August 2023 Weather in the PNW

[Poulsbo Snowman]

Kinda chilly:  https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries?site=CPLB7&hours=72

[The Blob]

Perfect weather!

[ShawniganLake]

5 hours ago, TT-SEA said:

Fire north of the border is exploding right now.    Smoke is heading to the NE though so not adding to the WA smoke misery yet.  

That’s the Crater Creek fire. South of Keremeos.  Probably pushing 100k acres now.  I think a small portion of it has crossed the border into the USA

[NWbyNW]

Major improvement in AQI for SW Oregon! Going green! Puget Sound is still good and moderate and Portland is also improving shifting from reds to yellows.  We aren't out of the woods yet, as conditions will be not so great tomorrow as well, but today it stayed good for much of the western halves of our states longer than anyone expected.  Unfortunately Eastern Washington and E Oregon are in some nasty circumstances with hazardous conditions in areas.

BC and NW Washington, mainly Whatcom County, will see conditions degrade overnight and into tomorrow.  Already conditions have gotten unhealthy and very unhealthy within the Vancouver Metro and parts of Vancouver Island.  Those levels of nastiness could reach the Seattle metro at times Sunday. The plumes from the hundreds of uncontrollable fires in BC are expected to explode throughout the night and part of the day tomorrow. 

[NWbyNW]

Before night fell on the Gray Fire in Spokane County, the devastation was significant to the souther portions of the city.  The fire remains at 0% contained as it continues to burn through the night with these brand new photos.  There is a 10% fire line so far. Medical Lake is still under evacuation orders.

Also in Spokane County and partially in Pend Oreille County is Oregon Road Fire which also have Level 3 evacuations in place for over 8,000 people in this rural part of the county. It has torched 8,000 acres so far.

Spokane County has declared a State of Emergency as these two major fires burn.  These fires might get a light hit of rain from Hurricane Hilary's aftermath in the coming days.

[iFred]

4 hours ago, MossMan said:

Fantastic…Most likely campers not being careful. 

Up to 55 acres

[ShawniganLake]

16 minutes ago, NWbyNW said:

Major improvement in AQI for SW Oregon! Going green! Puget Sound is still good and moderate and Portland is also improving shifting from reds to yellows.  We aren't out of the woods yet, as conditions will be not so great tomorrow as well, but today it stayed good for much of the western halves of our states longer than anyone expected.  Unfortunately Eastern Washington and E Oregon are in some nasty circumstances with hazardous conditions in areas.

BC and NW Washington, mainly Whatcom County, will see conditions degrade overnight and into tomorrow.  Already conditions have gotten unhealthy and very unhealthy within the Vancouver Metro and parts of Vancouver Island.  Those levels of nastiness could reach the Seattle metro at times Sunday. The plumes from the hundreds of uncontrollable fires in BC are expected to explode throughout the night and part of the day tomorrow. 

Lots of orange and red in my area on Vancouver Island.  AQI measured just down the street from here is 193.  Smells smoky but I can’t say it bothers my breathing at all.   

[NWbyNW]

1 hour ago, ShawniganLake said:

Lots of orange and red in my area on Vancouver Island.  AQI measured just down the street from here is 193.  Smells smoky but I can’t say it bothers my breathing at all.   

Stay safe out there.  Luckily conditions will improve after tomorrow.  We've been lucky and in the green all day, though it's shifted to moderate now.  I will be curious to see what its like tomorrow when we wake up. 

[Phil]

Man if it were affordable/possible, I’d totally drop out of society and live here as a beach bum. Ordinarily I’d hate this type of climate but the vibe of this place is so different.

1 week and it’s back to all work no play.  

[TT-SEA]

It is gross out there today... can't wait for Tuesday.  

[Chewbacca Defense]

51 this morning and smoke filled skies.  I can't smell any low level smoke IMBY yet.

Drove down to Marysville to check out a couple of cars yesterday, and I was surprised (not surprised) by the number of charred areas in the medians and on the shoulders along the freeway.

I *was* surprised by a rather large section along I-5, I think it was near Arlington, that got burned and got close to several businesses along the freeway.  I don't really watch the news so I have no idea when that happened, but looked like it could have gotten really ugly really fast. One of the businesses that caught my eye was a collision repair place, I'll bet that place would have gone off like a roman candle if the flames made it to that building.

[Chewbacca Defense]

3 minutes ago, Phil said:

Man if it were affordable/possible, I’d totally drop out of society and live here as a beach bum. Ordinarily I’d hate this type of climate but the vibe of this place is so different.

1 week and it’s back to all work no play.  

I had a buddy who was part of a group of 4-5 guys that fished Alaska 3-4 months a year then spent the remainder of the year surfing every day in Hawaii and living in a crash pad. 

You could do that...

[TT-SEA]

8 hours ago, SnarkyGoblin said:

lol.  As I said, head in sand.  You can't live without water.

Pretty sure Andrew's statement was intentionally hyperbolic (kinda his thing), but there's no question life is going to be more difficult for everyone due to the warming climate.  It already is for the folks who work outside in your yard during the summer months.

And I push back on silly hyperbole... while recognizing global warming is real.    California is flush with water again.  And the Seattle area has no water issues either.   You don't even know if global warming is actually drier overall... it could be wetter with more extremes.    CA is not unlivable... quite the opposite.   And WA/OR will not be unlivable either.   

Side note... literally no one works on my yard.  Its all us and we are out there even when its warm.  Are you pulling the class card again?   I do know lots of people work outside in the southern US and its not unlivable.   I am pretty sure even with a warming climate... 80s with low humidity most of the summer here will still be manageable to be outside.   Your argument is that the Seattle area weather will be too hard on landscapers and that is why it will be unlivable?     Got it.   Makes perfect sense.   

[TT-SEA]

Really bad today... and the smoke offshore will delay improvement tomorrow when the flow is more strongly onshore.

[TT-SEA]

Total rain through Wednesday afternoon per 06Z ECMWF.

[the_convergence_zone]

19 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Really bad today... and the smoke offshore will delay improvement tomorrow when the flow is more strongly onshore.

Any relief is going to be temporary since the low is going to pull a ton of smoke offshore over BC and wrap it around and back to us from the southwest. By next weekend I think the smoke will be everywhere and that situation is really hard to get out of. 

[TT-SEA]

Just now, the_convergence_zone said:

Any relief is going to be temporary since the low is going to pull a ton of smoke offshore over BC and wrap it around and back to us from the southwest. By next weekend I think the smoke will be everywhere and that situation is really hard to get out of. 

I am trying to not think about that yet and focusing on the relief that will clear this smoke out.   Also hoping the rain this week can knock down some of the fires east of the mountains and in BC and reduce the problem at the source.  

[MossMan]

51 minutes ago, Chewbacca Defense said:

51 this morning and smoke filled skies.  I can't smell any low level smoke IMBY yet.

Drove down to Marysville to check out a couple of cars yesterday, and I was surprised (not surprised) by the number of charred areas in the medians and on the shoulders along the freeway.

I *was* surprised by a rather large section along I-5, I think it was near Arlington, that got burned and got close to several businesses along the freeway.  I don't really watch the news so I have no idea when that happened, but looked like it could have gotten really ugly really fast. One of the businesses that caught my eye was a collision repair place, I'll bet that place would have gone off like a roman candle if the flames made it to that building.

Yep, happened a few weeks ago at Smokey Point. The business owners all had their hoses out doing what they could do save their businesses, between them and the firefighters they were able to save most of the structures, though I believe one outbuilding did burn. Everyone was in shock with how fast the flames moved. 

[MossMan]

Current view. Though only a very faint smell of smoke. Though my nose still has not recovered from last years COVID so who knows. 

[the_convergence_zone]

6 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

I am trying to not think about that yet and focusing on the relief that will clear this smoke out.   Also hoping the rain this week can knock down some of the fires east of the mountains and in BC and reduce the problem at the source.  

This gives me optimism — potentially multiple rain events in our near future. 

[Cloud]

Gross! 

[TT-SEA]

2 minutes ago, the_convergence_zone said:

This gives me optimism — potentially multiple rain events in our near future. 

Yes... and even more chances in southern BC.  

[Rubus Leucodermis]

17 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Yes... and even more chances in southern BC.  

Yay!

Currently 59.9˚F after an overnight low of 54.0˚F.

is staying overhead for the most part. It is now very thick and this morning is effectively overcast due to it. AQI at the surface is only moderate. It smelled worse of smoke at midnight than it does now.

[ShawniganLake]

12 hours ago, TT-SEA said:

Yeah... I wonder if it's still on the west side of the lake. 

It spotted across the lake in high winds.  Most of it is on the west side but about 2000 acres have burned on the east side along with numerous homes.  

[T-Town]

https://x.com/nwsseattle/status/1693252239681609973?s=46&t=A2KURVV14g2Dihdy2LQ7tQ

Tweets don’t seem to embed for me anymore for some reason. Anyway, that’s an nws smoke forecast for western wa. 

[ShawniganLake]

28F the last 2 mornings at Clinton BC.  We probably had frost at our Cabin at Watch Lake.  Fall is coming. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

12 minutes ago, T-Town said:

https://x.com/nwsseattle/status/1693252239681609973?s=46&t=A2KURVV14g2Dihdy2LQ7tQ

Tweets don’t seem to embed for me anymore for some reason. Anyway, that’s an nws smoke forecast for western wa. 

That accurately shows how the smoke just isn’t much reaching the surface in the City of Vancouver.

Much nicer to get passed over when it comes to surface smoke than it does for surface snow!

[Cloud]

7 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

28F the last 2 mornings at Clinton BC.  We probably had frost at our Cabin at Watch Lake.  Fall is coming. 

 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

12 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

That accurately shows how the smoke just isn’t much reaching the surface in the City of Vancouver.

Much nicer to get passed over when it comes to surface smoke than it does for surface snow!

Spoke too soon. Nasty stuff is starting to mix down.

[AlTahoe]

2 hours ago, Phil said:

Man if it were affordable/possible, I’d totally drop out of society and live here as a beach bum. Ordinarily I’d hate this type of climate but the vibe of this place is so different.

1 week and it’s back to all work no play.  

Where at? 

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

2 hours ago, Chewbacca Defense said:

51 this morning and smoke filled skies.  I can't smell any low level smoke IMBY yet.

Drove down to Marysville to check out a couple of cars yesterday, and I was surprised (not surprised) by the number of charred areas in the medians and on the shoulders along the freeway.

I *was* surprised by a rather large section along I-5, I think it was near Arlington, that got burned and got close to several businesses along the freeway.  I don't really watch the news so I have no idea when that happened, but looked like it could have gotten really ugly really fast. One of the businesses that caught my eye was a collision repair place, I'll bet that place would have gone off like a roman candle if the flames made it to that building.

I saw this last week, was thinking the same thing.

[Slushy Inch]

2 hours ago, TT-SEA said:

Total rain through Wednesday afternoon per 06Z ECMWF.

Would love it as thunderstorms.

[SnarkyGoblin]

Smoke now very apparent and smelly in Seattle proper.

I'm just glad this is only for a day or 2.  Nothing worse than having an overcast day in the PNW when there are no clouds.

[TT-SEA]

Just now, Slushy Inch said:

Would love it as thunderstorms.

Don't think its convective on this side... just a marine push with some low level precip.    And unfortunately thunderstorms are the last thing we need across the region right now.  

[TigerWoodsLibido]

Smoky as hell here and now all smoky inside the house. Just awful.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Noticed the forecast high for SLE is only mid 80s today. Just a few days ago they were calling for mid 90s. Could see a sub 80 high early this week…

[Slushy Inch]

4 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Don't think it’s convective on this side... just a marine push with some low level precip.    And unfortunately thunderstorms are the last thing we need across the region right now.  

I guess that wouldn’t help. Maybe convective later in the week. 

[LowerGarfield]

AQI 216 here. Only 64F at the Wuderground station a few blocks away. Cool morning but quite smokey. We were almost out of tissues so I was sent by my spouse and son to our corner grocery store on an errand.

[MossMan]

Currently 59 degrees. 
Some smoke muted sun hitting my dry woods. C’MON rain!! 

[Phishy Wx]

11 hours ago, Phil said:

Yep. Regardless of colorful maps, those SSTs off CA will always be ice cold. No warm core/tropical system can survive off that.

I bet you could get a Hurricane into CA or AZ if it went up the Gulf of California