January Weather In The PNW 2024 (Part III) - The Warming Shot

[bainbridgekid]

4 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Top tier.

 

Amazing that 4 of their top 10 snowstorms came in a 36 month span. Anyone who moved there in the late 60's and left in the early 70's would have a VERY different idea of Vancouver's climate.

[ArcticAirmassLover]

10 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

I'd like to know what changed to make the typical overrunning event so hard to get now? Freezing rain for years and years was not ever a issue in western Washington and now we get them a bunch.  It's ever gotten harder to get overrunning events out here.

We sure have been able to get arctic air and now I expect 1 every year!

The arctic blast that we had was a back door type. And from my understanding all the arctic airmasses of the recent years was also backdoor variety. I could be wrong but I believe that backdoor blasts has a less potent effect on the valleys of the western half of the states (with exception to the Columbia George where the cold air is actually amplified).

The arctic blasts of the late 2000's / 2010's came directly from the north along with Polar Lows from the northeast.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Reminds me of the beast 1996 was up there. The stories from Bellingham area are legendary. 

Today can’t hold a candle to 1996. That was basically in another league. Not only was there a 40+ cm (16+ inch) one day snowfall, it came in the midst of a run of snowy days. There were three or four feet of snow on the ground from Skagit Valley north (five feet on the ground in Victoria) when all was said and done.

[LowerGarfield]

9 minutes ago, Doinko said:

3KM NAM shows another ice storm for Portland with more cold air coming through the Gorge

I absolutely hate this. Also a friend of ours is picking someone up in Spokane, flying in from FL and driving in that ZR back here. during the ice. 

[T-Town]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Today can’t hold a candle to 1996. That was basically in another league. Not only was there a 40+ cm (16+ inch) one day snowfall, it came in the midst of a run of snowy days. There were three or four feet of snow on the ground from Skagit Valley north (five feet on the ground in Victoria) when all was said and done.

Did you live there at the time?  We were in Renton where we had snow then major ice storm then another big dump of snow before the AR that caused all the havoc. Still the most memorable weather event in my lifetime. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

7 minutes ago, Doinko said:

How did the Surrey/Delta area do?

The airport is one of the least snowy parts of the metro area so most places got more! Not a whole lot more, though, since totals were remarkably uniform across most of the region with this one. Most snow reports I have seen tend to be in the 30–35 cm (12–14 inch) range.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 minutes ago, T-Town said:

Did you live there at the time?  We were in Renton where we had snow then major ice storm then another big dump of snow before the AR that caused all the havoc. Still the most memorable weather event in my lifetime. 

I was living in Shoreline just north of Seattle then and had a peak snow depth of about 2 feet. Very little freezing rain fell north of the city.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

9 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Today can’t hold a candle to 1996. That was basically in another league. Not only was there a 40+ cm (16+ inch) one day snowfall, it came in the midst of a run of snowy days. There were three or four feet of snow on the ground from Skagit Valley north (five feet on the ground in Victoria) when all was said and done.

It was almost like storm king 1880 for snow amounts. Even down here around the canal there was 36 inches

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

8 minutes ago, LowerGarfield said:

I absolutely hate this. Also a friend of ours is picking someone up in Spokane, flying in from FL and driving in that ZR back here. during the ice. 

Can you show a zoom pic and a snowfall pic for Puget sound 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

I don't think Brian in Leavenworth got the big storm that was shown. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

It looks like the nam goes ape shitt with sleet snow and ice over here tomorrow.  Maybe if it was coming in at night but it's not going to be like that during the day, no way.

[Brian_in_Leavenworth]

1 minute ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

I don't think Brian in Leavenworth got the big storm that was shown. 

Got about 6 inches. A bit less than forecast.  Another case where the 1.33K UW MRF model got it right.  

Another 6-9 or more forecasted for Thursday afternoon and night.  

 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

1 minute ago, Brian_in_Leavenworth said:

Got about 6 inches. A bit less than forecast.  Another case where the 1.33K UW MRF model got it right.  

Another 6-9 or more forecasted for Thursday afternoon and night.  

 

I thought the 1.33 showed a foot for you yesterday?

[MossMan]

3 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

It looks like the nam goes ape shitt with sleet snow and ice over here tomorrow.  Maybe if it was coming in at night but it's not going to be like that during the day, no way.

The NAM show anything for my area tomorrow? 

[Brian_in_Leavenworth]

16 minutes ago, T-Town said:

Did you live there at the time?  We were in Renton where we had snow then major ice storm then another big dump of snow before the AR that caused all the havoc. Still the most memorable weather event in my lifetime. 

I lived in Bellingham.  Snow started on the 21st, so this was a relatively long event.  Skagit and North has a white Christmas.  I think Victoria, of all places, set a one day snowfall record for Canada, at least for cities.  Someone could win some money on Canadian bars with that trivia.  Victoria probably the laF big Canadian city anyone would expect to set that record 

Anyone Canadian correct me if I'm wrong.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

2 minutes ago, MossMan said:

The NAM show anything for my area tomorrow? 

Looks like it shows a couple 

[SnowySeeker50]

4pm tomorrow per the NAM

[Brian_in_Leavenworth]

1 minute ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

I thought the 1.33 showed a foot for you yesterday?

It was always less than what was forecasted, which is usually the opposite.  The one yesterday went through Thursday and includes snow that will fall tomorrow afternoon and evening.  But this event was modeled to be about 6-7 inches.  NWS had us about 10.  

[Winterdog]

3 hours ago, MossMan said:

Even though it was only 2” it was nice that today wasn’t a true overrunner…Trees are still flocked with flurries again instead of meltfest and slop 

I got 1/3” of meltfest slop.

[bainbridgekid]

48 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

I'd like to know what changed to make the typical overrunning event so hard to get now? Freezing rain for years and years was not ever a issue in western Washington and now we get them a bunch.  It's ever gotten harder to get overrunning events out here.

We sure have been able to get arctic air and now I expect 1 every year!

I think it's mainly been that by the time would be overrunning storms have moved in lately, the arctic air has often been very stale and only still here in the lowest levels. We've had some longer lasting cold spells because of it, but that's made overrunning snow harder to come by.

It's also that we remember every overrunning storm that DID happen and the times in the past when we didn't get overrunning snow get quickly forgotten which makes it seem like it used to happen every time.

[Tanis Leach]

1 hour ago, Doinko said:

If you go by max temps only, this was the coldest 4 day stretch for max temps at PDX in January aside from January 1950.

And the coldest 3 day stretch since January 1957

And Mark probably still won't count this as an arctic blast since it didn't hit -12C 850s.

[WhoNeedsAC]

25 minutes ago, T-Town said:

Did you live there at the time?  We were in Renton where we had snow then major ice storm then another big dump of snow before the AR that caused all the havoc. Still the most memorable weather event in my lifetime. 

It snowed pretty heavily in Portland, too, but what I remember is the flooding. I've lived 3 blocks from the Columbia River (not in the flood plain, fortunately) for 30 years and that was the highest water level I've ever seen.

[SnowWillarrive]

47 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

2019 was my favorite winter ever

February 2019 was amazing out here. Had about 36 inches of snow during that event out here. 

[Phishy Wx]

56 minutes ago, MossMan said:

What was the puget sounds most epic February in the last like 80 or so years? 

2024

[ShawniganLake]

55 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

I'd like to know what changed to make the typical overrunning event so hard to get now? Freezing rain for years and years was not ever a issue in western Washington and now we get them a bunch.  It's ever gotten harder to get overrunning events out here.

We sure have been able to get arctic air and now I expect 1 every year!

I don’t think anything has really changed that drastically.  Except we get arctic air less often than we used to so we get less kicks at the can so to speak.  I’m sure the Puget sound has had episodes of freezing rain all through their history.  

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

2 minutes ago, SnowWillarrive said:

February 2019 was amazing out here. Had about 36 inches of snow during that event out here. 

Same here. My total for that month was 44 I think.

[ShawniganLake]

7 minutes ago, bainbridgekid said:

I think it's mainly been that by the time would be overrunning storms have moved in lately, the arctic air has often been very stale and only still here in the lowest levels. We've had some longer lasting cold spells because of it, but that's made overrunning snow harder to come by.

It's also that we remember every overrunning storm that DID happen and the times in the past when we didn't get overrunning snow get quickly forgotten which makes it seem like it used to happen every time.

This.  100%. 

[ShawniganLake]

Weather summary
for British Columbia
issued by Environment Canada
at 4:50 p.m. PST Wednesday 17 January 2024.

Discussion.

A Pacific low pressure system brought snow to the South Coast from 
late Tuesday night through Wednesday. Some snowfall totals received 
by Environment and Climate Change Canada as of 4pm PST measured in 
centimetres are below: 

1. Mainland South Coast 

Vancouver Airport: 28 
Whiterock: 25 
RiceMill Road: 25 
West Vancouver: 22 
Bradner Road: 27 
Agassiz: 11 
Abbotsford Airport: 29 
Pitt Meadows: 26 
Hope: 14 
Powell River: 14 
Powell River Airport: 17 
Sechelt: 20 
Port Mellon: 26 
Squamish Airport: 6 
Brandywine: 6 
Whistler Nesters: 9 
Callaghan Valley: 7 
Pemberton: 3 

Weather Watchers Reports: 
North Vancouver: 28 
Burnaby: 30 
Richmond: 27 
Coquitlam: 18 
Port Coquitlam: 31 
Cloverdale: 32 
Chilliwack: 39 

2. Vancouver Island: 

Victoria Airport: 19 
Saanichton: 13 
Malahat: 16 
North Cowichan: 18 
Port Alberni Airport: 17 
Nanaimo Airport: 17 
Comox Airport: 9 
Campbell River Airport: 3 

Weather Watcher reports: 
Qualicum Beach: 21 
Comox: 13

 

[SouthHillFrosty]

56 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

2019 was my favorite winter ever

Hard to beat 2017 for the south sound. I had snow on the ground for like 8 days with low melting. School was cancelled for a straight week. 2019 was kinda a let down for my location after the first storm. 

Edited January 18 by SouthHillFrosty

[Deweydog]

If this cold snap taught me anything it’s that you don’t f*ck with Jennifer Jason Leigh.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

10 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

Weather summary
for British Columbia
issued by Environment Canada
at 4:50 p.m. PST Wednesday 17 January 2024.

Discussion.

A Pacific low pressure system brought snow to the South Coast from 
late Tuesday night through Wednesday. Some snowfall totals received 
by Environment and Climate Change Canada as of 4pm PST measured in 
centimetres are below: 

1. Mainland South Coast 

Vancouver Airport: 28 
Whiterock: 25 
RiceMill Road: 25 
West Vancouver: 22 
Bradner Road: 27 
Agassiz: 11 
Abbotsford Airport: 29 
Pitt Meadows: 26 
Hope: 14 
Powell River: 14 
Powell River Airport: 17 
Sechelt: 20 
Port Mellon: 26 
Squamish Airport: 6 
Brandywine: 6 
Whistler Nesters: 9 
Callaghan Valley: 7 
Pemberton: 3 

Weather Watchers Reports: 
North Vancouver: 28 
Burnaby: 30 
Richmond: 27 
Coquitlam: 18 
Port Coquitlam: 31 
Cloverdale: 32 
Chilliwack: 39 

2. Vancouver Island: 

Victoria Airport: 19 
Saanichton: 13 
Malahat: 16 
North Cowichan: 18 
Port Alberni Airport: 17 
Nanaimo Airport: 17 
Comox Airport: 9 
Campbell River Airport: 3 

Weather Watcher reports: 
Qualicum Beach: 21 
Comox: 13

 

That 18 cm in Coquitlam is suspect. Bet it’s an early report while the storm was still in progress. Several members of the Canadian forum live there and have reported storm totals in the low 30’s.

[T-Town]

8 minutes ago, SouthHillFrosty said:

Hard to beat 2017 for the south sound. I had snow on the ground for like 8 days with low melting. School was cancelled for a straight week. 2019 was kinda a let down for my location after the first storm. 

Hmmmm. We lived in Maple Valley in Feb 2017 and my only snow pics are from New Hampshire. Maybe it happened while I was traveling or maybe it was a non event in Maple Valley. 

 

 

[bainbridgekid]

You know a storm's bad when an NBA player has to miss a game because he's literally stuck in his home.

Wonder which neighborhood he lives in.

[RCola]

NAM doing NAM things? 32F freezing rain in Seattle will hopefully correlate to 35F rain. Not interested in an ice storm. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

11 minutes ago, SouthHillFrosty said:

Hard to beat 2017 for the south sound. I had snow on the ground for like 8 days with low melting. School was cancelled for a straight week. 2019 was kinda a let down for my location after the first storm. 

That’s the one thing that keeps this storm from achieving perfection. It’s coming at the end of a cold snap so it’s not going to last. Oh, to have had a storm like this last Thursday. Most of it would still be around!

[GHweatherChris]

Oh hey all, LAME!!

[BLI snowman]

10 minutes ago, bainbridgekid said:

You know a storm's bad when an NBA player has to miss again because he's literally stuck in his home.

Wonder which neighborhood he lives in.

West Hills most likely. He's from the Bahamas and played in Phoenix before this, so not a lot of experience with winter storms!

[BLI snowman]

6 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

That’s the one thing that keeps this storm from achieving perfection. It’s coming at the end of a cold snap so it’s not going to last. Oh, to have had a storm like this last Thursday. Most of it would still be around!

Would have been widespread -5 to -10F low temps up there if this had happened on the other end of this.

[MossMan]

Still snowing lightly. 

[Mercurial]

1 hour ago, Mercurial said:

Picked up 5" in the last 5 hours.... what a great storm!  13" total so far from this event.

Another 2-3 inches since this update.  Lol insane