January 2024 Weather in the PNW (Part II)

[Poulsbo Snowman]

2 minutes ago, KingstonWX said:

I heard from two people, one back behind Vineland and another up around the bridge, who both told me it was dumping at various times in the last hour. Not saying they got inches on the ground or anything, just that they said it was snowing hard. 

That's cool.  Bainbridge is getting sticking snow.  We're in the snow hole.

[RentonHill]

Snowed all the way home from south lake union to Renton 

[Chewbacca Defense]

Hospital up here has been running on generator power  for the past hour.  Looks like 6,000 customers are without power up here.

[SimplySmoothWX]

23 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

Arctic air has arrived in Orygun.

https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries?site=KHRI

a 10 degree drop in an hour is crazy. The strength of this arctic air is no joke

[ShawniganLake]

Heavy snow squall setting up north of here. Between Duncan and Nanaimo is just getting nuked right now. 
 

 

[KingstonWX]

2 minutes ago, Poulsbo Snowman said:

That's cool.  Bainbridge is getting sticking snow.  We're in the snow hole.

Not the first time, won't be the last lol

[BLI snowman]

The significant ice totals showing up on the Oregon Coast are pretty insane. 

@Deweydog can probably tell me a bit better but I'm struggling to think of many events that produced serious ZR out there.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

18 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

NWS says it gets down to 22 here tonight, I don't think so....

It will, temps are crashing, already 25 here.

[Doinko]

21 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Sleetapolooza. 

Don't love the trend on all models for a sharper mid level warm layer around midday Saturday. Hope is that they're eroding the cold aloft a little too aggressively. Would be great to not waste too much precious QPF on those lame little ice balls. 

Hopefully we can avoid the sleet. In 2021 our snow total was eaten up a bit by sleet, being right on the border

[Mid Valley Duck]

34 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

OMG if that really happens.  I would much rather be dry than have that.  MUCH RATHER.

I don’t think 5” of sleet accumulation is even possible. That map is crazy

[GHweatherChris]

1 minute ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

It will, temps are crashing, already 25 here.

I guess since snow is out of the question I was hoping for a flash freeze, instead it will just be a typical night of low 20's eventually, already had a couple of those this winter without arctic influence.

[bainbridgekid]

1 minute ago, Mid Valley Duck said:

I don’t think 5” of sleet accumulation is even possible. That map is crazy

I was in Chicago a few years ago when they got 5” of sleet. Shoveling it was an absolute nightmare. Unbelievable how dense it was. 

[Weiner Warrior]

[Rubus Leucodermis]

19 minutes ago, RCola said:

Is there any other kind?  

Yes: main event snow. Consolation snow is a term I coined today for a minor snowfall that ensures one is not skunked on snow during a cold snap.

[jcmcgaffey]

15 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Yeah... radar does not tell the whole story for sure.     Some places over-achieving based on radar and some the opposite.   No idea why.

Ya have been in the heart of it just north of seattle but have only been getting light flakes. Much less than downtown. 

[Deweydog]

2 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

The significant ice totals showing up on the Oregon Coast are pretty insane. 

@Deweydog can probably tell me a bit better but I'm struggling to think of many events that produced serious ZR out there.

February 2021 was a baddy out there. We went down to the coast on Valentine’s Day and the tree damage was pretty extensive, especially on Highway 30 just east of Astoria. January 2004 had a fair amount as well but the big Kahuna was the November 1985 transition event. 

[Blizzard777]

4Runner now seems curious looking around  30*

lol…..slowly turning white. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, bainbridgekid said:

I was in Chicago a few years ago when they got 5” of sleet. Shoveling it was an absolute nightmare. Unbelievable how dense it was. 

Yeah we got 4-5” of sleet once when I lived in Oklahoma. It took weeks to melt. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Just now, bainbridgekid said:

I was in Chicago a few years ago when they got 5” of sleet. Shoveling it was an absolute nightmare. Unbelievable how dense it was. 

I got at least that much sleet in 2004 in Portland. I was living right at the base of the West Hills in Goose Hollow. My theory is that the hills were lifting the gorge outflow and creating a thicker layer of cold air there, thick enough to freeze the raindrops before they hit the surface. I was getting sleet for hours and hours when all around me stations were reporting freezing rain.

[Doinko]

GEM really targets SW WA because of sleet in Portland, hopefully the sleet doesn't happen

[Slushy Inch]

2 minutes ago, Weiner Warrior said:

Stronger and farther north 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Big sleet events seem pretty uncommon in the PNW but so are these kinds of events. We had about an inch of sleet on 12/20/08. 
When recording for posterity is it okay to record sleet with snow totals?

[Frontal Snowsquall]

39 minutes ago, Doinko said:

Ah the picture hadn't updated, yeah definetely not as great for Portland. Still good though

It shows .92” of precipitation for PDX during the time it will be cold enough for wintry precipitation which is encouraging. It’s showing 0.2” ice which is freezing rain. It probably has sleet in there too that isn’t being shown. Reason only 5.7” snow if it’s using the 10:1 ratio.

[Ken in Wood Village]

2 minutes ago, Weiner Warrior said:

I don't think the model knows how thick the cold air will be. Remember, the East Winds will be screaming through the Gorge. Models are showing gusts up to 60 mph at Troutdale and probably up to 100+ at Crown Point. 

[Kayla]

Just now, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Big sleet events seem pretty uncommon in the PNW but so are these kinds of events. We had about an inch of sleet on 12/20/08. 
When recording for posterity is it okay to record sleet with snow totals?

The NWS does.

[BLI snowman]

2 minutes ago, Doinko said:

Hopefully we can avoid the sleet. In 2021 our snow total was eaten up a bit by sleet, being right on the border

We had a lot of back and forth initially with that before the column settled back down and cooled under the heavier banding that night of the 12th.

I'd hope the whole column would be able to wet bulb back below freezing pretty quickly this time too, given how deep the low level airmass is, but some sleet may be unavoidable.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

18 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Is that real thing or just joking?  

I was getting it with clouds to my east earlier this afternoon. Outflow was blowing snowflakes for several miles, giving me blue sky flurries.

[Doinko]

1 minute ago, Frontal Snowsquall said:

It shows .92” of precipitation for PDX during the time it will be cold enough for wintry precipitation which is encouraging. It’s showing 0.2” ice which is freezing rain. It probably has sleet in there too that isn’t being shown. Reason only 5.7” snow if it’s using the 10:1 ratio.

Yeah the GRAF, ICON, GFS and GEM all show around an inch of precip for PDX. Hopefully we can stay snow throughout

[Deweydog]

The plot thickens!!!!

[DeepFriedEgg]

Models are still in flux. GEM went from a 999mb low to a 989mb. Ridiculous. Three global models targeting SW WA while mesoscale stay essentially dry for PDX. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

FWIW I have found the GEM to be over aggressive with WAA and stingy with snow, not as much as the icon, but much more than most other models. Id imagine a lot of that sleet at least over PDX would actually be snow. 

[Slushy Inch]

I’ve had light snow for hours and it’s not adding up quickly. What the hell Sean?

[Phil]

41 minutes ago, HotMessyBieber said:

Lurker from Ridgefield who finally made an account. Hope this turns out alright for us!

Welcome!

29 minutes ago, MossMan said:

A chilly evening to be powerless. 

Do you basically live without electricity these days?

6 minutes ago, bainbridgekid said:

I was in Chicago a few years ago when they got 5” of sleet. Shoveling it was an absolute nightmare. Unbelievable how dense it was. 

And if sticks around soooo much longer than snow. We had a crazy sleet storm Valentine’s Day 2007, was supposed to be ZR but cold layer was deeper than expected and result was a 6” glacier that stuck around into early April. You could walk on it without falling through.

[RCola]

8 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Yes: main event snow. Consolation snow is a term I coined today for a minor snowfall that ensures one is not skunked on snow during a cold snap.

I know. But in these parts, consolation snow is the rule, not the exception.

[LowerGarfield]

F

As of an hour ago we had 3 2.8 inches of snow. Took son on a ten minute walk to the golf course and had him slide down the hill a few times. *corrected the amount*

[GHweatherChris]

My money is on a decent deformation band up this way on Saturday, early in the progression on the GEM and GFS there is alot of northern precip shown over the ocean, I am an amateur and don't know what I am saying but decent chance is there.

[MikeInEverett]

Officially ended up with just a dusting here in DT Everett. Drive about 5 minutes south and there’s about a half an inch and everything looks beautiful. 

I just have to remember this is my fault that I bought this place without taking snow into consideration. This is a mistake I will not make again in my lifetime Already told my wife certain requirements for our next place (East of Highway 9 / I-405 and above 500’.)

[DeepFriedEgg]

I have a feeling something funky is going on. Models are really struggling with the interaction of arctic air with this moisture and the strength of the low. Kinda feels like anyone from Salem to Olympia is in play for a snowstorm. South of Salem seems like ZR mostly.

[Weiner Warrior]

[Deweydog]

3/-14 at Oroville.