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

[TigerWoodsLibido]

4 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

It just goes to show how winter storms are wasted on Oregon. They just end up being sleet and ice. Both storms should have gone north, then both would have been snow.

2-25-19 says otherwise.

[Requiem]

Big message of today was supposedly that organized precip would be well over by evening in the PDX metro-- yet it continues to rain in spots with many locations below freezing. Kinda an unexpectedly nasty ice storm for many today.

[ShawniganLake]

5 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

It just goes to show how winter storms are wasted on Oregon. They just end up being sleet and ice. Both storms should have gone north, then both would have been snow and we would have been spared all the complaining about ice.

Haha. No comment.  

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

1 minute ago, snow_wizard said:

That one had the same issue of getting hung up not too far south of us though. 1990 went way south.

As an aside...the shallow penetrating (not going very far south) extreme cold waves like this one usually bring a lot of snow for the Seattle area.  This one was odd in that regard.

If the trough would of made it another 50 miles south west that probably would I'd produced more moisture. Do you have maps of 1985? That must of been a stout low that came down the bc coast

[snow_wizard]

10 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Would have been significantly colder at the surface if only the arctic front had been juicier and laid down a good blanket of snow as it came in. If that had happened, @snow_wizard's wish of seeing a 1950 redux would have been reality, at least for a few days.

It's incredible how cold it got here in spite of no radiational cooling, nearly constant wind, and no snow cover.  It wasn't as cold here as Bellingham, but it froze very hard.

[Tanis Leach]

11 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

That’s a decent amount of sleet.   

Now that's more like it. 

[snow_wizard]

3 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

If the trough would of made it another 50 miles south west that probably would I'd produced more moisture. Do you have maps of 1985? That must of been a stout low that came down the bc coast

1985 was utterly incredible.  I'll dig up some stuff on it.

[Requiem]

4 minutes ago, TigerWoodsLibido said:

2-25-19 says otherwise.

Or 1/10/17... more impressive single storm frankly than anything up that way in at least a couple decades 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

1 minute ago, snow_wizard said:

1985 was utterly incredible.  I'll dig up some stuff on it.

I've been wanting to see what happened.  I clearly remember watching the weather on channel 7 that morning and Harry wapler mentioned nothing about snow and Said maybe sleet or ice pellets. 2 hrs later it was a white out for 6 hrs and we got 14 inches.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

5 minutes ago, Requiem said:

Or 1/10/17... more impressive single storm frankly than anything up that way in at least a couple decades 

Widespread 30–35 cm (12–14") with yesterday's storm here.

[ShawniganLake]

16 minutes ago, TigerWoodsLibido said:

2-25-19 says otherwise.

How much did you end up scoring with that storm?  

[Tanis Leach]

14 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

It just goes to show how winter storms are wasted on Oregon. They just end up being sleet and ice. Both storms should have gone north, then both would have been snow and we would have been spared all the complaining about ice.

Tiger gave a Eugene example, but I will add 12/26/21 as well.

 

For PDX, 1/10/17 and 2/22/23 instantly come to mind. Even the April snowstorm was good considering the month. Valley wide Feb 2014 also comes to mind (that still remains the last regionwide event)

[Requiem]

5 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Widespread 30–35 cm (12–14") with yesterday's storm here.

I got about 20" from that January storm 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 minutes ago, Tanis Leach said:

Tiger gave a Eugene example, but I will add 12/26/21 as well.

For PDX, 1/10/17 and 2/22/23 instantly come to mind. Even the April snowstorm was good considering the month. Valley wide Feb 2014 also comes to mind (that still remains the last regionwide event)

Everyone would have been happier if both storms would have trended north this time: we would have had more snow, and you would have not had ice.

[DeepFriedEgg]

17 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

It just goes to show how winter storms are wasted on Oregon. They just end up being sleet and ice. Both storms should have gone north, then both would have been snow and we would have been spared all the complaining about ice.

I think this is wrong. It is more a testament to the power of the gorge. Without the gorge this would have been a very short lived event for OR. There was basically no upper level support to get arctic air south of PDX. I don’t think 850s above EUG even went below freezing. Without the gorge I think there would have been a lot more cold rain down here…

[Doinko]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Everyone would have been happier if both storms would have trended north this time: we would have had more snow, and you would have not had ice.

It was a good storm here at least. We had 3" of snow which wasn't crazy, but the blizzard winds and cold temps made it worth it. We didn't have ice until Tuesday night

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 minute ago, Doinko said:

It was a good storm here at least. We had 3" of snow which wasn't crazy, but the blizzard winds and cold temps made it worth it. We didn't have ice until Tuesday night

And who asked you?

[Rubus Leucodermis]

OK, I'll stop trolling. For now.

[Tanis Leach]

8 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Everyone would have been happier if both storms would have trended north this time: we would have had more snow, and you would have not had ice.

Or if the block held or there was 12-24 more hours for the cold to setup (a la 1968), then there would be us getting all snow instead. 

 

Also this storm being mainly sleet means my long range snow prediction is somehow still intact (0-3" for the winter). 

[ShawniganLake]

19 minutes ago, Requiem said:

I got about 20" from that January storm 

I think no matter what latitude you live at a 20” snow storm is a good time.   I’ve always enjoyed them. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Definitely melting out there, but it's doing what I remember it doing in the Midwest: melting from elevated surfaces but freezing on exposed pavement, because the ground is so cold and frozen. First time I have seen it do that in the PNW.

[ShawniganLake]

Getting a decent helping of ice pellets here now.  Our snowy fun is over. 

[snow_wizard]

One interesting thing about the Graph Cast is it has almost all of the really cold air in the Western Hemisphere at the end of the run.  Could bode well for a February event.

[snow_wizard]

41 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

I've been wanting to see what happened.  I clearly remember watching the weather on channel 7 that morning and Harry wapler mentioned nothing about snow and Said maybe sleet or ice pellets. 2 hrs later it was a white out for 6 hrs and we got 14 inches.

Nov 1985 was just the perfect mix of cold and moisture and for a long duration.  Very much like Jan 1950.

[Phil]

I love me some good snow-on-snow action.  

4” on the ground from the previous storm, while light snowflakes have just begun falling as storm #2 gets underway. I love winter!

[TigerWoodsLibido]

1 hour ago, ShawniganLake said:

How much did you end up scoring with that storm?  

20”

[Phil]

Last second upgrade to winter storm warning for the 2nd time in a week. It’s so rare things go my way, it’s shock to my system.

Weird to say but…this is the first time I’ve felt genuinely happy in..awhile. I think I rely on this hobby more than I care to admit sometimes.  

[smerfylicious]

Welp it's dumping snow and 33 in Gold Bar again. Wow unexpected

[smerfylicious]

 

Gusty as all hell here. Blow Bar living up to its name.

[Meatyorologist]

2 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

This just blows my mind.  Bellingham had it's lowest average min for any 6 day period in the month of January since 1950 with this event.  Wow!

That's absolutely impressive. Six days is not a trivial stretch of time meteorologically speaking.

[Meatyorologist]

26 minutes ago, Phil said:

Last second upgrade to winter storm warning for the 2nd time in a week. It’s so rare things go my way, it’s shock to my system.

Weird to say but…this is the first time I’ve felt genuinely happy in..awhile. I think I rely on this hobby more than I care to admit sometimes.  

Word.

[Meatyorologist]

All things considered, I can't be too mad. A PSCZ surprise and a high of 22F is savory. Getting shafted is part of the deal living where I live...alongside the convenience of living in a good neighborhood in a large city.

Hell, strictly speaking, my little corner of town did the best overall this event, even if it was just a skiff!

[Deweydog]

Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but Wenatchee’s -1 degree high on 1/13 was their first sub-zero high since 12/29/68.

[Ken in Wood Village]

We lost power a little passed 10pm and still don't have power I hope everyone on this map gets power soon

[Tanis Leach]

Final update and forecast verification: 

 

[TT-SEA]

Looks like the east wind is still pretty strong in NB but its warming up anyways.     All the way up to 44 this morning at the Snoqualmie Ridge exit on I-90 and 38 in NB.    Got text that schools are open and operating normally today.   Still a couple small power outages in the area but there are only 1,300 customers without power in the entire PSE coverage area,

[LowerGarfield]

Today was supposed to be a half day but due to freezing rain and the already shortened day, the district decided to cancel. I'm so happy about that. I did not want to drive today. Going back to sleep now.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Rain and 32.2˚F. No real ice accretion, but not much melting, either. Lots of icy spots on side streets.

[Phil]

God I love winter. I’m not ready for big thaw next week.  

We’re about to waste 2-3 weeks on a Pineapple Express pattern thanks to the big AAM spike & WPAC MJO. Basically a repeat of the December pattern.

[Chewbacca Defense]

Still at 32 IMBY with freezing rain (otherwise known as rain that freezes).  Definitely getting some drippage off of the roof, and the portion of the car closest to the house is kinda slushy, but the portion of the car away from the house, and the car parked on the street is also solidly encased in ice.