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

[Phishy Wx]

wintry out.  16, WC 4, with blowing and drifting.

looks like another 2-4" tonight before the inevitable switch to sleet and then freezing rain tomorrow.  thaw starts on saturday.  gunna be a mess

[MikeInEverett]

It’s over. Raining at home now.

[Doinko]

Even with all this rain and temps around 35/36 degrees the snow is still hanging on pretty well. Roads are still covered in snow/slush and the grass and other surfaces are still fully covered

[Chewbacca Defense]

Just now, TT-SEA said:

So true!    Was going to do it back after the 2006 windstorm and then power issues became non-existent and still are except for ice storms.   But there is no way PSE can prevent issues with an ice storm.   We will probably revist it now just for peace of mind.   

If nothing else, I've got a little Honda generator and I have a way to connect it to my furnace so I at least have heat.  It's kinda jerry-rigged now but I am going to do a more permanent set up this summer.  We don't have any source of heat other than our gas furnace.  We've never lost power more than about 8 hours, and that was in the summer (so we plugged our frig into the generator that time).  I live a few hundred yards from a fire station, and I've often wondered if we get a higher priority of keeping the power on because they want to be sure they have power going to the station.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

5 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

So true!    Was going to do it back after the 2006 windstorm and then power issues became non-existent and still are except for ice storms.   But there is no way PSE can prevent issues with an ice storm.   We will probably revist it now just for peace of mind.   

If just want to run some lights and a computer look into a Jackery. 

[The Ms. Anthrop]

1 hour ago, LowerGarfield said:

d

Starting to get concerned about the ice tomorrow. Ice potential is going up and NWS Spokane is considering issuing an ice storm warning. A friend is driving to Spokane and back tomorrow to pick up the Floridian. Spouse isn't concerned because they have studded tires. But that can't really help much with ice, right?

Studded tires make a huge difference, but people often drive with them like it utterly neutralizes the ice. LOL it does not, you can still skid and have a massive shunt. Go slow, leave waaaaaay too much room to react, and be hyper aware of all of the bozos who think that their lifted 4wd truck means 4-wheel stop. And don't be afraid to stop for breaks because that kind of alert driving can be really draining.  

 

Hovering at 36 degrees in S.Seattle/Renton. We are getting both ice pellets and slush, which I haven't seen at the same time before. The persistence of this cold is something else!

[Chewbacca Defense]

5 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

My generator runs pretty much my entire house and I got it for like $800 at Costco. It was about $1200 to get the switch put on the house. If you want to go full generac like many of my neighbors that’s more in the $20-30k range, but probably worth it if you can afford it. 

How big of a generator did you get for $800?

[DRG]

1 hour ago, LowerGarfield said:

Spouse isn't concerned because they have studded tires. But that can't really help much with ice, right?

 

Studded tires are the only reason I made it up the icy hill and home yesterday after driving back from Astoria.  They're also why I didn't end up sideways like this red car on my street too! 

 

 

[Phishy Wx]

studded tires destroy the roads but really the only way to drive on ice

[TT-SEA]

11 minutes ago, Chewbacca Defense said:

If nothing else, I've got a little Honda generator and I have a way to connect it to my furnace so I at least have heat.  It's kinda jerry-rigged now but I am going to do a more permanent set up this summer.  We don't have any source of heat other than our gas furnace.  We've never lost power more than about 8 hours, and that was in the summer (so we plugged our frig into the generator that time).  I live a few hundred yards from a fire station, and I've often wondered if we get a higher priority of keeping the power on because they want to be sure they have power going to the station.

We have 3 gas insert fireplaces in the house so we have some heat without power.  

[Front Ranger]

53 minutes ago, FroYoBro said:

The Portland area continues to cool slightly at the lower levels. Seems like pdx is struggling to get back down to freezing though which means most areas might just be slightly too warm for significant icing this afternoon. It is down to 34 here now though. 

The timing is ideal for staying above freezing as much as possible.

[Phishy Wx]

6 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

We have 3 gas insert fireplaces in the house so we have some heat without power.  

our gas insert is turned on by an electric wall switch.  i'm not sure how to light it otherwise, it's completely enclosed and glassed in.  more ambiance than heating but it does heat the living room well.  almost looks fake from a distance

[smerfylicious]

Juuuust a bit windy here in Blow Bar

 

[Front Ranger]

30 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

So true!    Was going to do it back after the 2006 windstorm and then power issues became non-existent and still are except for ice storms.   But there is no way PSE can prevent issues with an ice storm.   We will probably revist it now just for peace of mind.   

I thought your power lines were underground up there?

[Chewbacca Defense]

5 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

our gas insert is turned on by an electric wall switch.  i'm not sure how to light it otherwise, it's completely enclosed and glassed in.  more ambiance than heating but it does heat the living room well.  almost looks fake from a distance

We had that set up in our previous house, and it worked when the power went out.  Not sure how, but it did.

[Phishy Wx]

3 minutes ago, Chewbacca Defense said:

We had that set up in our previous house, and it worked when the power went out.  Not sure how, but it did.

cool, I haven't had the opportunity to try yet, fortunately 

[Norwood]

25 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

studded tires destroy the roads but really the only way to drive on ice

I keep mine on spare rims. Doesn't wreck the roads, and doesn't wear out the studs when you need 'em. Semi trucks on chains will ruin the freeway in three days though. There were massive holes after 2008 in I5. 

[ShawniganLake]

11 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

our gas insert is turned on by an electric wall switch.  i'm not sure how to light it otherwise, it's completely enclosed and glassed in.  more ambiance than heating but it does heat the living room well.  almost looks fake from a distance

Ours has a battery backup.  You don’t get the fan but lots of radiant heat. 

[MossMan]

Switchover to rain in progress at work 

[Requiem]

Lot of stations on the eastside of PDX in the 28-31 F range and copious precipitation moving in-- yikes 

[Phishy Wx]

1 minute ago, ShawniganLake said:

Ours has a battery backup.  You don’t get the fan but lots of radiant heat. 

hmmm, maybe I do too, lol need to investigate.  the brand is Heat and Glo

[Front Ranger]

Epic. Too bad it's looking like mother nature intends to do her best to wipe out our hard earned cold anomalies the last week of the month.

[the_convergence_zone]

The cold air is incredibly stubborn. I've been sitting between 35-37 in Seattle for over a day now. What a missed opportunity. 

[ShawniganLake]

2 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

hmmm, maybe I do too, lol need to investigate.  the brand is Heat and Glo

Might be able to look it up online.  Ours has a battery pack that takes 4 AA batteries.  

[Phishy Wx]

Meso's keeping trending snowier over here for tonight/tomorrow and a later switch over.  its frigid out right now.  might be on to something

[DeepFriedEgg]

Was looking back at 12/2013 and the numbers EUG put up are ridiculous.

[iFred]

Not a bad cold snap. Not amazing, at least for my snow deranged brain, but not horrible either.

We had snow falling from about daybreak to at the top of the hour at around 11am, but now it is just rain. Most of the sensors are solidly at 33 or 34 and the ice has started to melt in the shaded areas. If I look up the hill, the snow has melted from the trees and roofs, but still on the ground.

I need to lobby my company to open up an office in Anchorage.

 

[TT-SEA]

25 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

I thought your power lines were underground up there?

Doesn't matter when all of NB is being crushed.

[Chewbacca Defense]

16 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

We have 3 gas insert fireplaces in the house so we have some heat without power.  

My elderly neighbor has a natural gas "wood stove" type set up, it does a good job of heating her house.  I would love to do something like that in my house, but the layout is really funky, so there really isn't a good place to put it.

[Olive1010]

Is GR2 Analyst 3 no longer available to purchase? Keeps saying "order failed"

[DeepFriedEgg]

Pretty darn lucky the bulk of the precip is during peak daytime heating. A lot of the metro would have been an absolute mess.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Noticing Oregon's snowpack is above normal at the moment in every basin but one. Willamette Basin is at 120% and the SE basins are near 150% of normal to date. Hopefully they can keep it competitive with some of these warmer systems coming up and then have a big March. Quite a turnaround from just two weeks ago. Would be incredible if the Cascades could have a snow pack near normal this year, great news for the SE basins too, but they often can do very well in Nino's. 

[Mercurial]

Blizzard of '24 aftermath.  We didn't actually verify the wind gusts required for a blizzard warning, but I'm pretty sure other parts of the valley did.  We finished with 16" of new snow, which is quite unusual for a single storm at my location.

[FroYoBro]

3 minutes ago, DeepFriedEgg said:

Pretty darn lucky the bulk of the precip is during peak daytime heating. A lot of the metro would have been an absolute mess.

Definitely. I think the next 2 hours could be pretty bad for the favored eastside neighborhoods, but it would have been much worse if this happened overnight. I notice the easterly breeze is hitting raindrops against the windows now. It would have been freezing rain even here if this hit overnight. Sitting at 34 here still. 

[WhoNeedsAC]

Well crap! I thought 12+ hours of above freezing temps and rain would be enough, but I slipped on the driveway walking to my car. The ground must still be frozen. Guess I'm not running errands, I'm too old and have too much going on in my life to risk falling.

[Snoqualmoo]

Forgot that I even had an account here. Figured I would give my local update on the storm. I'm in North Bend at about 535'. Radar has said rain all morning, but its been absolutely nuking since about 8am. Between yesterday and today I have a good 5" on my back porch. No power as well.

[Mercurial]

1 hour ago, Phishy Wx said:

studded tires destroy the roads but really the only way to drive on ice

They're straight up necessary around here.  Maybe not legally, but practically.  (also, they are in fact legally required in the adjacent parts of BC).

Probably the same in Spokane if you ever plan to head into the mountains at all.  Even just driving to Sandpoint must be a hair raising experience without them....

[Phil]

NOAA’s January forecast on thin ice.  

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/tools/briefing/verification/2024/fcst_Temp.14.202401.gif

[Cascadia_Wx]

15 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Noticing Oregon's snowpack is above normal at the moment in every basin but one. Willamette Basin is at 120% and the SE basins are near 150% of normal to date. Hopefully they can keep it competitive with some of these warmer systems coming up and then have a big March. Quite a turnaround from just two weeks ago. Would be incredible if the Cascades could have a snow pack near normal this year, great news for the SE basins too, but they often can do very well in Nino's. 

It’s to bad the last 1/3 of the month is starting to look like a complete torch. Maybe we’ll turn things around again at some point. A 2010 like progression would be nice now through the summer.

[smerfylicious]

We're up to 35mph gusts here, and it's a mix of snow and frozen rain. Visibility is...well it could be worse I guess.