September 2024 PNW Weather Discussion

[Meatyorologist]

3 minutes ago, Jbolin said:

It WAS sensational.

That was until the temp rose into the upper 30's low 40's resulting in flooding, carports, marina roofs and trees collapsing, boats being sunk, no power for days, etc, etc. 

Yea, it was "fukin' great" 

You see, all you're doing is advertising it even better. Such chaos!

[Meatyorologist]

>gets 3 feet of snow

>deals with 3 feet of snow

Don't ask for pepto if you're not prepared!

[MossMan]

2 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

You see, all you're doing is advertising it even better. Such chaos!

The more chaos the better the event! And that one was insanely chaotic! 

Edited September 4 by MossMan

[snow_wizard]

4 minutes ago, Jbolin said:

It WAS sensational.

That was until the temp rose into the upper 30's low 40's resulting in flooding, carports, marina roofs and trees collapsing, boats being sunk, no power for days, etc, etc. 

Yea, it was "fukin' great" 

Yup.  It was just a tad ugly for my taste.  We never got the clear and cold weather after the snow fell that makes it so special.  We did have one morning that dropped to 20 or something like when the deep snow was on the ground and that was super nice.  Ugliest melt off ever though.

[Jbolin]

Just now, MossMan said:

The more chaos the better the event! 

I rest my case

[Front Ranger]

1 hour ago, Tenochtitlan said:

It’s too bad the Seattle stations didn’t measure snow in 1996. 

It would have been unreal to experience that storm in Bellingham or north Seattle. I think the highest snow depth I’ve seen in the places I lived has only been 10 or 11” (Seattle, Feb 2021 and Bellingham in Feb 2019).

The most I ever saw in Tacoma was 9" at the very end of Dec 1996. Only lasted for half a day though.

[snow_wizard]

2 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

>gets 3 feet of snow

>deals with 3 feet of snow

Don't ask for pepto if you're not prepared!

Jan 1880 you can change those depths to 6 feet.  Can't even imagine that.  BTW I'm not sure anywhere really got 3 feet in 1996 in the Seattle area.  You know how people exaggerate.  I think I had like 18 inches on the ground at one point, and I was in a good spot.

[snow_wizard]

2 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

The most I ever saw in Tacoma was 9" at the very end of Dec 1996. Only lasted for half a day though.

That was round 2.

I think there was a very brief time snow depths could have peaked pretty high when that second round fell on top of the already thick layer.  That was a very short window though.

[Tenochtitlan]

1 minute ago, Front Ranger said:

The most I ever saw in Tacoma was 9" at the very end of Dec 1996. Only lasted for half a day though.

That’s not bad. Was there any ice there?

[BLI snowman]

13 minutes ago, MV_snow said:

Interesting. I’m unfamiliar with PDX geography, but what makes Forest Grove such a good spot? I would’ve thought it’d be shadowed by the Coast Range somewhat plus I’ve heard a lot about Failshington County from some posters here.

Cold air damming against the Coast Range during any easterly flow. Very similar to what they see along the Hood Canal. 

It tends to be limited to areas within 10 or so miles of the mountains though, so the 'Failshington' stuff is usually referring to Hillsboro and some of the more inner suburbs. Although I would say Hillsboro tends to do okay and a little better than Portland on average for snowfall, just not as good as places further west.

The really sucky areas in the metro tend to be Tigard, Milwaukie/Oak Grove, Oregon City, and of course Wilsonville which is often a nose hair too far south to benefit from the deeper cold with the gorge and much more susceptible to the southerly pushes. 
 

[Jbolin]

The one thing about Dec 1996 that still sits in the back of my mind is seeing LITERAL waterfall curtains cascading off the sides of the aurora bridge (which had barely been plowed) because of all the rain runoff from Queen Anne. 

Absolute banana's, man. 

[Tenochtitlan]

Since we’re waxing nostalgic about past winters, here are a few more from Bellingham in December 2022. The first picture is just after the snow. After a couple frigid days, a major ice storm hit…

[snow_wizard]

2 minutes ago, Jbolin said:

The one thing about Dec 1996 that still sits in the back of my mind is seeing LITERAL waterfall curtains cascading off the sides of the aurora bridge (which had barely been plowed) because of all the rain runoff from Queen Anne. 

Absolute banana's, man. 

Just plain gross when it got to that point.

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, Tenochtitlan said:

Since we’re waxing nostalgic about past winters, here are a few more from Bellingham in December 2022. The first picture is just after the snow. After a couple frigid days, a major ice storm hit…

That's some serious ice alright.  That is one thing my area does pretty well on.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

My uncle lived in Bellingham in 96’. Seems like they got a lot. We had a lot of 55 degree rain, and about 1” of snow on the 27th I believe was the day. Which was nice, but we were back in the mid50s by late evening. 

Edited September 4 by SilverFallsAndrew

[MossMan]

13 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Yup.  It was just a tad ugly for my taste.  We never got the clear and cold weather after the snow fell that makes it so special.  We did have one morning that dropped to 20 or something like when the deep snow was on the ground and that was super nice.  Ugliest melt off ever though.

Up here we had nearly a foot between the 26th and 27th with it below freezing the entire time. Then the additional 2 feet the night of the 28th/morning of the 29th. 

[Jbolin]

10 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Just plain gross when it got to that point.

Yup 

[MV_snow]

16 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Cold air damming against the Coast Range during any easterly flow. Very similar to what they see along the Hood Canal. 

It tends to be limited to areas within 10 or so miles of the mountains though, so the 'Failshington' stuff is usually referring to Hillsboro and some of the more inner suburbs. Although I would say Hillsboro tends to do okay and a little better than Portland on average for snowfall, just not as good as places further west.

The really sucky areas in the metro tend to be Tigard, Milwaukie/Oak Grove, Oregon City, and of course Wilsonville which is often a nose hair too far south to benefit from the deeper cold with the gorge and much more susceptible to the southerly pushes. 
 

The Hood Canal analogy makes sense, thanks.

I’ve also wondered why northern Clark seems to do better than Portland. I would’ve thought it’d have the same problems as the southern burbs when it comes to benefiting from the gorge. Is it because the Columbia curves north past PDX and they’re able to get some outflow? I don’t think Longview is a particularly great spot, though. I guess they might have too much marine influence given their direct connection to AST via the Columbia…

[Front Ranger]

17 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

That’s not bad. Was there any ice there?

Yeah, there was about 4" of snow with round one, then a bunch ice. Then two days later heavy snow to rain.

Second most I saw in Tacoma was about 7" towards the end of January 2004 events. Then ice to rain about 12 hours later.

[Front Ranger]

25 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Jan 1880 you can change those depths to 6 feet.  Can't even imagine that.  BTW I'm not sure anywhere really got 3 feet in 1996 in the Seattle area.  You know how people exaggerate.  I think I had like 18 inches on the ground at one point, and I was in a good spot.

Whatcom County definitely had 3' in spots.

[Tenochtitlan]

20 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

That's some serious ice alright.  That is one thing my area does pretty well on.

That was the worst ice storm I ever saw…it was starting to get dangerous by the end there with falling trees. 

[Tenochtitlan]

7 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

Yeah, there was about 4" of snow with round one, then a bunch ice. Then two days later heavy snow to rain.

Second most I saw in Tacoma was about 7" towards the end of January 2004 events. Then ice to rain about 12 hours later.

I think Seattle had about 7” in January 2004 too. That was the only snow event I have much memory of until November 2006. (I remember 1996 very vaguely, I was three then.) It snowed all day and at the end some sleet fell. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

10 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

Yeah, there was about 4" of snow with round one, then a bunch ice. Then two days later heavy snow to rain.

Second most I saw in Tacoma was about 7" towards the end of January 2004 events. Then ice to rain about 12 hours later.

That January 2004 event was legit. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Rail Ridge Fire in Grant/Crook county has exploded to 61,000 acres since starting yesterday.

[BLI snowman]

Absolutely nothing beats subfreezing sunshine + deep snowcover. A true unicorn in our region.

The two times that I've seen 12"+ on the ground here with some degree of sunshine:

January 12, 2017, which was brilliantly sunny and coooold

 

and December 22, 2008, during an oh so brief parting of the skies before the snow skies returned!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Models are playing catch up on the smoke with these fires exploding east side. Could screw up the 100+ temps just like 2017 and 2020.

[BLI snowman]

36 minutes ago, MV_snow said:

The Hood Canal analogy makes sense, thanks.

I’ve also wondered why northern Clark seems to do better than Portland. I would’ve thought it’d have the same problems as the southern burbs when it comes to benefiting from the gorge. Is it because the Columbia curves north past PDX and they’re able to get some outflow? I don’t think Longview is a particularly great spot, though. I guess they might have too much marine influence given their direct connection to AST via the Columbia…

Yep pretty much. We're in a relative sweet spot where we still benefit from the gorge and some deeper cold air, and are blocked a little from the onshore pushes that drift into Longview from the west. The gorge influence often extends up at least partially to about Woodland, where the hills just to their north will trap it a little. 

At my location I actually see very little east wind surface, but still benefit from the bleed-out. February 8-9, 2019 is maybe the only time I've ever seen that screw me, where places right near the river got dumped on with a just-cold-enough layer while we wasted a few hours on 33 degree rain. Probably my karma for doubting that winter...

 

Edited September 4 by BLI snowman

[Rubus Leucodermis]

58 minutes ago, Jbolin said:

It WAS sensational.

That was until the temp rose into the upper 30's low 40's resulting in flooding, carports, marina roofs and trees collapsing, boats being sunk, no power for days, etc, etc. 

Yea, it was "fukin' great" 

Try well into the 50’s. It went from feet of snow to a full-on pineapple express basically at the flip of a switch. I experienced it. It was crazy.

[MossMan]

15 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Absolutely nothing beats subfreezing sunshine + deep snowcover. A true unicorn in our region.

The two times that I've seen 12"+ on the ground here with some degree of sunshine:

January 12, 2017, which was brilliantly sunny and coooold

 

and December 22, 2008, during an oh so brief parting of the skies before the snow skies returned!

It’s absolutely the best! 

[iFred]

56 minutes ago, Meatyorologist said:

>gets 3 feet of snow

>deals with 3 feet of snow

Don't ask for pepto if you're not prepared!

Which is why I only root for lawn toppers and heavy frost, but even then the cold has a detrimental impact to society. Come to think of it, I guess most of you are morally repugnant for taking any kind of joy in the harm of others, even those devastated by marine pushes.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 hours ago, Tenochtitlan said:

It would have been unreal to experience that storm in Bellingham or north Seattle. I think the highest snow depth I’ve seen in the places I lived has only been 10 or 11” (Seattle, Feb 2021 and Bellingham in Feb 2019).

I measured 23" on my deck in Shoreline AFTER it had switched over to pineapple mode and been raining and in the 50's for a few hours.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

13 minutes ago, MossMan said:

It’s absolutely the best! 

We had some nights like that in February/March. Did hit 19 with almost 2’ of snow in December 2021, but that one kind of under performed on lows. Sometimes I feel it takes an act of god to get a nice clear night here during our snowiest patterns, but given our best patterns are cold onshore flow it makes sense. 

Edited September 4 by SilverFallsAndrew

[Tenochtitlan]

3 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

I measured 23" on my deck in Shoreline AFTER it had switched over to pineapple mode and been raining and in the 50's for a few hours.

Wow! 

Our climate really does those 1-in-100 year events well, considering how our annual snow averages are relatively low. (Actually not sure if that was 1-in-100 or not)

[Tenochtitlan]

4 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

I measured 23" on my deck in Shoreline AFTER it had switched over to pineapple mode and been raining and in the 50's for a few hours.

I think the closest to that I’ve seen was February 2017 in Bellingham. It wasn’t as dramatic but I remember we went from 30 degrees with five inches of snow to 50’s in one evening. 

[Front Ranger]

27 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

That January 2004 event was legit. 

My favorite winter period in the PNW. Four separate snow events counting the first little guy in late December. I think they totaled around 13-14" where I lived.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Here's two images that have survived from the 1996 storms. This was in Shoreline just a block north of 145th street, about 300 feet elevation.

It was in the 50's and raining when I snapped these shots, so this is after it had compacted somewhat. Maximum depth happened in predawn hours before the changeover happened.

 

[Anti Marine Layer]

37 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Rail Ridge Fire in Grant/Crook county has exploded to 61,000 acres since starting yesterday.

2020 dejavu

[Front Ranger]

41 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

I think Seattle had about 7” in January 2004 too. That was the only snow event I have much memory of until November 2006. (I remember 1996 very vaguely, I was three then.) It snowed all day and at the end some sleet fell. 

Tacoma got a nice 4-6" event in Dec 2005 that completely missed Seattle. The Swamp scored 8" with that one, believe it or not. South sound special. 

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

 Nothing will beat Feb 2019 for me. 5’ in a week was insanity.  

[BLI snowman]

15 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

I think the closest to that I’ve seen was February 2017 in Bellingham. It wasn’t as dramatic but I remember we went from 30 degrees with five inches of snow to 50’s in one evening. 

Yeah the southerly downslope flips off the Chuckanuts are no joke. January 2011 was a crazy one in Bellingham where we went from 30 with 6-7" at 1am to 50 with grass showing by 6:30am. 

January 1971 and December 1996 are a couple other instances where Bellingham basically melted down 20" in a day.