August 2023 Weather in the PNW

[TigerWoodsLibido]

 

 

 

[Dave]

Just now, MossMan said:

A warm 72 degree breeze blowing at nearly 10:30 at night. 

That sounds fcucking perfect as long as there is no smoke involved.

[MossMan]

4 minutes ago, Dave said:

That sounds fcucking perfect as long as there is no smoke involved.

No smoke at the moment, reminds me of an Eastern Washington kind of evening! 

[Timmy Supercell]

42 minutes ago, Dave said:

88 degrees at 9:45. Phil weather here. Crickets are chirping like crazy, but our cicadas seem to shut off at dusk, unlike the ones on the east coast. No frogs. I think they may have dried up.

Cicadas shut off right after sunset here too, it's the katydids and crickets that last all night.

Speaking of, hearing fewer katydids now compared to mid July. 

[TT-SEA]

Officially 89 at SEA today... but was still 81 at 10 p.m.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 hour ago, Omegaraptor said:

Arctic outbreaks: One thing goes wrong and the entire event ends up being a dud

Windstorms: One thing goes wrong and the entire event ends up being a dud

Thunderstorms/convection: One thing goes wrong and the entire event ends up being a dud

Heat waves: MJO is somewhere near the right place, lol lmao have fun roasting

Heat waves bust all the time in the models.

It’s just that nobody roots for them here like most do for arctic blasts, so it doesn’t catch as much attention when they do.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Made it up to a toasty 87.0˚F here today.

YVR airport didn’t even crack the 80 mark. It’s gotta be the least representative official weather station representing a major metro area in North America. I know they need a weather station there for aviation safety, but it would be really nice if they could put one at say Vancouver City Hall to be more representative of what the vast majority experiences.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

100.2˚F in Hope and 103.6˚F in Lytton today.

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

18 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Officially 89 at SEA today... but was still 81 at 10 p.m.

First time I can remember I had a higher temp at my house than Seattle recorded. 93.3 was our high. Highest this year. Tomorrow will probably hit 95

[Chewbacca Defense]

12 hours ago, Phil said:

The lady in the lounge next to us left her flip flops in the sun and they literally melted. Didn’t think that was possible.

I've blown out a flip flop.  It really sucked because I stepped on a pop top, cut my heel and had to cruise on back home.

[Chewbacca Defense]

7 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

I’ve been working outside since dawn. Best way to spend a hot day!

I don't know if I would go that far but yeah I've been working outside both days this weekend and it felt kinda good to get a good sweat going.  Topped out at 80 yesterday, and 86 today but I was working on the deck on the south side of the house, so I had the heat radiating off the deck and back wall compounding the heat of the direct sunlight.

I am happy to report that no footwear was thermally compromised during my activities either day though I did burn the sh*t out of my hand on a metal bracket I left sitting out in the sun.

Buyer for my car is picking it up in the morning,  looks like its going to become an Idaho car.  Now it's time to look for a replacement.  While I may be able to handle yard work in the heat, I am not looking forward to car shopping in this nonsense.

[Phil]

Still feels like 105°F at 2AM. That’s higher than the typical afternoon heat index back home. Thank god for AC.  

https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries?site=KSSI&hours=72

[Phil]

For once the Euro and GFS are in lockstep through D6. This time it’s the CMC that’s drunk on an island.

[GHweatherChris]

Today overachieved in many areas.

[NWbyNW]

Smoke will be moving into Western Washington and Oregon Monday according to models with some heavy concentrations around Portland.  The smoke is coming from fires in the Oregon Cascades for the Willamette Valley.  Smoke for the Puget Sound is coming from the Sourdough Fire in the Washington Cascade's.  Thankfully, by the 15th, onshore flow returns (despite the heatwave) and the smoke will be blown eastward. 

 

[Tanis Leach]

Newest Video: 

Technical Info:
An extra slide with the smoke satellite image didn't turn out so it got cut from the video. I am aware of the smoke however, and the certain models (primarily HRRR) bringing it to PDX metro. This is primarily supported in their 700mb winds being from the south, but I see model disagreement in this level (Euro/GFS is from the E, WRF/NAMNST from the SE) and a contradiction at the 850 mb, which is almost exclusively from the N. I see a problem with this, and as a result, I kept the line halfway between CVO and Lane County Line as a blend of models, with a lean towards the WRF (for winds its decent, temps its not as good). Also considering smoke flow with 850s before it rises to 700s. 

As for the other temps, dropped it more because I'm expecting 26.5 850s rather than the 26.8 I did before. 75 at night for PDX didn't change, and still firmly think that's happening. Downslope winds (though its not the optimal direction), and 26.5s would be 107 (margin of error 104-109).

[Tanis Leach]

2nd post: NWS Portland just updated PDX's forecasted low temp tonight and tomorrow, 75°F, tying the all time record warm low. 

[Skagit Weather]

10 hours ago, lowlandsnow said:

Just noticed that Seattle Boeing field did not set an all-time record during the June 2021 heatwave very surprising given that SeaTac only a few miles away set an all-time record by 5 degrees.

2009 was a bit warmer for some locations directly on the water. I topped out at 95.9F in June 2021 which was a few tenths of a degree cooler than July 2009. It really depended on where the marine air and the easterlies clashed. I remember SEA was just on the boundary of the 114+ temperatures and just couldn't quite make the flip so it "only" hit 108F.

Today I topped out just below 80F although I imagine I'll be in the low 80s the next couple days.

[Tanis Leach]

Last post tonight then I'm off to bed: KEZI's forecast tonight noted that it would've been hotter (109 instead of their 105 forecast) if the oceans were below average because that increases the winds. I've been taught that the ocean matters for onshore flow, but because they are expecting offshore flow, this strikes me as odd, and contradicting my education. Anyone have any evidence to support this? 

[TigerWoodsLibido]

1 hour ago, Tanis Leach said:

Newest Video: 

Technical Info:
An extra slide with the smoke satellite image didn't turn out so it got cut from the video. I am aware of the smoke however, and the certain models (primarily HRRR) bringing it to PDX metro. This is primarily supported in their 700mb winds being from the south, but I see model disagreement in this level (Euro/GFS is from the E, WRF/NAMNST from the SE) and a contradiction at the 850 mb, which is almost exclusively from the N. I see a problem with this, and as a result, I kept the line halfway between CVO and Lane County Line as a blend of models, with a lean towards the WRF (for winds its decent, temps its not as good). Also considering smoke flow with 850s before it rises to 700s. 

As for the other temps, dropped it more because I'm expecting 26.5 850s rather than the 26.8 I did before. 75 at night for PDX didn't change, and still firmly think that's happening. Downslope winds (though its not the optimal direction), and 26.5s would be 107 (margin of error 104-109).

So the south valley seeing southerly winds at some point I’m guessing Springfield will get them first then it’ll get to EUG a little while later then stall out along the northern Lane County border on a Veneta to Harrisburg to Sweet Home line. Like winter airmasses that’s usually how it goes.

[Tyler Mode]

8.14.23 525 AM

Lows 60s here in Battle Ground, but a couple miles NE and it's still 78 with a NE wind blowing.

Larch is 69, while Yacolt is 55 where cool air settles.  I see PDX briefly dipped to 69.

[Doinko]

3 minutes ago, Tyler Mode said:

8.14.23 525 AM

Lows 60s here in Battle Ground, but a couple miles NE and it's still 78 with a NE wind blowing.

Larch is 69, while Yacolt is 55 where cool air settles.  I see PDX briefly dipped to 69.

77 back at home and the low temp so far

[GobBluth]

65 in Beaverton. Cooler than I thought we'd get.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

66 at SLE. Rip McKenzie bridge. Guess the whole basin has to burn…

[TT-SEA]

00Z EPS for Seattle

[Cascadia_Wx]

Down to 64 this morning after hitting 99 yesterday. A little better overnight recovery than I expected. Calm winds and slightly longer nights helping. No doubt today should still be sufficiently hellish, though.

[Cascadia_Wx]

Massive tragedy to see yet another fire in the McKenzie valley. And this one is much closer to some of the finer old growth forests left up there. I never fathomed that Oregon would lose much of its remaining old growth forested valleys to wildfire in the last decade. I remember back in the 90s and 2000s when logging seemed like the main threat.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Cascadia_Wx

[SilverFallsAndrew]

18 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Massive tragedy to see yet another fire in the McKenzie valley. And this one is much closer to some of the finer old growth forests left up there. I never fathomed that Oregon would lose much of its remaining old growth forested valleys to wildfire in the last decade. I remember back in the 90s and 2000s when logging seemed like the main threat.

Yeah it’s sad, all that effort to save Opal

and French Creeks just to watch it burn. Nature is a cruel B.

[Jakewestsalem]

Can clearly see the smoke line looking south from Stayton this morning

[Jakewestsalem]

Looking east towards the foothills is not too bad

[Jakewestsalem]

Decoupled nicely in West Salem when the wind ceased overnight. Was 63f when I got up at 445am

[TT-SEA]

Early morning satellite shows smoke heading west down south and some smoke from the Sourdough fire in the north Cacades.   That fire was the source of the smoke that drifted through Seattle yesterday. 

[T-Town]

Smoke incoming this morning. 

[TT-SEA]

06Z GFS shows 58 at SEA one week from today.   

[TT-SEA]

And copious rain for western WA.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

5 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

And copious rain for western WA.

Like snow maps in the winter.

[TT-SEA]

Looks like SEA might have had a 70+ low.   Currently 71 there which appears to be the low temp so far. 

[Dave]

The NWS has us at 105 for today. I don't think we'll even hit 100. Too much smoke aloft blocking the sunlight.

[Omegaraptor]

Fun fact:

Corvallis has not seen 0.1” precip in one day since May 12

Corvallis has not seen 0.25” precip in one day since April 10

[Phishy Wx]

45 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Early morning satellite shows smoke heading west down south and some smoke from the Sourdough fire in the north Cacades.   That fire was the source of the smoke that drifted through Seattle yesterday. 

super hazy out this morning and was wondering the source.  looks like a new fire North of Spokane in that pic.  but that smoke looks to be going NE