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

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

9 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Lately My favorite area to explore is Colorado. Besides the Olympic national park the beauty in Colorado is second to none.

Personally I'd say it's 2nd to a lot. Windriver range WY, Teton range WY, Beartooth range MT, Clark range MT, Livingston range MT, Lewis range MT, and obviously the north cascades.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

1 minute ago, TT-SEA said:

Have you ever seen the North Bend elk herd?     They are usually in the same general area across from Mt Si golf course and along 202 between NB and Snoqualmie.    Its pretty 100% guaranteed you will see 100+ elk on a summer evening down there.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOTMy5UphCo

No i have not, Thanks man i will explore that. I am a bow hunter and have killed elk but now i like to just watch them. I still hunt them but i dont kill them if that makes sense. I have snuck up to a 6x6 bull in the wild with just sox on to be silent and got within 20ft from them. That is a successful hunt. It was that moment that i realized i enjoyed the hunt and the kill was not required. They are called the ghost of the woods.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

1 minute ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Personally I'd say it's 2nd to a lot. Windriver range WY, Teton range WY, Beartooth range MT, Clark range MT, Livingston range MT, Lewis range MT, and obviously the north cascades.

Have you been on the alpine loop or explored Taylor park? we did a bunch of exploring in wyoming 2 years ago and it was awesome. Also Cook city Montana is awesome spot to explore.

[Phil]

10 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

One bad thing about the EPS is it shows shockingly little snow for the Central and Southern WA Cascades.

That’s because the northern jet is almost nonexistent. No onshore flow for orographic lifting/upslope.

[Cascadia_Wx]

1 minute ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Personally I'd say it's 2nd to a lot. Windriver range WY, Teton range WY, Beartooth range MT, Clark range MT, Livingston range MT, Lewis range MT, and obviously the north cascades.

Comparing natural beauty seems so pointless. What exactly makes these areas more spectacular than others. Is there some sort of objective standard your measuring them by, like topographic relief. Or do you just like them more? If it’s the latter that’s cool, but then you have to be fine with the fact that your opinion is 100% subjective.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Big horn national forest wyoming. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

2 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Comparing natural beauty seems so pointless. What exactly makes these areas more spectacular than others. Is there some sort of objective standard your measuring them by, like topographic relief. Or do you just like them more? If it’s the latter that’s cool, but then you have to be fine with the fact that your opinion is 100% subjective.

Very true, for me the neat thing where I was in Colorado was the elevation and how different the scenery is because of that elevation.  At times we were driving on gravel roads at 13500ft, just incredible.  Hiked to a peak of 14132 with no snow lol. 

[Cascadia_Wx]

2 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Big horn national forest wyoming. 

Love that sort of landscape. Reminds me a lot of Horseshoe Basin in the NE part of the Pasayten Wilderness, NW of Omak. One of the largest areas of montane tundra in the lower 48.

[Phil]

8 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Did you guys know that Phil’s been to all 72 states? “There aren’t 72 states though.” Yup, that sounds like exactly what someone who’s not in the know might say  

[RentonHill]

Wild puppies at our place in twisp this morning

 

 

 

[Cascadia_Wx]

7 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Love that sort of landscape. Reminds me a lot of Horseshoe Basin in the NE part of the Pasayten Wilderness, NW of Omak. One of the largest areas of montane tundra in the lower 48.

I bet @SilverFallsAndrew would love this spot.

[Phil]

Lol @ the subtropical storm on the 12z Euro. Looks like something the goofus would draw up.

[TT-SEA]

22 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

No i have not, Thanks man i will explore that. I am a bow hunter and have killed elk but now i like to just watch them. I still hunt them but i dont kill them if that makes sense. I have snuck up to a 6x6 bull in the wild with just sox on to be silent and got within 20ft from them. That is a successful hunt. It was that moment that i realized i enjoyed the hunt and the kill was not required. They are called the ghost of the woods.

On summer evenings there are usually cars all along the shoulder on 202 so you know where they are before you see the elk.    A couple summers ago they made a small dirt lot for people to park off the highway.   People will also walk way too close to get pics.  

[SilverFallsAndrew]

13 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Big horn national forest wyoming. 

We went through there in October 2021. We camped at around 7000’ and it was pouring rain all night, once we got up towards the pass in the morning it was dumping snow and we were behind an RV with Florida plates sliding all over the road. Was much better once he pulled over and let us pass. Spent that night camped on the hill above Jackson with an epic view of the Tetons at a dispersed camping site. It had to have been around 20F that night, but what a view. I’ve been to a lot of places I wish I had more time to fully explore. 

[Front Ranger]

4 hours ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

I think we’ve learned what they need to show in modern times for us to get a significant arctic airmass.

Funny thing is they didn't have computer models before modern times, so we have no point of comparison there.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Top elk populations in the US by state. We have a large herd of about 200 up here. 

[Phil]

Yesterday’s +34 departure single-handedly moved the January departure from +0.4 to +1.6.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

21 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Its also Andrew.  

Colorado is fine. I've been all over the state, not EVERYWHERE, but I've probably spent a total of 2 months of my life there. My ex-wife loves Colorado and we would always spend a week or two there. And Eastern Colorado is just high plains, which is at least half the state. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

No one mentioned the EURO so I take it that it was another step back. 

[bainbridgekid]

Definitely plausible SEA ties or even breaks their all-time January record high of 64 degrees Monday. Go big or go home.

 

[Front Ranger]

41 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Lately My favorite area to explore is Colorado. Besides the Olympic national park the beauty in Colorado is second to none.

 

39 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Andrew said last night that Colorado was overrated.  

I didn't see the conversation last night, but I'm guessing Andrew is referring to the parts he's been to from past conversations - mainly around Denver. The city itself? Definitely overrated, especially since homeless encampments around downtown became the norm (although those have been cleaned up recently...for now). November - April, the landscape is pretty barren and ugly when there isn't snow cover.

That said, parts of the metro area have amazing mountain views and there are some pretty nice parks.

However, the San Juan mountains in southern Colorado, and particularly the Million Dollar Highway between Telluride and Durango is absolutely majestic - see below. Hard to say how it compares to some of the other amazing places throughout the West, but to me this "Switzerland of America" is the most beautiful part of Colorado.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

The Washington coast, hidden gem of a beach in the park.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

1 minute ago, Front Ranger said:

 

I didn't see the conversation last night, but I'm guessing Andrew is referring to the parts he's been to from past conversations - mainly around Denver. The city itself? Definitely overrated, especially since homeless encampments around downtown became the norm (although those have been cleaned up recently...for now). November - April, the landscape is pretty barren and ugly when there isn't snow cover.

That said, parts of the metro area have amazing mountain views and there are some pretty nice parks.

However, the San Juan mountains in southern Colorado, and particularly the Million Dollar Highway between Telluride and Durango is absolutely majestic - see below. Hard to say how it compares to some of the other amazing places throughout the West, but to me this "Switzerland of America" is the most beautiful part of Colorado.

Done a bunch of exploring there. I still say the beauty there is amazing.

[Cascadia_Wx]

3 minutes ago, bainbridgekid said:

Definitely plausible SEA ties or even breaks their all-time January record high of 64 degrees Monday. Go big or go home.

 

Hoping for record highs in this climate seems about as fun as hoping for Jeff Bezos to turn a profit this year.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

1 minute ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Hoping for record highs in this climate seems about as fun as hoping for Jeff Bezos to turn a profit this year.

This is the punishment for 167hrs of winter. Disgusting. 

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

2 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

 

I didn't see the conversation last night, but I'm guessing Andrew is referring to the parts he's been to from past conversations - mainly around Denver. The city itself? Definitely overrated,  especially since homeless encampment around downtown became the norm (although those have been cleaned up recently...for now). November - April, the landscape is pretty barren and ugly when there isn't snow cover.

That said, parts of the metro area have amazing mountain views and there are some pretty nice parks.

However, the San Juan mountains in southern Colorado, and particularly the Million Dollar Highway between Telluride and Durango is absolutely majestic - see below. Hard to say how it compares to some of the other amazing places throughout the West, but to me this "Switzerland of America" is the most beautiful part of Colorado.

I don't think anyone from Washington or Oregon thinks less of Colorado because of their homeless people. It ain't better here.

[Cascadia_Wx]

That said, I’ll predict that PDX will probably tie or exceed its all time January high of 66 at some point in the next few days. Just seems the ingredients are there with a warm airmass, sunbreaks and just enough mixing for something really stupid to happen. Plus, the fact that we got even a whiff of cold air earlier in the month must be now be brutally PAID FOR.

[Front Ranger]

17 minutes ago, Phil said:

Yesterday’s +34 departure single-handedly moved the January departure from +0.4 to +1.6.

DEN is still sitting at -6.4, but the massive blowtorch scheduled for the last few days of the month will probably push us up to -3 or so. One of the things that sucks about strong Ninos, in general - frequent, largescale blowtorches.

On the bright side, I expect a wet and probably snowy Feb-Apr here.

[Front Ranger]

7 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Done a bunch of exploring there. I still say the beauty there is amazing.

Oh yeah. And I agree that the Olympics and parts of the north Cascades are at least on par, if not more beautiful. The more rugged the terrain the more gorgeous, imo.

[SnowWillarrive]

12 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

Oh yeah. And I agree that the Olympics and parts of the north Cascades are at least on par, if not more beautiful. The more rugged the terrain the more gorgeous, imo.

San Juan Range in Colorado and the Wind Rivers of Wyoming is the closest thing to North Cascades. Both beautiful places. But nothing beats the sheer ruggedness of North Cascades in lower 48. 

 

[umadbro]

Just hit 10” on the month. Which I’m sure is lower than what we’ve actually received this month. A lot of snow blew out of the rain gauge on 1/13

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

12 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

Oh yeah. And I agree that the Olympics and parts of the north Cascades are at least on par, if not more beautiful. The more rugged the terrain the more gorgeous, imo.

You should do black bear pass near telluride.  Insane!!!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Since no one else felt like commenting on it, I'll note the 12z EURO was another tremendous step back. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

1 minute ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

You should do black bear pass near telluride.  Insane!!!

Probably the craziest stretch of road in the lower 48. I about shittt my pants doing this. These are pics online I lost mine.

[Doinko]

Colorado was really amazing when we went last year. The variety was really cool. I definitely want to visit again. The December 2022 arctic blast happened while I was there as well, making it even better. The first two pictures are from Colorado Springs and the last two from Frisco

 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

13 minutes ago, SnowWillarrive said:

San Juan Range in Colorado and the Wind Rivers of Wyoming is the closest thing to North Cascades. Both beautiful places. But nothing beats the sheer ruggedness of North Cascades in lower 48. 

 

Harts pass north cascades is one of my favorite places to visit and slate peak is the highest road in Washington 

[TT-SEA]

3 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Since no one else felt like commenting on it, I'll note the 12z EURO was another tremendous step back. 

Tremendous.   From a little chilly to a little less chilly.   What is the point of living if it can't be cold all the time?   

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

11 minutes ago, SnowWillarrive said:

San Juan Range in Colorado and the Wind Rivers of Wyoming is the closest thing to North Cascades. Both beautiful places. But nothing beats the sheer ruggedness of North Cascades in lower 48. 

 

The Wind River range is probably the most underrated mountain range in the lower 48. Almost endless opportunities for campers, hikers, climbers, fishers, hunters, etc. Doesn't mean it's the best mountain range, but it's definitely the most underrated one.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Cabin area finally lost the battle,  currently 34 degrees and raining, rain there in January is extremely rare,  this is the second time I have seen it rain there in January since 2013. Absolutely crazy. 

[TigerWoodsLibido]

58F and cloudy. Depressing.