February 2024 Weather in the PNW

[GHweatherChris]

3 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

That winter was beyond frustrating for me.  Just a few miles from here they got buried and we had many days of minor slush accumulations.

If my notes are correct, 2007-08 I ended up with 25-30" of snow for the winter across multiple 3-4" events, 12/2008 was still the biggest event for me in my lifetime but 07-08 was a great one.

Edited February 15 by GHweatherChris

[DeepFriedEgg]

El Nino in Minneapolis, MN:

+3.7 F Nov 

+12.3 F Dec 

+5.9 F Jan 

+18.4 F Feb  so far with a 57F burger on Feb 8th

[MossMan]

2 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

That winter was beyond frustrating for me.  Just a few miles from here they got buried and we had many days of minor slush accumulations.

I kept being about 100’ too low in elevation…So many slushy mixy events that winter that made me so angry. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

6 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

I definitely remember Snowmizer scoring a lot in 2007-08 in particular.

Had a ton of events that year. Around 50 inches for the season. Most was 32 and 33 snow

[GHweatherChris]

Getting better....

[DeepFriedEgg]

6 minutes ago, DeepFriedEgg said:

El Nino in Madison, WI:

+1.2 F Nov 

+9.5 F Dec 

+3.5 F Jan 

+13.1 F Feb  so far with more 40s and 50s on the way (Avg high is around freezing)

Also a 59F burger on Feb 8th with tornadoes. More tornadoes than snow in Feb so far.

[GHweatherChris]

Splats increasing!!

[KingstonWX]

Just dropped below 40 here. Maybe this thing has a chance.

I will say, some people forget the models tell us what falls, not what sticks, and it's february. 

[the_convergence_zone]

39 mph ESE wind gust at Sea-Tac. Must be fun to be taking off or landing right now. Meanwhile the RTX radar shows tons of moisture coming north. 

Pretty cool how these two air masses are coming together. 

[snow_wizard]

The ICON is just so dry for the east side of Puget Sound.  The ECMWF has been the wettest model by far that area.

[GHweatherChris]

Just now, KingstonWX said:

Just dropped below 40 here. Maybe this thing has a chance.

I will say, some people forget the models tell us what falls, not what sticks, and it's february. 

That bolded part sir is not necessary, never any reason to downplay an already touchy event.  Let it ride!!!

[KingstonWX]

Just now, GHweatherChris said:

That bolded part sir is not necessary, never any reason to downplay an already touchy event.  Let it ride!!!

Listen, you're the winner in this thing, we all already know it, so let the rest of us justify our feelings however we see sit

lol... but seriously, enjoy it... this one is meant for you.

[snow_wizard]

7 minutes ago, MossMan said:

I kept being about 100’ too low in elevation…So many slushy mixy events that winter that made me so angry. 

It was ugly for people below about 600 feet.  I remember Whatcom County did well too.  They were far enough north that some weak bouts of Arctic air helped them out.

[Slushy Inch]

I’m liking the look of the radar just south a Tacoma. Moisture looks good.

[Slushy Inch]

4 minutes ago, KingstonWX said:

Just dropped below 40 here. Maybe this thing has a chance.

I will say, some people forget the models tell us what falls, not what sticks, and it's february. 

Plus the warm roads!

[snow_wizard]

12 minutes ago, the_convergence_zone said:

39 mph ESE wind gust at Sea-Tac. Must be fun to be taking off or landing right now. Meanwhile the RTX radar shows tons of moisture coming north. 

Pretty cool how these two air masses are coming together. 

This one is interesting no matter how you look at it.  Pretty nice looking at the 500mb level.

[The Blob]

I'm at work with no actual work to do tonight, so I'll be checking the windows for splats.

[KingstonWX]

1 minute ago, Slushy Inch said:

Plus the warm roads!

Warm roads kill all hope of snow forever in life. We all know that. 

[GHweatherChris]

Moisture is definitely not gonna be the issue tonight, things should start cooling dramatically as the low itself starts to spin up more.

[FrozenBites]

Small flurries in Bonney Lake.

[VancouverIslandSouth]

8 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

The ICON is just so dry for the east side of Puget Sound.  The ECMWF has been the wettest model by far that area.

Getting into radar over model watching hour now.

[T-Town]

6 minutes ago, Slushy Inch said:

I’m liking the look of the radar just south a Tacoma. Moisture looks good.

Not a drop of rain here as of yet. Waiting patiently. 

[Slushy Inch]

1 minute ago, T-Town said:

Not a drop of rain here as of yet. Waiting patiently. 

Should be there soon. 

[snow_wizard]

I see the problem the Kitsap Pen is having.  Most of the east wind that is blasting through King County is getting shunted south of there.  I hadn't thought about that.

[GHweatherChris]

Just now, snow_wizard said:

I see the problem the Kitsap Pen is having.  Most of the east wind that is blasting through King County is getting shunted south of there.  I hadn't thought about that.

It can't be a problem right now, nothing is supposed to switch completely over anywhere for another couple hours.  Things are tracking right on cue so far, give or take.

[snow_wizard]

6 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

Moisture is definitely not gonna be the issue tonight, things should start cooling dramatically as the low itself starts to spin up more.

You've got the dry air being funneled south of the Olympics as well.  You are golden.

[the_convergence_zone]

Sea-Tac is 43/21 with +0.6 C at 925 and -3.6 at 850. That's good enough for snow but quite dry. Easterlies seem to be stronger than modeled. 

I'm at 44/27 here in the city limits at 150 ft elevation. That's a little warmer than ideal but not too bad. Middle of the night helps for sure. 

Edit -- I take it back, the HRRR does have upper-30s wind gusts at KSEA. And the HRRR doesn't have much precip anywhere east of Puget Sound. 

[snow_wizard]

Just now, GHweatherChris said:

It can't be a problem right now, nothing is supposed to switch completely over anywhere for another couple hours.  Things are tracking right on cue so far, give or take.

I was commenting on why area south of there is cooling off better.  You can clearly see the east winds are going south of the Peninsula.

[Slushy Inch]

New gfs run really up snow rates from last run! And is an overall stronger system that is a bit farther east.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Snowing at cosmopoliss hill south of Chris 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

2 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

I was commenting on why area south of there is cooling off better.  You can clearly see the east winds are going south of the Peninsula.

They are cooling because they have precip. Nothing here Nothing in Port orchard

[GHweatherChris]

2 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Snowing at cosmopoliss hill south of Chris 

Yep its almost here!!

 

[Omegaraptor]

27 minutes ago, DeepFriedEgg said:

El Nino in Minneapolis, MN:

+3.7 F Nov 

+12.3 F Dec 

+5.9 F Jan 

+18.4 F Feb  so far with a 57F burger on Feb 8th

For comparison, the 1877-78 “Year Without A Winter”:

November -2.0

December +11.8

January +5.6

February +10.9

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Dewpoint is rapidly falling all of a sudden.  5 degrees drop in 10 mins

[SnowySeeker50]

Quite windy currently, 37f with dp28. Light flurries still.

[uwgraduate2021]

Getting some nice splats in the swamp!

[T-Town]

Finally raining here. Temp dropping fast, down to 40.3. 

[TacomaWx]

Down to 40 here and it looks like some light precip is falling out there. If things get interesting tonight it won’t be for a little while. Heavier precip will change things. 

[Slushy Inch]

1 minute ago, uwgraduate2021 said:

Getting some nice splats in the swamp!

Is that Tacoma or Portland?

[TacomaWx]

4 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Dewpoint is rapidly falling all of a sudden.  5 degrees drop in 10 mins

Radar looks healthy down south.