PNW April 2023 Weather Discussion

[Skagit Weather]

2 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Willamette Basin snow pack is still 232% of normal to date. Looks like it is tied with 1985 for 4th highest snow pack for the date, behind 1999, 2008, and 1982. 

Looks like this was the 3rd best snowpack in the Willamette Basin this century behind 2008 and 2002. 

Shockingly, some of the stations up here are only in the 20th percentile (with 40 years of data). Rainy Pass which is at 5,000' on the North Cascades Highway and exactly on the crest (although significantly shadowed) is not much better than 2015 (this year is the black line while the green line below it is 2015). The only worse years at this point in the season (since 1983) were 1993, 1994, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2019. For whatever reason it's been a pretty bad snow year for stations in a specific region of the North Cascades. Overall the stations up here are about 93% of average which corresponds to the 20-50th percentile based on the station.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 hour ago, hawkstwelve said:

I'm messing around with some things to try and get them back to a more normal feel/layout after the hack. Will try to test most changes on the non-production side but ya'll might still see some fluctuations for a little bit longer. 

Also, please shoot me a DM if you find any piece of the site that looks funky theme-wise over the next couple days so I can fix it. 

Roboto would be another font to consider for body text. It is the default system font on Android devices, and Google has made it freely available. That said, there is nothing wrong with the current font, Inter (and it is a little more distinctive than Roboto).

[lowlandsnow]

1 hour ago, Skagit Weather said:

Shockingly, some of the stations up here are only in the 20th percentile (with 40 years of data). Rainy Pass which is at 5,000' on the North Cascades Highway and exactly on the crest (although significantly shadowed) is not much better than 2015 (this year is the black line while the green line below it is 2015). The only worse years at this point in the season (since 1983) were 1993, 1994, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2019. For whatever reason it's been a pretty bad snow year for stations in a specific region of the North Cascades. Overall the stations up here are about 93% of average which corresponds to the 20-50th percentile based on the station.

It seems lower elevation stations have fared better this year due to the cold winter. For example, Swamp Creek less than 10 miles from Rainy pass is above the 1991-2020 median.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

8 hours ago, Front Ranger said:

Been in Jackson Hole, WY the last few days. Visited Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, both of which I'd been to many years ago but never in the spring. 

Beautiful snaps. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

CanSIPS for JJA. We can dream.

[Skagit Weather]

7 hours ago, lowlandsnow said:

It seems lower elevation stations have fared better this year due to the cold winter. For example, Swamp Creek less than 10 miles from Rainy pass is above the 1991-2020 median.

Yeah, it's interesting because there doesn't seem to be one variable that determines whether the stations are above or below the average. Hart's Pass at 6,500' is above the median in the 62nd percentile while to the south Lyman Lake at 6,000' is in the 22nd percentile. Beaver Pass at 3,600' is in the 29th percentile while Well's Creek at 4,000' is in the 52nd percentile. Basically it seems like the snowfall has been less evenly distributed up here than in a normal year and no station has done particularly terrible or particularly great.

You also have to remember that some of these stations have much shorter periods of record than others. Swamp Creek only has 20 years of data (despite them calling it the 1990-2020 median) while Rainy Pass has 40 years of Data. My favorite station to look at is Easy Pass at 5,270' because it has the highest average Snow Water Equivalent in the country at over 100" which peaks right at the end of April. That means on average it has 200-220" of snow at the peak which is about 25% more than Mt. Baker Ski Area or Paradise. Unfortunately it only has a 14 year period of record.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just now, Skagit Weather said:

Yeah, it's interesting because there doesn't seem to be one variable that determines whether the stations are above or below the average. Hart's Pass at 6,500' is above the median in the 62nd percentile while to the south Lyman Lake at 6,000' is in the 22nd percentile. Beaver Pass at 3,600' is in the 29th percentile while Well's Creek at 4,000' is in the 52nd percentile. Basically it seems like the snowfall has been less evenly distributed up here than in a normal year and no station has done particularly terrible or particularly great.

You also have to remember that some of these stations have much shorter periods of record than others. Swamp Creek only has 20 years of data (despite them calling it the 1990-2020 median) while Rainy Pass has 40 years of Data. My favorite station to look at is Easy Pass at 5,270' because it has the highest average Snow Water Equivalent in the country at over 100" which peaks right at the end of April. That means on average it has 200-220" of snow at the peak which is about 25% more than Mt. Baker Ski Area or Paradise. Unfortunately it only has a 14 year period of record.

I've noticed the lower elevation stations are doing better too down here. 

[Anti Marine Layer]

It's Mayuary 

[Anti Marine Layer]

9 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

CanSIPS for JJA. We can dream.

What about May?

[iFred]

8 hours ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Roboto would be another font to consider for body text. It is the default system font on Android devices, and Google has made it freely available. That said, there is nothing wrong with the current font, Inter (and it is a little more distinctive than Roboto).

We're switching everything to a neon green Consolas.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 minute ago, iFred said:

We're switching everything to a neon green Consolas.

On a bright yellow background, I hope!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Hit a low of 40 this morning as skies briefly cleared. Cloudy again. Should be a pleasant and mostly dry day. 

[Anti Marine Layer]

Welcome to May

 

 

[Phil]

1 hour ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

CanSIPS for JJA. We can dream.

Interesting it projects May/June as the warm months & Jul-Oct as cooler/more troughy. Has been the other way around in recent years.

[Phil]

Followed by a major league -EPO in November, and subsequently 1997/98 caliber firehose aimed at CA in December.

And of course, a warm January.  

[Phil]

This last week has been a #blessing.

Trees finally look healthy.  

[Phil]

9 hours ago, Front Ranger said:

Been in Jackson Hole, WY the last few days. Visited Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, both of which I'd been to many years ago but never in the spring. 

That is magnificent! 

[iFred]

Uh…

[lowlandsnow]

9 hours ago, Skagit Weather said:

Yeah, it's interesting because there doesn't seem to be one variable that determines whether the stations are above or below the average. Hart's Pass at 6,500' is above the median in the 62nd percentile while to the south Lyman Lake at 6,000' is in the 22nd percentile. Beaver Pass at 3,600' is in the 29th percentile while Well's Creek at 4,000' is in the 52nd percentile. Basically it seems like the snowfall has been less evenly distributed up here than in a normal year and no station has done particularly terrible or particularly great.

You also have to remember that some of these stations have much shorter periods of record than others. Swamp Creek only has 20 years of data (despite them calling it the 1990-2020 median) while Rainy Pass has 40 years of Data. My favorite station to look at is Easy Pass at 5,270' because it has the highest average Snow Water Equivalent in the country at over 100" which peaks right at the end of April. That means on average it has 200-220" of snow at the peak which is about 25% more than Mt. Baker Ski Area or Paradise. Unfortunately it only has a 14 year period of record.

Even in a bad snow year for Easy Pass like this year it is still has the third highest swe in the country besides Swift Creek by Mount St Helens (4,400ft) and a station at over 9k ft in the Sierra.

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