February 2024 Weather in the PNW

[Phishy Wx]

5 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

One very sad note to this, however, is they reintroduced wolves to the Selkirk Mountains in WA, and they wiped out the last remaining caribou herd in the lower 48.  That was a royal F up.

well time to replace the Caribou herd.  nature gunna nature.  both were historically present.  the imbalance is the issue, not the wolves 

[TacomaWx]

Just started lightly snowing here in snoqualmie. Probably won’t last too long though. Going to be a busy couple days for me. 5” of snowmelt up here then a couple inches of rain tomorrow. That’s a lotta water. Hoping that we can manage some snow in Tacoma later this week if we’re lucky. 

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

12 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

I'm hoping for more cold and less wet.

Sunny and warm on the weekends, with 1 mountain snowstorm every week tuesday-thursday. That sounds perfect.

[Front Ranger]

1 hour ago, snow_wizard said:

Totally agree on the 4CH, and the Arctic situation you mention makes sense too.  Maybe our trend toward more distinct seasons will be long lasting.

More cold ENSO years it seems as well.  That hasn't meant cool summers like it used to.  That 4CH has been a beast.  Even at that a cool summer almost has to happen at some point.

I'm not really sure that's been it most summers. Last summer, for instance, did not have anything crazy.

[Front Ranger]

It seems like the summer warmth in the PNW (which has been easily greater than anywhere else in the country the past decade or so, anomaly-wise) has been driven simply by very persistent above normal heights over the region. More so than a persistently strong 4CH.

 

[Phishy Wx]

Just now, Front Ranger said:

It seems like the summer warmth in the PNW (which has been easily greater than anywhere else in the country the past decade or so, anomaly-wise) has been driven simply by very persistent above normal heights over the region. More so than a persistently strong 4CH.

 

well there is a reason for those persistent heights that are not too far way from becoming a Climatologically persistent feature 

[Front Ranger]

2 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

well there is a reason for those persistent heights that are not too far way from becoming a Climatologically persistent feature 

What is the reason they have been centered so persistently over the PNW, and not other places?

[ShawniganLake]

5 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

It seems like the summer warmth in the PNW (which has been easily greater than anywhere else in the country the past decade or so, anomaly-wise) has been driven simply by very persistent above normal heights over the region. More so than a persistently strong 4CH.

 

Yea. I agree.  A lot of home grown heat on top of the occasional bulge northward from the 4CH.

[iFred]

56 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

indeed, but could also be exaggerated or exacerbated  by it

SO2 emissions dropped off in 2020 and lines up with a termination shock-esque jump in Pacific sea surface temps.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-low-sulphur-shipping-rules-are-affecting-global-warming/

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Interested to see how the next week or two shake out. Would be nice to get some snow and then have some pleasant clear days with cold nights. We’ve had very few clear cold nights this year. 

[Frontal Snowsquall]

35 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

Which model do they prefer?

The GFS!

[Front Ranger]

1 minute ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Interested to see how the next week or two shake out. Would be nice to get some snow and then have some pleasant clear days with cold nights. We’ve had very few clear cold nights this year. 

And that could be the main reason OLM has run warmer than most other places in western WA, compared to normal.

[BLI snowman]

73 in Chicago right now after a low of 55. 

Typical winter!!

[ShawniganLake]

1 minute ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Interested to see how the next week or two shake out. Would be nice to get some snow and then have some pleasant clear days with cold nights. We’ve had very few clear cold nights this year. 

Outside of that week in January it’s been a pretty big snooze fest of a winter.  Cloudy, mild and occasionally damp.  The only 2 events that stick out in my mind are the January event and the wacky October snowstorm here. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

37 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

One very sad note to this, however, is they reintroduced wolves to the Selkirk Mountains in WA, and they wiped out the last remaining caribou herd in the lower 48.  That was a royal F up.

That’s not good, but overall they went from being minus one species to minus another species.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

1 minute ago, BLI snowman said:

73 in Chicago right now after a low of 55. 

Typical winter!!

Good for them! If it isn't cold or snowy, what's the point of suffering in 40-60 degree weather. Might as well embrace the warmth! It's not like they have Glaciers to worry about.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Wet flurries. 40.3˚F.

[BLI snowman]

4 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

Outside of that week in January it’s been a pretty big snooze fest of a winter.  Cloudy, mild and occasionally damp.  The only 2 events that stick out in my mind are the January event and the wacky October snowstorm here. 

Looking like yet another winter without a significant south wind event here. 

They seem to fully be a thing of the past at this point. 

[ShawniganLake]

Been snowing lightly here the past hour or so.  The snow is melting faster than it’s falling though with a temp in the mid 30s and a bright overcast sky. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Wet flurries. 40.3˚F.

Well, that escalated quickly. Full on light to moderate snow now.

[BLI snowman]

3 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Good for them! If it isn't cold or snowy, what's the point of suffering in 40-60 degree weather. Might as well embrace the warmth! It's not like they have Glaciers to worry about.

Looks like a decent chance for some supercells/tornadoes in the region this evening.

Most folks probably prefer to take their winter warmth without a side of baseballs and mobile home debris raining down. 

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

@Phil Wellness check..

[AlTahoe]

The very rare blizzard warning has gone out for us. 

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

Where's @Phil

[MossMan]

5 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Where's @Phil

His forecast of the west roasting for the remainder of the season didn’t quite come to be…

[Rubus Leucodermis]

6 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Where's @Phil

Did he yet again confidently predict winter to be over for the West recently?

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

4 minutes ago, AlTahoe said:

The very rare blizzard warning has gone out for us. 

How often do you get blizzards around there, a couple times a year? Around here we usually get a blizzard every year or two, this year we got a pretty intense one on Jan 9th.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Back to just wet flurries. 39.2˚F.

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

8 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Where's @Phil

He is probably sunbathing by a pool somewhere.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Did he yet again confidently predict winter to be over for the West recently?

Yeah, I think he was saying that in late January/early February, it sure didn't pan out too well for him. Right now he's probably looking for proof that we will torch next winter, and we'll have a el nino.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

1 minute ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

He is probably sunbathing by a pool somewhere.

He's probably sunbathing on a tall roof, he's good at being up on those.

[ShawniganLake]

17 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Well, that escalated quickly. Full on light to moderate snow now.

Evening commute could be fun over there.  A quick thump of heavy wet snow late this afternoon. Maybe 2-3” at higher levels.  Too bad tomorrow is looking like 2” of rain and temps in the mid 40s. 
 

I wonder if the far Northern sections of east Vancouver island might not mix out later tonight.  Somewhere up around Campbell River could get a lot of snow inland from the ocean. 

[ShawniganLake]

5 minutes ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

He is probably sunbathing by a pool somewhere.

 

[MossMan]

Got a few rando snowflakes falling again! 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

3 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

Evening commute could be fun over there.  A quick thump of heavy wet snow late this afternoon. Maybe 2-3” at higher levels.  Too bad tomorrow is looking like 2” of rain and temps in the mid 40s.

I wonder if the far Northern sections of east Vancouver island might not mix out later tonight.  Somewhere up around Campbell River could get a lot of snow inland from the ocean. 

Pretty much every winter here features at least one commute catastrophe wherein a snowfall begins during a workday and some folks don’t reach home until after midnight.

I've pretty much decided to make another moving trip starting tomorrow, because I expect the roads to be 100% clear by late morning. If the Friday snowfall fizzles tomorrow, will extend the trip to Friday (I have plenty of sorting and packing to do). If Friday looks snowy, will return Thursday.

[AlTahoe]

12 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

How often do you get blizzards around there, a couple times a year? Around here we usually get a blizzard every year or two, this year we got a pretty intense one on Jan 9th.

They are very rare for the Sierra. Maybe only the 3rd or 4th one in the last 25 years up here. We don't get ground blizzards generally because of our wet snow. 

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

18z NAM, HRRRRRRRRR, and NAM 3KM were all pretty decent. NAM3km is pretty good for Puget Sound weenies, and all 3 give some of the willamete valley weenies snow. Currently seems like Eugene/Springfield will do the best.

[Front Ranger]

30 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Looks like a decent chance for some supercells/tornadoes in the region this evening.

Most folks probably prefer to take their winter warmth without a side of baseballs and mobile home debris raining down. 

Meteorological spring is basically here.

[jcmcgaffey]

45 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

What is the reason they have been centered so persistently over the PNW, and not other places?

I may be way off on this but that area of above normal heights seems to sit in an area for 7-10 years and then re-establishes again somewhere else for another 7-10 year period. It was in Texas for a while during those big drought years then was in California and now here. 

[Front Ranger]

23 minutes ago, AlTahoe said:

The very rare blizzard warning has gone out for us. 

Nice!

We had a rare snow squall warning this morning. Picked up 2" in 45 minutes.