December 2023 Weather in the PNW

[snow_wizard]

Some pretty jaw dropping blocking slated over the NE Atlantic on the GFS which drops a load of cold air into Europe..

[Phishy Wx]

wow, blow up a fuel tank of some sort

 

 

 

[snow_wizard]

Wow!

Talk about all or nothing this season as far as precip is concerned.

[Phil]

9 minutes ago, Gradient Keeper said:

Hendersonvillle and Gallatin, TN were both under a tornado emergency with a catastrophic damage tag. Not good. These aren't tiny towns either with over 60,000 and 30,000 population respectively. Terrible situation.

December has been brutal for that area lately. Seems to be a tornado outbreak every other year now.

[Phil]

5 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

wow, blow up a fuel tank of some sort

 

 

 

Seems like that blast of hot air gave the tornado a boost. Condensation funnel was definitely wider once it reformed.

[TT-SEA]

10 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Wow!

Talk about all or nothing this season as far as precip is concerned.

That's the way to do it!  

[snow_wizard]

2 hours ago, Gradient Keeper said:

That's just simply too many people in my opinion.

I went there sometime in the 80s around Christmas time and there might have bee 20% that many people.  That was really nice.

[MossMan]

Up to .62” on the day, 4.00” for the month. 
37.2 degrees. 

[snow_wizard]

1 hour ago, Phil said:

Might be headed for CA.  The models are really wanting to shove everything south after tomorrow.  I think that 500mb ensemble mean is already out of date as the models have moved on to a different idea for the NW.  We might get some fake cold.  Way better than warm rain.

[TT-SEA]

31 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Some pretty jaw dropping blocking slated over the NE Atlantic on the GFS which drops a load of cold air into Europe..

I assume the GFS is the same GFS all around the world and is way too aggressive with cold.    EPS is not nearly as impressive at the same time. 

[SnowWillarrive]

33 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Some pretty jaw dropping blocking slated over the NE Atlantic on the GFS which drops a load of cold air into Europe..

Hope we get our chance in a few weeks. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

What now I'm having freezing drizzle? Very light mix and back down to 32.2 from 33

 Crazy day of weather. The cold air is really trapped good.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 hour ago, Cold Snap said:

This has been a pretty decent rain event so far with more to come. Up to 0.35” out of this event so far.

0.83" on the day here. 35.8˚F.

7.06" for the month so far.

[The Cats Meow]

Had a little lumpy rain today out on the South Hill of Puyallup.

That camera from Leavenworth magical. Probably not an easy drive to get there from the west side though.

[TigerWoodsLibido]

45F with some light rain.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Light rain,  both weather station say 32.0 dewpoint 31. Wasn't expecting this,  there is a light ice coat on shitt already

Edited December 10, 2023 by MR.SNOWMIZER

[KingstonWX]

2 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Light rain,  both weather station say 32.0 dewpoint 31. Wasn't expecting this,  there is a light ice coat on shitt already

Isn't that pretty common for you guys out there in these fringe events? I know it is for Hoodsport, Shelton, etc. so I just figured same applied to West Kitsap. 

[Mercurial]

Way BN snowpack here but still wintry enough...

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

17 minutes ago, KingstonWX said:

Isn't that pretty common for you guys out there in these fringe events? I know it is for Hoodsport, Shelton, etc. so I just figured same applied to West Kitsap. 

Freezing rain, no. 

[Phishy Wx]

snow on the doorstep on radar, shouldn't be long now

[Phishy Wx]

 

 

[MossMan]

Looks amazing in Leavenworth! But quite busy, I would actually put up with the crowds right now though for all that white. 

[Meatyorologist]

7 hours ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

34.9 all snow. WOW

That first hit of awe as it switches over never gets old

[MWG]

For the first time we went and cut our Christmas Tree around Applegate. We went to get a new stand for the tree and those things cost more than the actual tree. Permission with service fee was $7.50 the stands starting at $40 . My husband was like yeah we are DIY the stand 

[TacomaWx]

0.70” so far this evening and 6.43” MTD. Pretty wet start to the month. 39/33 temp spread so far today still only 38. Will probably jump into the 40s before midnight unfortunately. 

[AbbyJr]

12 hours ago, Phil said:

To be fair it was the first niño since the 19th century to go nuts in February. I certainly didn’t have that on my calendar.

Of course that was barely a niño so I should’ve been open to the possibility given the prolific SSW. As you said, hindsight is 20-19.

1965/66 was a strong El Niño and there was a major SSW in December. That winter was really good up here in the Fraser Valley. Decent cold snap with lots of low elevation snow in December. Another reload of arctic air in early January with more snow.

Do you think the SSW was a big aid in saving that winter from a El Niño dud in the PNW?

[Tanis Leach]

8 minutes ago, AbbyJr said:

1965/66 was a strong El Niño and there was a major SSW in December. That winter was really good up here in the Fraser Valley. Decent cold snap with lots of low elevation snow in December. Another reload of arctic air in early January with more snow.

Do you think the SSW was a big aid in saving that winter from a El Niño dud in the PNW?

The SSW saved it, but Portland it was still a dud as we had a whopping 0.6 inches of snow, all in March. Eugene performed decently. 

[LowerGarfield]

1 hour ago, MWG said:

For the first time we went and cut our Christmas Tree around Applegate. We went to get a new stand for the tree and those things cost more than the actual tree. Permission with service fee was $7.50 the stands starting at $40 . My husband was like yeah we are DIY the stand 

Those are some fantastic photos! What is Frosty the snowman's name?

[Cascadia_Wx]

No snow or even snow mixed in here, but a solidly chilly 42/32 spread here today. Slowly bringing this month down from face-meltingly record warm levels.

Was dryish most of the daylight hours, rain really picked up in earnest around 3pm. Currently 39 with light rain.

[ShawniganLake]

15 minutes ago, AbbyJr said:

1965/66 was a strong El Niño and there was a major SSW in December. That winter was really good up here in the Fraser Valley. Decent cold snap with lots of low elevation snow in December. Another reload of arctic air in early January with more snow.

Do you think the SSW was a big aid in saving that winter from a El Niño dud in the PNW?

Late December and early January was a historic stretch of snowy weather across southern Vancouver Island.  Shawnigan Lake had over 60” between December 26th and January 5th.  

[MWG]

3 minutes ago, LowerGarfield said:

Those are some fantastic photos! What is Frosty the snowman's name?

Thank you! His name is Odin  

[ShawniganLake]

1.36” of rain and mixed precip today.  It’s been in the mid 30s since late morning.  Cold and wet!

[Gradient Keeper]

Here we go! Let's get it! Let's goooooooo! TIME FOR THE MODEL RUN THAT SAVED THE 2023-2024 WINTER!

00z GFS Day 1 (4-run trend)

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 2 (4-run trend)

[GobBluth]

Warm frontal moisture definitely not as hyped thus far thru Portland.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 3 (4-run trend)

[Gradient Keeper]

6 minutes ago, GobBluth said:

Warm frontal moisture definitely not as hyped thus far thru Portland.

Yeah, if the rainfall rates don't increase overnight this atmospheric river will be a dud. Perhaps some indication of it becoming steadier.

 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Up to 0.97" on the day. 38.3˚F,

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 4 (4-run trend)

[Gradient Keeper]

Rainfall totals ending 10 PM Sunday.