March 2024 Weather in the PNW

[Phishy Wx]

 

 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just now, Phishy Wx said:

 

 

Such a beautiful part of the world. 

[Phishy Wx]

dang

 

 

 

[Timmy]

5 hours ago, BLI snowman said:

Radar looks great, likely going to stay just a smidge too warm for accumulations though.

We ended up with a slushy trace here in town. I drove up on the hill to about 1200 feet there’s a solid foot there.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

1 hour ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

@DareDuck @Sunriver Snow Zone The Hrrrr is still throwing a ton of D-band snow into Deshutes County on Monday night/Tuesday morning. 

Really hoping for it to trend north, at this point anything is possible, from 2 feet to absolutely nothing. HRRRRRRRRR gave me about 18", hopefully it verifies. This has crazy good potential for us.

[Doinko]

I also decided to take a trip to the coast range, near Stub Stewart Park. It was snowing heavily throughout. This sign is just at around 750 feet I think.

 

[VancouverIslandSouth]

12 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

42F with some occasionally rain showers. 

My parents said it's snowing up in Nanoose now. Not even getting rain showers in Victoria, but it looks convective around Langford. 

[ShawniganLake]

18 minutes ago, VancouverIslandSouth said:

My parents said it's snowing up in Nanoose now. Not even getting rain showers in Victoria, but it looks convective around Langford. 

Looks like there might be some deformation setting up just to the NW of Duncan, with that small Low spinning towards southern Vancouver island right now.  Some flakes are mixing in around 1000ft towards Lake Cowichan but it isn’t sticking yet.  
 

This would have been an ideal low placement if we had any Fraser Outflow.  We would likely be getting absolutely crushed right now if that had happened 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Back down to 32 with this snow shower, very heavy snow, but not accumulating much beyond maybe 1/4". 

[TacomaWx]

1 hour ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Where is this?

Green mountain on the kitsap peninsula. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

My trucker friend said he had to use chains from Cave Junction to about Gasquet. I think we have a poster who has a place there. 

[TT-SEA]

Spotty light rain and 38 here and getting windy again.   40 in North Bend.   I don't even see snow falling up on the ridge.  Guessing precip is too light.  There is snow on the north side of the trees starting about 800 feet higher.   South sides of the trees are being cleared by south wind up here.

[VancouverIslandSouth]

4 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

Looks like there might be some deformation setting up just to the NW of Duncan, with that small Low spinning towards southern Vancouver island right now.  Some flakes are mixing in around 1000ft towards Lake Cowichan but it isn’t sticking yet.  
 

This would have been an ideal low placement if we had any Fraser Outflow.  We would likely be getting absolutely crushed right now if that had happened 

Yeah, probably comparable to Feb 2017 if that were the case. There's legitimate cold air in the BC interior and even outflow coming out of the north coast. This pattern is just kind of stuck with nothing to drive it through the Fraser.

Looks like the snow's starting to stick at sea level in Nanoose now:

[Groundhog]

2 hours ago, TT-SEA said:

I remain hopeful... timing is remaining steady or even moving up a little.  

Reminds me of a sweet little ditty from Seals & Croft circa ‘72. 

[ShawniganLake]

2 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Snow depth? 26" in January 2012. We got to about 24-25" in February 2019, and hit 20" in December 2021 and February 28, 2023. 

It’s not unusual to get depths over 18”here and the most I’ve ever seen is 38” in December 96.  Years with over 18” that come to mind are Jan 2005, Nov 2007, Dec 2007, Dec 2008, Jan 2009, Feb 2017, Feb 2019, Jan 2020, Feb 2021.  It is interesting that we basically always get all of our snow before March and you just seem to start piling it on come March.  

[TT-SEA]

8 minutes ago, Groundhog said:

Reminds me of a sweet little ditty from Seals & Croft circa ‘72. 

 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

21 minutes ago, TacomaWx said:

Green mountain on the kitsap peninsula. 

I live 2 miles as crow flies from the trail head. Was there about 4 inches there? They usually get a little more than me?

[TacomaWx]

1 minute ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

I live 2 miles as crow flies from the trail head. Was there about 4 inches there? They usually get a little more than me?

Yeah right when I got there it was about 4”. Mostly melted by the time I left I’m back in Tacoma now. Totally epic the amount of snow they had up there was awesome! 

[Perturbed Member]

50 minutes ago, Doinko said:

I also decided to take a trip to the coast range, near Stub Stewart Park. It was snowing heavily throughout. This sign is just at around 750 feet I think.

 

 

Great shots. I was there earlier too. Pretty nice spot. I do like going there to catch some nice winter weather. Kind of fun to walk around some of the trails in the snow.

If you keep driving up that road I think the main road tops out around 1200 or 1300 ft. Obviously the surrounding terrain has quite a bit higher elevation but I don't think you can drive to it. 

 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just now, ShawniganLake said:

It’s not unusual to get depths over 18”here and the most I’ve ever seen is 38” in December 96.  Years with over 18” that come to mind are Jan 2005, Nov 2007, Dec 2007, Dec 2008, Jan 2009, Feb 2017, Feb 2019, Jan 2020, Feb 2021.  It is interesting that we basically always get all of our snow before March and you just seem to start piling it on come March.  

Historically January can be a big month up here, but we all know about January's recent woes. The only really big snow event we have had in January was in 2012, the only major snow event we've had in December was 2021. We've had some nice cold snaps and long lasting snow cover in those months, but only two really big events. On the other hand we've had numerous big events in February, March, and even the April 2022 event. Historically speaking though, winters up here are definitely back loaded. It stands out in the historical record. There are some big single day events as early as the 2nd week of November, but big events that are multi day are very rare before mid-January. I'd say for a 10"+ event prime time is January 15-March 25th. December 2008 is pretty much unprecedented in the period of record. Our best patterns for snow are just general cold onshore flow like we are seeing right now, or being on the south side of an arctic boundary stalled around the Puget Sound with cold onshore flow to the south. Like November 2006, January 2012, December 2021. 

[DareDuck]

56 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Really hoping for it to trend north, at this point anything is possible, from 2 feet to absolutely nothing. HRRRRRRRRR gave me about 18", hopefully it verifies. This has crazy good potential for us.

Agreed. Hoping for a last minute jog north, but I don’t mind being slightly on the north side 24 hours out. 4” seems like a fairly safe bet, maybe 5-7” if things trend favorably. 

[Frontal Snowsquall]

5 hours ago, Perturbed Member said:

3rd day in a row of waking up to a light coating of snow. Still snowing here and the radar has been juicy but it is just a hair too warm to stick well. Probably doing well if you're above 500ft here.

Of course the Coast Range microclimate is delivering even at the lowest elevations:

I’m twice the elevation of Staleys Junction but it in some patterns it usually gets way more snow than me. Great location for cold-air damming aka Forest Grove effect out there.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

4 minutes ago, TacomaWx said:

Yeah right when I got there it was about 4”. Mostly melted by the time I left I’m back in Tacoma now. Totally epic the amount of snow they had up there was awesome! 

I still have 3 inches on the ground but I'm higher than that spot. In Feb 19 there was 5 feet up there at the top

[Frontal Snowsquall]

2 hours ago, TT-SEA said:

I remain hopeful... timing is remaining steady or even moving up a little.  

 

1 hour ago, the_convergence_zone said:

That’s a pretty big ridge for March. 
 

Looks likely, just a matter of how warm it gets. 

This would be a heatwave pattern in the summer.

[Frontal Snowsquall]

2 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Some pics posted recently on the community FB page from January 1969. 

I still can’t believe that was a moderate El Niño winter. If the warm tongue wasn’t as aggressive we definitely could have seen something like this back in January. 

[Perturbed Member]

Just now, Frontal Snowsquall said:

I’m twice the elevation of Staleys Junction but it in some patterns it usually gets way more snow than me. Great location for cold-air damming aka Forest Grove effect out there.

Cold air damming (and  upsloping) for sure helps that spot in offshore flow but with these kind of setups its more about how those low elevation areas are protected from the S/SW winds by the higher elevation parts of the coast range that extend east in areas south of there. 

Of course there is the usual effect of colder air near mountain peaks sinking and collecting in the valleys directly below. Places like Vernonia and even Staley's punch well above their weight due to that microclimate.  

[TT-SEA]

27 minutes ago, TacomaWx said:

Yeah right when I got there it was about 4”. Mostly melted by the time I left I’m back in Tacoma now. Totally epic the amount of snow they had up there was awesome! 

4 inches melted in an hour or two?   

[MossMan]

So is that it for the snow up in my area? 
2024/25 is going to rock! 

[Doinko]

29 minutes ago, Perturbed Member said:

 

Great shots. I was there earlier too. Pretty nice spot. I do like going there to catch some nice winter weather. Kind of fun to walk around some of the trails in the snow.

If you keep driving up that road I think the main road tops out around 1200 or 1300 ft. Obviously the surrounding terrain has quite a bit higher elevation but I don't think you can drive to it. 

 

Yeah, I wish I had some more time to check out the trails in the snow but It was fun to drive around and just check out the depth and to see the heavy snow at just 750ft. I might go check out higher elevations when the road conditions are slightly better.

[Omegaraptor]

Snow falling in Corvallis again, up to 3 days in a row now. A little bit stuck to the grass this morning too. Hopefully we'll make it 4 in a row tomorrow.

[TT-SEA]

Interesting seeing pics of so much snow at elevations below 1,000 feet down south along the coast range in Oregon.    

The snow line looks pretty high out here and in Issaquah.  And spring is in a holding pattern along Lake Sammamish Parkway... just waiting to explode with a few sunny, warm days.  

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just now, Omegaraptor said:

Snow falling in Corvallis again, up to 3 days in a row now. A little bit stuck to the grass this morning too. Hopefully we'll make it 4 in a row tomorrow.

Corvallis is probably the best place in the Willamette Valley for snow. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Seeing some pics on social media of some wet snow accumulation at Tillamook on the Oregon Coast. 

[Omegaraptor]

2 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Corvallis is probably the best place in the Willamette Valley for snow. 

Next winter is my last one here, hopefully we can finally get a 6"+ event. If we're solidly in a Nina by then I like our chances. December 2021 event happened during winter break so I haven't seen a snow accumulation of more than an inch or two here yet.

[Gummy]

34 minutes ago, Frontal Snowsquall said:

 

This would be a heatwave pattern in the summer.

 

Oh yes please and it will be during the weekend also! 60-65 and some sun sounds very pleasant and a nice change from this windy cold rain pattern.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just now, Omegaraptor said:

Next winter is my last one here, hopefully we can finally get a 6"+ event. If we're solidly in a Nina by then I like our chances. December 2021 event happened during winter break so I haven't seen a snow accumulation of more than an inch or two here yet.

I remember them having a great event in February 2011 when the rest of the valley got HOSED.

[ShawniganLake]

No snow pics from me today.  Just a rainy afternoon walk in the forest.  
 

 

[Doinko]

39 minutes ago, Perturbed Member said:

Cold air damming (and  upsloping) for sure helps that spot in offshore flow but with these kind of setups its more about how those low elevation areas are protected from the S/SW winds by the higher elevation parts of the coast range that extend east in areas south of there. 

Of course there is the usual effect of colder air near mountain peaks sinking and collecting in the valleys directly below. Places like Vernonia and even Staley's punch well above their weight due to that microclimate.  

Yeah, that was definitely visible when I went. This was at only ~300ft but it was relatively protected by those winds and it definitely looks like this area received a lot of snow the past few days (just off of highway 47)

 

[VancouverIslandSouth]

Heavy snow is working its way back into Nanaimo now. There was nothing there an hour ago.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Oh. Picked up about 1/2” in 15 minutes. Temp dropped to 30.