February 2024 Weather in the PNW

[SnowWillarrive]

15 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Spot on,  they probably plant palm trees as well. If I was a millionaire I would drive around and pay people to remove those trees from the landscape.  They're a beautiful tree in the setting they belong but they look terrible against our landscape imo.

Required reading for all citizens of Cascadia.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

Down to 21 now, our high was 45. Great weather for cooling off our ground, the previous torch probably got the surface soil to the upper 30s which sucks for snow accumulation.

[MossMan]

6 minutes ago, SnowWillarrive said:

Required reading for all citizens of Cascadia.

Concentrated RoundUp injected straight into the roots will do the job. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

24 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Spot on,  they probably plant palm trees as well. If I was a millionaire I would drive around and pay people to remove those trees from the landscape.  They're a beautiful tree in the setting they belong but they look terrible against our landscape imo.

Wait until you learn about hardy bananas…

[Slushy Inch]

37 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Needs to trend

Nah you got your 2 inches

[ShawniganLake]

17 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Wait until you learn about hardy bananas…

Jeez. Can’t even imagine the horror of seeing someone growing something as hideous as a banana tree in their yard. 
 

The hardy varieties grow pretty easily in the mild PNW climate.  Not as common as the windmill palm but I have seen many over the years. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

13 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

Jeez. Can’t even imagine the horror of seeing someone growing something as hideous as a banana tree in their yard. 
 

The hardy varieties grow pretty easily in the mild PNW climate.  Not as common as the windmill palm but I have seen many over the years. 

Nothing against the tree, they just look stupid in this part of the world.  Hemlock trees would look dumb planet around the hotels on the Hawaii beaches. They would probably grow like crazy though.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

13 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

Jeez. Can’t even imagine the horror of seeing someone growing something as hideous as a banana tree in their yard.

The hardy varieties grow pretty easily in the mild PNW climate.  Not as common as the windmill palm but I have seen many over the years. 

You seem to think I am anti-banana? They don’t bother me. Neither do hardy palms.

I really don’t understand getting bothered by either. It’s not like ragweed or grass seed farms or alder trees that cause many allergy misery. Those I can understand having an issue with. Maybe some people just don’t like visual reminders they live in a fairly mild climate.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Just now, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Nothing against the tree, they just look stupid in this part of the world.  Hemlock trees would look dumb planet around the hotels on the Hawaii beaches. They would probably grow like crazy though.

My guess is they would probably get sick and die in fairly short order. Most temperate species need a winter dormant period.

Do you also hate arbutus (madrone) trees because they look tropical?

[Anti Marine Layer]

55 minutes ago, SnowWillarrive said:

Required reading for all citizens of Cascadia.

Hope Jesse read it.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

3 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

My guess is they would probably get sick and die in fairly short order. Most temperate species need a winter dormant period.

Do you also hate arbutus (madrone) trees because they look tropical?

Again, I don't hate any tree!! They just look fukinn stupid in our environment. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

4 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

My guess is they would probably get sick and die in fairly short order. Most temperate species need a winter dormant period.

Do you also hate arbutus (madrone) trees because they look tropical?

Madrona do not look tropical to me. 

[MossMan]

39 minutes ago, Slushy Inch said:

Nah you got your 2 inches

Memoriessss…

[Phil]

9 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

I beg to differ.  If this isn't an SSW what is.

SSW requires a wind reversal at 10mb/60N.

The displacement/dissolution of the vortex is what matters.

[Cascadia_Wx]

6 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Again, I don't hate any tree!! They just look fukinn stupid in our environment. 

Same. I think palms are gorgeous in the right spot. There are some very beautiful palm oases down in Joshua Tree National Park for instance.

The palms and tropical looking plants we can grow up here are kind of misleading as to the nature of our climate anyway, since only the most incredibly hardy subspecies of palm, banana etc can do well here. A lot of them can take temps down to zero or even a little below. Not really a hallmark of a mild climate.

[MossMan]

10 minutes ago, Phil said:

SSW requires a wind reversal at 10mb/60N.

The displacement/dissolution of the vortex is what matters.

Keep up Phil, we have moved past SSW’s, SST’s, SUV’s, and STD’s…All the forum rage is now about non native trees and how to DESTROY THEM!! 

Edited February 4 by MossMan

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 minute ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Same. I think palms are gorgeous in the right spot. There are some very beautiful palm oases down in Joshua Tree National Park for instance.

The palms and tropical looking plants we can grow up here are kind of misleading as to the nature of our climate anyway, since only the most incredibly hardy subspecies of palm, banana etc can do well here. A lot of them can take temps down to zero or even a little below. Not really a hallmark of a mild climate.

Before I moved to the PNW, I lived in places that could easily get temperatures in the -20's in the winter. Too cold for most roses without having to take special measures. So I think our winters are mild.

And, yes, they can be surprisingly hardy. The windmill palms in my neighborhood are still alive despite it now being the third winter in a row with temperatures below 10˚F.

[Cascadia_Wx]

For instance, I had a 19/13 day with raging east winds and blowing snow/sleet at my location just three weeks ago, on the day. And the various windmill palms around town look to have mostly shrugged it off. It’s not about a mild climate, it’s about hardy, non-native plans that look sort of tropical. I’d say they’re mostly for people who can’t handle the weather here and want to pretend they’re somewhere else. Especially in the winter.

[Anti Marine Layer]

8 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Keep up Phil, we have moved past SSW’s, SST’s, SUV’s, and STD’s…All the forum rage is now about non native trees and how to DESTROY THEM!! 

What about SSCs and GTWs (sudden stratospheric coolings and gradual tropospheric warmings)?

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

All palm trees and any tropical plant in the pnw must be burnt to the ground, and every year we will celebrate the anniversary of the day we KILLED ALL PALM TREES! AUGUST 26TH 2023! IF WE GOT A MILLION PEOPLE LIKE US TOGETHER, THINK HOW MUCH DAMAGE WE COULD DO!

 

 

#DESTROYTHEPALMS

[Cascadia_Wx]

00z GEFS looks sort of interesting. The upcoming cool period the next 5-6 days has sharpened a bit. It appears the control wants to keep us in a cooler pattern into the long range.

[Cascadia_Wx]

Ended up with a 54/32 day here. Morning frost then mostly sunny with some scenic fair weather cumulus around.

[ShawniganLake]

32 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

You seem to think I am anti-banana? They don’t bother me. Neither do hardy palms.

I really don’t understand getting bothered by either. It’s not like ragweed or grass seed farms or alder trees that cause many allergy misery. Those I can understand having an issue with. Maybe some people just don’t like visual reminders they live in a fairly mild climate.

Haha no.  I actually like both palms and bananas.  Seems like the people that are bothered by them are also the ones that are eager to leave the area for colder climates.  So it does make sense.  

[Deweydog]

Chilly out!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

No mention of the Euro tonight .

[Slushy Inch]

6 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

No mention of the Euro tonight .

Gem and euro are pretty anemic with the trough of interest unfortunately euro most disappointing.

[Phil]

Those windmill palms can’t grow here at all. I think it’s because relative humidity is much lower here in the winter compared to the PNW region. Doesn’t seem to be temperature driven.

A few neighbors have tried to plant them in years past, but were badly windburned by the end of winter. Though there are a few shrubby ones in downtown DC in sheltered areas (and one larger specimen growing on the southeast side of a row of townhouses, sheltered from the NW wind). But west of the fall line they cannot survive long.

[Cascadia_Wx]

4 minutes ago, Phil said:

Those windmill palms can’t grow here at all. I think it’s because relative humidity is much lower here in the winter compared to the PNW region. Doesn’t seem to be temperature driven.

A few neighbors have tried to plant them in years past, but were badly windburned by the end of winter. There are a few shrubby ones in downtown DC (in sheltered areas near the water). But west of the fall line they cannot survive long.

That’s a good point. I think the relatively high humidity during the cold months out here probably helps with their survival too. In the Portland area at least, there’s a cutoff somewhere around Washougal where they stop growing, heading into the Columbia Gorge.

Where do they come from originally? My guess is some sort of subtropical highland climate. High enough to get cold temps, but also with a somewhat temperate climate profile overall. 

[ShawniganLake]

1 hour ago, MossMan said:

Memoriessss…

Did you get over the nightmare situation a few days before this.  When Portland got crushed by this big snowstorm and we got nothing. 
 

 

[snow_wizard]

Kind of interesting how all of the operational models and ensemble control models are putting the block further west than the ensemble means as we get into week 2.  We'll see how it all plays out.

[Cascadia_Wx]

Down to 34 already. Chilly out.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Eugene, Or this afternoon. 

[Meatyorologist]

2 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Eugene, Or this afternoon. 

Breathtaking

[Phil]

1 hour ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

That’s a good point. I think the relatively high humidity during the cold months out here probably helps with their survival too. In the Portland area at least, there’s a cutoff somewhere around Washougal where they stop growing, heading into the Columbia Gorge.

Where do they come from originally? My guess is some sort of subtropical highland climate. High enough to get cold temps, but also with a somewhat temperate climate profile overall. 

I think they’re native to somewhere in China? I’ll have to do some googling.

This convo inspired me to look up info on windmill palms growing here and I came upon the YouTube channel of a local palm tree geek, lol. Apparently that wind/drying factor is crucial, as there are sizable palms growing but they’re planted in perfect locations like the one below, against the S/E wall of buildings so they’re completely sheltered from N/W winds, and get the radiative warming from the buildings (and urban heat island + sea level elevation).

This guy LOVES palm trees. He and Tim would be besties. 

 

[smerfylicious]

We need more snow in our lives. Here, the Truckee airport cam.

 

https://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/trucke-airport-live

[Meatyorologist]

5 minutes ago, smerfylicious said:

We need more snow in our lives. Here, the Truckee airport cam.

 

https://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/trucke-airport-live

Thank you

[The Blob]

Weather station showing snow

[FroYoBro]

29 degrees right now!

[TT-SEA]

6 hours ago, Phil said:

This guy LOVES palm trees. He and Tim would be besties. 

But we don't have any palms in our yard. 

I don't think they would look right in our area up here.   But I think look really nice near water in the Seattle area like the Sound and around our lakes.  They blend nicely.   They don't mean it's tropical here but just that we don't have a harsh winter climate.    Which is obviously true.   As mentioned last night... I think some people don't want to be reminded of that fact.   They definitely don't grow in Minnesota.  

[TT-SEA]

Another cloudy night... in the low 40s in most areas up here.