little feature.

[Phil]

17 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Devil is in the details of course.   There will be some nice days and it likely will be warmer than it has been relative to normal. 

Could be. The skipped dateline MJO circuit is something I didn’t expect tbh, and throws a wrinkle into my expectations both re: the subseasonal pattern evolution, and the idea of a quick transition into El Niño.

+ENSO/El Niño still favored, but it might not be a high amplitude event.

Edit: I know kind of a tangent relative to your post but related indirectly.

[TacomaWx]

Was briefly almost all snow in Kent a bit ago but no precipitation right now. This spring has been a chunky rain/snow mix machine. 

[TacomaWx]

9 minutes ago, bainbridgekid said:

Almost looks like an arctic front. Cool little feature.

Will probably be some wet snow mixed in if it makes it down the sound before 10am or so. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Picked up another 1/2” with that band. 3” on the day, 6.4” on the month. Already 2nd snowiest April… lol. Defrosting the car is not my favorite part of the morning. 

[Dave]

Got a minor dusting of snow, and I missed it, dangit. I'm usually one with the snow. This is the first time I've ever observed sticking snow in April on the valley floor. In 2008 I got 2 inches but I was at 750'.

[MossMan]

The moisture avoided MBY like the plague yesterday afternoon and evening so no accumulating snow for me. It stayed just east and south. Smokey Point and Marysville got lots more hail yesterday afternoon which looked fun. Also I saw a friend post from the Tri Cities that they got a few inches overnight. Oh well, was interesting to wake up and have it cloudy but only 33 degrees in April! Looking at the radar I am getting missed once again with the moisture staying just to my west this time. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by MossMan

[TT-SEA]

4 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Picked up another 1/2” with that band. 3” on the day, 6.4” on the month. Already 2nd snowiest April… lol. Defrosting the car is not my favorite part of the morning. 

Your trees look about like ours do here this morning with just a coating.    But our car in the driveway has way less snow.   In fact the hood was bare despite not being moved for 3 days.   You must have had some wind overnight to clear the trees.

[TT-SEA]

Just measured before the melting starts... just over an inch on the grass and deck.  But our road was wet and bare even before dawn so no school issues.   Trees are starting to shed the snow now... seeing lots of movement looking out as snow the snow starts to fall off. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, TT-SEA said:

Just measured before the melting starts... just over an inch on the grass and deck.  But our road was wet and bare even before dawn so no school issues.   Trees are starting to shed the snow now... seeing lots of movement looking out as snow the snow starts to fall off. 

Our road was predictably snow covered. Main highway had some snow on it too. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

14 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Your trees look about like ours do here this morning with just a coating.    But our car in the driveway has way less snow.   In fact the hood was bare despite not being moved for 3 days.   You must have had some wind overnight to clear the trees.

It was pretty breezy at times when the showers would come through. 

[MossMan]

Been quite the stretch! Too bad this didn’t happen in January. 

[Winterdog]

1 hour ago, MossMan said:

Oh well, was interesting to wake up and have it cloudy but only 33 degrees in April! Looking at the radar I am getting missed once again with the moisture staying just to my west this time. 

Same story here.  It did snow for a couple hours straight last evening but didn't stick at all.  I'll call it a trace for my records.  Had a low of 32F, currently 36F.

[The Blob]

We had a snow shower go through around 8:30. The kids enjoyed it as we were walking to school.

[Phishy Wx]

1/4 - 1/2" on the grass when I woke up.  pretty much gone

[Cold Snap]

Some pics from this lovely wintery April morning!

[bainbridgekid]

35 degrees and snowing here. No mix, all snow and there’s still solid hail cover from yesterday. Very wintry out.

[MossMan]

I had snow falling on this date 3 years ago! The flakes are still avoiding me as Lynnwood is currently seeing some falling snow. I ran the work van down to Arlington to fill up and there was snow/hail in the median between Stanwood and Arlington along I-5 I’m assuming from last evening. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Decently wet run, but not as wet as some of the runs from yesterday.

Oh, and my daughters school ended up getting canceled. #18

[RentonHill]

Snowing downtown