March 2024 Weather in the PNW

[Cascadia_Wx]

3 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

Tonight’s OT stuff immediately reminded me of this:

 

Speaking of breathtaking phenomena, personally I’d miss the second coming of Christ if it was scheduled the same day as the Grand Opening of the Ridgefield hypeburger place.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

45 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

Got pretty lucky in 2017...was with 5 friends and found a pretty isolated spot in the middle of nowhere (which is 99% of Wyoming). There were other people around, but we still had space. 

At the same time, having other people nearby was pretty cool because hearing everyone react to it at the same time sort of enhanced the experience. 

I also got to see that eclipse in Wyoming, on the summit of the Grand Teton, there were maybe 20-30 people up there which is by far the most I've see on thst summit, typically it's no more than 5 people. Seeing the shadow of the eclipse move towards you is an unforgettable experience, if any of yall ever have a chance to see an eclipse ontop of a mountain, do it. 

Here's a few pics, which does ZERO justice for the view. Solar eclipse pics are probably the thing that looks the least like it actually does in person.

[Phil]

14 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

I’m starting to feel better about this summer out here.

Okie dokie.  

[Deweydog]

4 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Speaking of breathtaking phenomena, personally I’d miss the second coming of Christ if it was scheduled the same day as the Grand Opening of the Ridgefield hypeburger place.

Cool.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

3 hours ago, Anti Marine Layer said:

What is wrong with DST?

Sunrises are too late this time of year with DST. If they want DST they should atleast wait till early April to start it.

 

A huge problem now is how much power it wastes, despite the fact that people use light bulbs less because of it. In the hot summer months, when it is very common for people to have air conditioning these days, the sun staying out for an hour longer in the evening will waste a LOT of electricity. Let's say you get home from work at 5, turn on the AC because it's too warm, what will save more electricity, leaving it on till around 8-9pm, or leaving it on till around 7-8pm? People don't need to have the AC on in the morning before they go to work, so although there will be 1 more hour of sun in the mornings, I do not think that uses nearly as much electricity as 1 extra hour of sun in the evening. That extra hour of AC until you can open your windows will waste a LOT of electricity.

I probably explained this terribly but I'm sure it still makes sense.

[the_convergence_zone]

4 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

I also got to see that eclipse in Wyoming, on the summit of the Grand Teton, there were maybe 20-30 people up there which is by far the most I've see on thst summit, typically it's no more than 5 people. Seeing the shadow of the eclipse move towards you is an unforgettable experience, if any of yall ever have a chance to see an eclipse ontop of a mountain, do it. 

Here's a few pics, which does ZERO justice for the view. Solar eclipse pics are probably the thing that looks the least like it actually does in person.

You had the same idea that I did! I went to Sawtooth Lake in Idaho with my buddy. We climbed up to the top of one of the mountains around the lake. There were supposed to be massive crowds but it ended up being about as many people as a typical summer weekend. Maybe a dozen up on this mountain but you could hear the cheers echoing through the wilderness when totality hit. I agree that no picture really describes it. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

I’m a bit bummed that I’ll miss the upcoming one but the timing and locations are less than ideal. New England was intriguing but the risk of cloud cover is too high to pick a single location. 

[Slushy Inch]

Nice gfs run. Just noticed it has snow in spots on the morning of the 26th 

[Phil]

22 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Sunrises are too late this time of year with DST. If they want DST they should atleast wait till early April to start it.

 

A huge problem now is how much power it wastes, despite the fact that people use light bulbs less because of it. In the hot summer months, when it is very common for people to have air conditioning these days, the sun staying out for an hour longer in the evening will waste a LOT of electricity. Let's say you get home from work at 5, turn on the AC because it's too warm, what will save more electricity, leaving it on till around 8-9pm, or leaving it on till around 7-8pm? People don't need to have the AC on in the morning before they go to work, so although there will be 1 more hour of sun in the mornings, I do not think that uses nearly as much electricity as 1 extra hour of sun in the evening. That extra hour of AC until you can open your windows will waste a LOT of electricity.

I probably explained this terribly but I'm sure it still makes sense.

The sun doesn’t “stay out longer”. And people would simply run their A/C more earlier in the day. Out here we usually have to run it 24/7 so it doesn’t make a difference anyway.

Standard time is shit and should be done away with entirely. Who the hell wants a 430AM sunrise? Or a 430pm sunset in the winter? Just stupid.

[TT-SEA]

ECMWF is really insistent.   Probably can ignore other models.   Also looks like it has a new shade for the lightest snow!

[LowerGarfield]

10 hours ago, Phishy Wx said:

PV gunna try to make another long extended cool spring into May.  winter may be 'over' per-se but doesn't eliminate the chance at a cool and/or wet extended spring like what was it '22? or '21.  no?

It was 22, which made for a less severe fire season in far Eastern WA.

[Slushy Inch]

6 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

ECMWF is really insistent.   Probably can ignore other models.   Also looks like it has a new shade for the lightest snow!

Looks sort of like gfs but gfs is delayed a lot.

[Slushy Inch]

Colder in BC this run.

[TT-SEA]

5 minutes ago, Slushy Inch said:

Colder in BC this run.

Day 10 on the surface map looks very much like the weather we had today. 

[The Blob]

So.... Anymore snow?

[Slushy Inch]

6 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

Day 10 on the surface map looks very much like the weather we had today. 

Does it though? The temperatures at 3pm day on day 10 are 45, today it got into the 50s.

[LowerGarfield]

3 hours ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Unfortunately true, but it's still the clearest state in the path of totality. I think it avgs around 50% cloud cover during the time of the eclipse, which is unfortunately a pretty high number. 

We planned to do the Dallas area and booked our hotel three years ago when one hotel (already sold out at that time) knew there was going to be an eclipse.  Our hotel at the time had an airport shuttle but at some point it was dropped. My son's spring break was then not matching. Then last year the hotel unaffiliated with our hotel chain of choice so we decided to cancel. 

Oddly my parents in CA had been inspired by our own plans so they made their own to visit Texas during the eclipse. Prices were high for them at their preferred hotel but they are going.

A trainer at my job volunteered that she is going to Texas for the eclipse. Another couple my parents know are taking their rv to South Texas.

[LowerGarfield]

1 hour ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

Sunrises are too late this time of year with DST. If they want DST they should atleast wait till early April to start it.

 

A huge problem now is how much power it wastes, despite the fact that people use light bulbs less because of it. In the hot summer months, when it is very common for people to have air conditioning these days, the sun staying out for an hour longer in the evening will waste a LOT of electricity. Let's say you get home from work at 5, turn on the AC because it's too warm, what will save more electricity, leaving it on till around 8-9pm, or leaving it on till around 7-8pm? People don't need to have the AC on in the morning before they go to work, so although there will be 1 more hour of sun in the mornings, I do not think that uses nearly as much electricity as 1 extra hour of sun in the evening. That extra hour of AC until you can open your windows will waste a LOT of electricity.

I probably explained this terribly but I'm sure it still makes sense.

You captured it perfectly!

[Cloud]

Welp, as fun as it was to see the winter folks returned to the forums for the winter months, it is almost time to say goodbye to them. It's the great annual spring and summer migration. Those of us that remains year round will have a party!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

46 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

I’m starting to feel better about this summer out here.

Me too. The CFS is actually pretty decent, near normal April-July. That's about as decent as it gets in the warm season. 

[snow_wizard]

Nice roller coast on the ECMWF.  Solid Canadian cold front drops down after the big ridge.  Good stuff!

[snow_wizard]

11 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Me too. The CFS is actually pretty decent, near normal April-July. That's about as decent as it gets in the warm season. 

It remains to be seen of course.  I'm still highly high skeptical of August being anything less than an utter torch.  I think we could see a pretty cool June and normalish July though.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

53 minutes ago, Phil said:

The sun doesn’t “stay out longer”. And people would simply run their A/C more earlier in the day. Out here we usually have to run it 24/7 so it doesn’t make a difference anyway.

Standard time is and should be done away with entirely. Who the hell wants a 430AM sunrise? Or a 430pm sunset in the winter? Just stupid.

You brought up multiple points I explained, did you even read my post completely?

To your first point, yeah no sh1t dude, only thing that changes is peoples work schedules relative to the sun schedules.

To your 2nd point that I already explained but I'll explain it again, in OUR PNW climate in this PNW forum the temperature outside is usually a good room temperature by the time people go to work, so there is never a need for AC in the morning, unless it is a extreme heatwave here. People have their AC on most in the afternoon/evening when they come back from work, and if the sun could set an hour earlier relative to when people come back from work, they won't need to have their AC on for as long. Again, I'm talking about a PNW climate, I don't much care for what it is in Maryland when I'm talking about DST on a PNW forum. Most nights here, you can open your windows, there is only a need for ac in the warm parts of the day.

Only thing I slightly agree with you on is a 4:30am sunrise is kind of early, but it hardly affects you if you're asleep, have some window blinds and you won't have a clue the sun is up until you wake up, and whenever you wakeup you will be glad the sun is out. Almost all sleep doctors still think standard time is better even in summer, I can't say I 100% know why because I don't, but I assume it is because a 9PM sunset isn't necessarily good for our sleep. They're the pros, I listen to them. 

1 last thing to my post that is probably too long I must ask, would you rather have a 8:50 sunrise and 5:30 sunset or a 7:50 sunrise and 4:30 sunset? The 2nd one will benefit the majority of work schedules. 

[snow_wizard]

46 minutes ago, The Blob said:

So.... Anymore snow?

Could be actually.

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

22 currently, should get well into the teens tonight. 

[snow_wizard]

48 minutes ago, Slushy Inch said:

Does it though? The temperatures at 3pm day on day 10 are 45, today it got into the 50s.

Day 10 on the ECMWF has a very legit cold air mass over us.  Continental also so the lows would be very impressive if it happens.  That is especially true for the night following 10.

[snow_wizard]

I'll be interested to see if we can get some cool continental air in the mid to late spring this year.  Haven't had one of those years in ages.  In the 1948 to mid 1970s period frost in May and even freezing mins in May were pretty easy to come by.

[TigerWoodsLibido]

It really sucks having a seizure at work. Nobody else knows what to do and I always feel like such a burden.

At least it's nice and chilly out. 39F with clear skies.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just now, TigerWoodsLibido said:

It really sucks having a seizure at work. Nobody else knows what to do and I always feel like such a burden.

At least it's nice and chilly out. 39F with clear skies.

Sorry to hear that.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Down to freezing. Always great to get a freeze.

[Slushy Inch]

59 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Day 10 on the ECMWF has a very legit cold air mass over us.  Continental also so the lows would be very impressive if it happens.  That is especially true for the night following 10.

Agreed.

[The Blob]

We ordered more concrete blocks to finish our third garden bed. I'm hoping to really go out on growing stuff this summer.

[Groundhog]

6 hours ago, Phil said:

The sun doesn’t “stay out longer”. And people would simply run their A/C more earlier in the day. Out here we usually have to run it 24/7 so it doesn’t make a difference anyway.

Standard time is and should be done away with entirely. Who the hell wants a 430AM sunrise? Or a 430pm sunset in the winter? Just stupid.

Well, here at 49.0594N and 122.3045W even with the time changes, sunrise peaks at 5:03am in June and sets by 4:16pm in early December. You get used to it. I really don’t care what’s chosen as the new standard time. 

[Groundhog]

5 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

I'll be interested to see if we can get some cool continental air in the mid to late spring this year.  Haven't had one of those years in ages.  In the 1948 to mid 1970s period frost in May and even freezing mins in May were pretty easy to come by.

In April 2000 in southern BC, we had snow to the valley floor of the Okanagan valley on April 14. Some regions saw a skiff, some had ~4”. Days prior was t-shirt weather. Arctic boundary slid about 100 miles south of the forecast. It was a novelty, but it was good to resume the sweet smells of spring after that surprise event. 

[TT-SEA]

6 hours ago, Slushy Inch said:

Does it though? The temperatures at 3pm day on day 10 are 45, today it got into the 50s.

Yes... day 10 actually did look very much like yesterday.  Maybe a couple degrees cooler but you can usually add a couple degrees to the ECMWF projected highs and it also showed a day with lingering clouds clearing after a trough.   The average person would probably not be able to tell the difference between those days.   I just thought it was interesting that the run ended with the same chilly weather at the start despite the warm spell in between.  

 

[TT-SEA]

Must be lots of spread in the ensembles... the EPS and GEFS don't show any major anomaly centers later in the month.

[Phishy Wx]

9 hours ago, Front Ranger said:

Can't enjoy a natural phenomenon unless you're in a state you feel politically safe.

Science. 

I was more concerned with the climate, but yeah you do you. Tony the Tiger

[Front Ranger]

7 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

I'll be interested to see if we can get some cool continental air in the mid to late spring this year.  Haven't had one of those years in ages.  In the 1948 to mid 1970s period frost in May and even freezing mins in May were pretty easy to come by.

Death to gardens.

[Front Ranger]

13 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

I was more concerned with the climate, but yeah you do you. Tony the Tiger

That would make more sense if we were talking summer. 

[MossMan]

A little frosty. Currently 32.4 degrees. 

[TT-SEA]

19 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

That would make more sense if we were talking summer. 

Texas in April is pretty nice.   And obviously if we are talking about viewing the eclipse then its the best spot statistically from a climate perspective.    If he was saying go somewhere else in early April to view the eclipse because the climate in Texas is crap then his comment makes no sense.