March 2024 Weather in the PNW

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

34 currently and a low of 29, picked up ¾" of snow earlier. Had a racoon wake me up this morning because its lazy a*s was begging for food, the tourists at the neighbor AIRBNBS must be feeding him.

 

KEEP YOUR TRASH PANDAS OFF OF MY GOD*MN PROPERTY @GHweatherChris!!!!

[the_convergence_zone]

12 hours ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

I'm curious, what's the coldest high temp and low temp for everyone this year, total snowfall, and largest Snow event?

-7 low here which is maybe slightly cooler than our average coldest low, coldest high of 2 which was a midnight high, daytime high was -1 that day. 84" seasonal snow total (so far), largest 24hr event of 21" but it was probably more than that, because fluffy sub zero snow compacts VERY easily. 

25/14 on January 13 was my coldest high/low. 

Total snowfall was ~0.5". Largest event was ~0.5" on Jan 11. I had a trace a few other times.

That makes two consecutive winters without a single snow event of 1" or more. 

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

21 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

34 currently and a low of 29, picked up ¾" of snow earlier. Had a racoon wake me up this morning because its lazy a*s was begging for food, the tourists at the neighbor AIRBNBS must be feeding him.

 

KEEP YOUR TRASH PANDAS OFF OF MY GOD*MN PROPERTY @GHweatherChris!!!!

He is cute. 

[Phishy Wx]

looks like a possible 70 BURGER!!!!! (that's for Andrew) next Tuesday

[Cascadia_Wx]

Lots of showers overnight and a low of 41 here. Which is our coolest low in a couple weeks. Been on a pretty good run of mild nights since the mid month heatwave.

Ended up with a 56/43 when all was said and done yesterday.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Wow the GEM gets KOLD!

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

Last 3 mornings have been a low around 33, frost each morning.

[Phil]

12 hours ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

I'm curious, what's the coldest high temp and low temp for everyone this year, total snowfall, and largest Snow event?

-7 low here which is maybe slightly cooler than our average coldest low, coldest high of 2 which was a midnight high, daytime high was -1 that day. 84" seasonal snow total (so far), largest 24hr event of 21" but it was probably more than that, because fluffy sub zero snow compacts VERY easily. 

Coldest day was 20/11 which isn’t impressive (last winter had better cold extremes despite being the warmest winter on record), however it stayed below freezing for a full week, so vibes were very different this yr.

Total snow ~ 13.5”, but 80% of it fell during that cold period so we had roughly 2 weeks of unbroken snowcover before the blowtorch resumed and melted it all in 36hrs. Peak snow depth was ~ 11”, largest single snowfall ~ 6”.

And there was blowing snow for 2 days between storms which was low key interesting to me. Nothing like the epic ground blizzard in 2015 but better than typical dry/snowless downsloping wind that dominates every winter.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

8 minutes ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

Last 3 mornings have been a low around 33, frost each morning.

Lyfe in the rain shadow 

[Frontal Snowsquall]

38 minutes ago, Phishy Wx said:

looks like a possible 70 BURGER!!!!! (that's for Andrew) next Tuesday

Mid 60s for Easter Sunday but both Monday and Tuesday could be 70  

 

[Cascadia_Wx]

12z GEFS through about day 10. Looks like this ridge will break down pretty quickly although we’re not out of the woods yet.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Just now, Cascadia_Wx said:

12z GEFS through about day 10. Looks like this ridge will break down pretty quickly although we’re not out of the woods yet.

Not to worry, a lot of that will this summer.

[Phil]

 

[Deweydog]

Breezy!

[TT-SEA]

12 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Not to worry, a lot of that will this summer.

EPS and GEFS also hinting at another ridge after the cool down.  Matt has an acronym for this evolution.   Maybe heading right back into the woods that we aren't even out of yet... because 60s are so unusual for April.  

[Front Ranger]

3 hours ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Wet morning. We desperately need this rain. 

Tim definitely needs it more.

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

1 minute ago, Front Ranger said:

Tim definitely needs it more.

Interesting. I am already at 7.5" on the year, which is twice what I had at this point last year. I thought we were doing well, but I guess not. 

[Cascadia_Wx]

Looks like a hefty line of showers is approaching the Portland metro this morning.

[Front Ranger]

4 minutes ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

Interesting. I am already at 7.5" on the year, which is twice what I had at this point last year. I thought we were doing well, but I guess not. 

Can't speak to your location, but looks like Port Angeles averages around 8-9" in Jan-Mar.

Last year was wack.

[TT-SEA]

10 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

Tim definitely needs it more.

We have much more cushion out here.   Drier than normal is still plenty wet in the rainy season.  

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

1 hour ago, the_convergence_zone said:

25/14 on January 13 was my coldest high/low. 

Total snowfall was ~0.5". Largest event was ~0.5" on Jan 11. I had a trace a few other times.

That makes two consecutive winters without a single snow event of 1" or more. 

Jeez, I got more snow from this non event last night than you did all season. Brutal. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

 

[the_convergence_zone]

2 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

We have much more cushion out here.   Drier than normal is still plenty wet in the rainy season.  

Yep, most of the excess just runs off. Snowpack is the problem, it's around the 5th worst year in the past ~30 years in most of Washington. 

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

1 hour ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

He is cute. 

Yeah racoons are pretty cute, although annoying. My post was mostly joking.

[Cascadia_Wx]

2 minutes ago, the_convergence_zone said:

Yep, most of the excess just runs off. Snowpack is the problem, it's around the 5th worst year in the past ~30 years in most of Washington. 

Any academic papers on that? 

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

13 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

Can't speak to your location, but looks like Port Angeles averages around 8-9" in Jan-Mar.

Last year was wack.

Sounds about right. I'm about 85% of PA averages. A little closer to the shadow

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

16 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

Can't speak to your location, but looks like Port Angeles averages around 8-9" in Jan-Mar.

Last year was wack.

Still got work to do here it seems...

[Sunriver Snow Zone]

12z GFS succkkksss, 3 bad runs in a row now, but atleast there were 2 good ones in a row before that. GEM ensemble mean shows 40% cloud cover for the eclipse, there's still hope!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

The idea that most of our rain runs off and doesn’t percolate into the ground and recharge ground water supplies is… interesting. 

[the_convergence_zone]

2 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

The idea that most of our rain runs off and doesn’t percolate into the ground and recharge ground water supplies is… interesting. 

I didn't know it was controversial that streamflow increases when it rains. 

[TT-SEA]

4 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

The idea that most of our rain runs off and doesn’t percolate into the ground and recharge ground water supplies is… interesting. 

You have actually said as much in reference to your area.   Not most of the rain... but the difference between 85 inches and 100 inches is likely not significant in terms of water supply.   And in fact much of it does run off during heavy rain events when we run up our annual total as evidenced by rivers rising fast and flooding issues.

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

10 minutes ago, Sunriver Snow Zone said:

12z GFS succkkksss, 3 bad runs in a row now, but atleast there were 2 good ones in a row before that. GEM ensemble mean shows 40% cloud cover for the eclipse, there's still hope!

GFS is blanking the entire US for the eclipse. 

[Front Ranger]

14 minutes ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

Sounds about right. I'm about 85% of PA averages. A little closer to the shadow

I'd imagine you got more precip than them with the N/NE flow with the January blast, though?

[Phil]

8 minutes ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

GFS is blanking the entire US for the eclipse. 

Ensemble clusters still look good in OH.  

[the_convergence_zone]

26 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Any academic papers on that? 

I'm actually curious to know if there is evidence for lower groundwater supplies in western WA/OR after a water year with 80-90% of normal precipitation vs. one with 110-120% of normal. I've always assumed that the groundwater supply fully recharges in winter. 

Completely different story east of the Cascades, obviously. 

[Phil]

Re: eclipse. -NAO/Archambault pattern to open April suggests cyclogenesis in NE US in the days leading up to the eclipse. That signal is pretty strong.

Which suggests that, by eclipse day, confluence will be sliding off eastern Canada and high pressure will be building into OH Valley if not already present. So I like odds for clear skies from OH/IN into NY.

Plains/Central US more vulnerable to WAA/clouds ahead of the next storm system by that point. 

[Front Ranger]

11 minutes ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

GFS is blanking the entire US for the eclipse. 

The eclipse may be eclipsed.

[Cascadia_Wx]

12 minutes ago, the_convergence_zone said:

I'm actually curious to know if there is evidence for lower groundwater supplies in western WA/OR after a water year with 80-90% of normal precipitation vs. one with 110-120% of normal. I've always assumed that the groundwater supply fully recharges in winter. 

Completely different story east of the Cascades, obviously. 

Let’s just assume that below average rainfall is the same for water supply as average or above. I mean even when we hit average it just feels like too much rain to me, personally.

#science

Edited March 28 by Cascadia_Wx

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

17 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

I'd imagine you got more precip than them with the N/NE flow with the January blast, though?

Yeah, we just don't get that setup a lot. 

[TT-SEA]

2 minutes ago, Cascadia_Wx said:

Let’s just assume less rain is just the same.

It might well be in some areas that average way more rainfall than is required to recharge aquifers.   Full is full.   Pretty simple concept.