March 2024 Weather in the PNW

[MWG]

14 minutes ago, TigerWoodsLibido said:

43F with some clouds and sunbreaks.

I'll probably jinx it but I'm surprised we haven't reach to 40 yet. 

[TT-SEA]

5 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Totally Ninaesque MJO right now.  Interestingly the MJO was also in region 3 when we had the January blast.  3 is one of the better positions for us.

I don't know the specifics for March... but MJO phases mean very different things in each season.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

48 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

March sun destroys snow though.

In temps 28-29 or above yes, but it's 26 degrees here currently so the snow will be fine. In fact the sun just came out and there's only a bit of dripping, which is just making nice icicles. As long as it's cold enough, sun only makes the snow more beautiful. Couples pics of the view with the sun from a little bit ago, not from my place though, I am not rich enough to have a view like this.

[Cascadia_Wx]

4 minutes ago, TigerWoodsLibido said:

Jan was +1.9F

Feb +2.8F

Haven't had a below normal month since March of last year.

Ohhh you two.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

At my brothers place in Salem. 

[BLI snowman]

5 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Even the 19th century had awful winters like 1888-89.  I think 1930-31 was horrible here too.

I thought 1925-26 had a short January Arctic blast.  2014-15 had a nice late November snowfall / Arctic front that saved it from an F here.

We are certainly due for a turd sandwich, but it's highly unlikely to be next winter.

1891-92 and 1868-69 were both awful, as well.

You might be thinking of 1927 for the January event. 1925-26 had a low temp of 28 in Seattle with the lowest max for the winter at 39. I don't think either Portland or Seattle had a flake of snow that winter. Even Chilliwack only managed 0.5" that winter in late October, another victim of the Nino October curse.

[BLI snowman]

Just turned back to snow here with this line moving through.

[snow_wizard]

6 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

I don't know the specifics for March... but MJO phases mean very different things in each season.

For the way it effects mid latitude patterns you are correct.  

[snow_wizard]

4 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

1891-92 and 1868-69 were both awful, as well.

You might be thinking of 1927 for the January event. 1925-26 had a low temp of 28 in Seattle with the lowest max for the winter at 39. I don't think either Portland or Seattle had a flake of snow that winter. Even Chilliwack only managed 0.5" that winter in late October, another victim of the Nino October curse.

I know Jan 1927 was good.  I thought Jan 1926 had a short blast, but I was mistaken.  Maybe it was Jan 1924.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

12 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

At my brothers place in Salem. 

Are you home? Looks like you are getting blasted

[snow_wizard]

It appears time of day isn't going to be an issue for getting snow today.  Looks like some action is heading this way.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

2 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Are you home? Looks like you are getting blasted

No I’m in Salem at my brothers. 

[ShawniganLake]

43F and sunny with a gusty SW wind this afternoon. 

[RentonHill]

54 minutes ago, Cloud said:

Pretty sure @RentonHillwould agree with my assessment in the previous post! 

Yes. D probably cuz of the cold but I grade on a curve these days heavily skewed towards snow because the kids absolutely do not care about the cold…only snow matters for them 

[TT-SEA]

6 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

It appears time of day isn't going to be an issue for getting snow today.  Looks like some action is heading this way.

Went from sunshine to dumping snow back to sunshine here.   Snow never had a chance to start accumulating though.   More convective today it appears... which helps lower the snow level.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

It's too bad this precip wasn't at night. any potential for something like this to hit the lowlands tonight? Rooting for Salem and Eugene most.

[DareDuck]

Picked up about 1.5” since yesterday in Bend. Sun is out but not melting where it’s shady. March sun doing its work in other areas. 39” on the season, just over 3” to go match last year's total. Monday could help us get there. This year is probably a B with a chance of bumping up to B+ if Monday is good. 16-17 and 92-93 are the A+ years here. 2019 was an A. Last year was probably on the border of B+/A-

[Cascadia_Wx]

12z EPS. Looks like things stay on the chilly side through at least mid month. Some ridging around the weekend of St. Patty’s day wouldn’t surprise me too much.

[Tyler Mode]

Nice little hail/snow shower right now.  38.

[VancouverIslandSouth]

4 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

43F and sunny with a gusty SW wind this afternoon. 

Looks quite snowy up around Comox. March has been such a dud month in Victoria. In the 8 years I've been at my current location I've only recorded about an inch of total accumulation. Definitely my least favorite month of the year weatherwise. I've got to start prioritizing vacations for this month rather than Nov - Feb.

Seems like the main band is north of Campbell River now:

 

[Deweydog]

1 hour ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Yes, it’s going to happen. Looks transitory, we likely see a big trough carving out around or after the 20th as the high pressure moves more west. 

My wife agrees

[Tyler Mode]

Another trough, followed by a nice ridge as I head up to Alaska.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Heavy snow and grappel shower 35 degrees. Definitely colder today 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Wow all snow now. Every shower today has been frozen. Down to 33.8

Edited March 2 by MR.SNOWMIZER

[FroYoBro]

The radar looks pretty active SW of here. I think the Portland area will see some more snow showers this evening. 

[T-Town]

Nice little grauple squall in progress. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

These showers are moving to fast

This one dropped temp almost to 32 and I have light snow falling

 It's not even that wet, it's falling slow and just drifting around in the air. 

[snow_wizard]

The 18z GFS sucks because it doesn't hook the moisture around the south slopes of the Olympics Sunday night.  That is due to the flow being more southerly at the 850mb level vs the 12z.  Hope it's wrong.

[SnowySeeker50]

40f and graupel

[snow_wizard]

8 minutes ago, SnowySeeker50 said:

40f and graupel

Looks like the area of precip has gotten pretty small on the radar though.  Pretty frustrating.

[T-Town]

2 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Looks like the area of precip has gotten pretty small on the radar though.  Pretty frustrating.

Yeah it looked big and juicy coming in but it only lasted for at most ten minutes. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Uhhhh 

[FroYoBro]

That shower just west of Corvallis looks fun.

[Cold Snap]

Picking up my brother from the airport and getting some positive splats at SEA right now.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

4 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Uhhhh 

More fake snow, this time with 534 heights lol. God

[TigerWoodsLibido]

47F and mostly cloudy.

[Cold Snap]

1 minute ago, Cold Snap said:

Picking up my brother from the airport and getting some positive splats at SEA right now.

Currently at the arrivals with a rain snow mix coming down.

[RentonHill]

Temp dropped 8 degrees with this line of showers and now all snow

[SnowWillarrive]

34 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

The 18z GFS sucks because it doesn't hook the moisture around the south slopes of the Olympics Sunday night.  That is due to the flow being more southerly at the 850mb level vs the 12z.  Hope it's wrong.

Of course. Always finds a way to screw us. The conversational snow today is nice at least. 

[snow_wizard]

Models show some decent action this evening.  I'm not holding my breath, but it looks possible.  So far everything has just fallen flat here.