September 2024 PNW Weather Discussion

[MossMan]

9 minutes ago, Front Ranger said:

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. 

I was quite irritated up here as we got missed. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

5 minutes ago, MossMan said:

I was quite irritated up here as we got missed. 

No, really? I would have never guessed!

[SilverFallsAndrew]

12 minutes ago, MossMan said:

I was quite irritated up here as we got missed. 

Ya win some ya lose some. 

[Timmy]

The weather was nice today, the mariners were not

[Doinko]

1 hour 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 been pretty nice recently for snow + sunshine. Feb 2023 had about 6-8" of snow and then a subfreezing day with strong winds, Jan 2024 had about 3" of snow on the ground with sunshine and temps in the 20s. And of course 2017 which was over a foot of snow here with sun.

[Phil]

8 hours ago, the_convergence_zone said:

What happened with nuclear is sad but its time has come and gone. It isn’t cost competitive with wind/solar and it isn’t needed now that batteries are cheap.  
 

We would be in a much better position wrt CO2 emissions if those nuclear incidents hadn’t happened, but they did, and there’s no going back or convincing people to not be afraid of it. 

Is this a troll post?

Zero chance we will meaningfully lower emissions with wind/solar alone. For a multitude of reasons.

Subsidies are the only reason wind/solar are competitive at all. Nuclear lasts longer, is more environmentally friendly to develop, and waste can be recycled and re-used, unlike materials used to construct wind turbines and solar panels.

[Anti Marine Layer]

Looks like Phil is being spared of September heat this year.

[Phil]

5 minutes ago, Anti Marine Layer said:

Looks like Phil is being spared of September heat this year.

It is magnificent right now. Very different from the last 8 years which all had nasty heat well into Sep/Oct.

This time last year it was 98°F and smoky. Today it was 80° with a deep blue sky.  

[Phil]

 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

18 minutes ago, Timmy said:

The weather was nice today, the mariners were not

What is a Mariners? 

[BLI snowman]

14 minutes ago, Doinko said:

It's been pretty nice recently for snow + sunshine. Feb 2023 had about 6-8" of snow and then a subfreezing day with strong winds, Jan 2024 had about 3" of snow on the ground with sunshine and temps in the 20s. And of course 2017 which was over a foot of snow here with sun.

Yeah, we had the toughest time for awhile with getting anything meaningful going into a cold spell, but historically it's not quite that difficult and it's been great to see things bounce back. In this climate I'll never turn my nose up at transition event snow, but obviously getting it on the front end is way more rewarding and ideal. 

[DeepFriedEgg]

100 probably off the table for PDX due to smoke. Similar to 2017 when a September 100F burger was denied.

[Anti Marine Layer]

3 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

What is a Mariners? 

An opponent of an Astros

[MossMan]

10 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

What is a Mariners? 

Worst team in baseball. 

[Tenochtitlan]

1 hour ago, Front Ranger said:

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. 

Oh yeah, I actually remember that one too. It snowed a bit in Seattle, maybe 3/4 of an inch. It stopped snowing right as it started sticking to the roads, very annoying.

I’m remembering now that it also snowed an inch or two in January 2005 in Seattle. It all melted by the early afternoon. 

[Deweydog]

33 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

What is a Mariners? 

I could be wrong but I believe it is and old wooden ship used during the civil war era.

[GHweatherChris]

11 hours ago, TigerWoodsLibido said:

Went ahead and started my WB subscription until March or April. I can barely afford it but I love following this stuff so much.

But you can afford 2 cruises a year......

[GHweatherChris]

Climate stuff is cyclical but on a very very big cycle.

[snow_wizard]

25 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

Climate stuff is cyclical but on a very very big cycle.

Some of the cycles are tens of thousands of years and some much shorter.  There are cycles within cycles in the weather.  They can align in an infinite number of ways.

[GHweatherChris]

3 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Some of the cycles are tens of thousands of years and some much shorter.  There are cycles within cycles in the weather.  They can align in an infinite number of ways.

Ok, a very very very big cycle.........

[TigerWoodsLibido]

1 hour ago, MossMan said:

Worst team in baseball. 

Yeah no...White Sox have that on lockdown completely.

 

[Meatyorologist]

2 hours ago, iFred said:

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.

Thanks for reminding me of how morally bankrupt I am for supporting such costly weather. I'll be careful to correct my preferences in the future.

[Tanis Leach]

I was gone for the severe thunderstorms, I'm not for this. September heat wave stats plus a forecast:

 

 

[Tanis Leach]

6 hours ago, iFred said:

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.

It is possible to root for crazy weather, but also as minimal damage as possible. 

[Groundhog]

16 hours ago, Port Angeles Foothiller said:

I can't speak to the newer advanced designs, or plants in other countries, but I did study the designs in the US. They are all still analog controlled, thus would be largely unaffected by a grid collapse. The plants would SCRAM (drop control rods) because with the grid shot they have no where to send power. The reactor would then be cooled by a vast network of backup diesel generators. As long as they had the fuel for those, I wouldn't see an issue. 

Wind/Solar is much cheaper to build, but they don't make money. The ecological footprint required for wind/solar to equal the power output of 1 nuclear plant is enormous. In addition, as you say, nuclear power is always on. 95% uptime. They produce enough cheap power to have net profits of 1-2 million per day. So even though they cost 8-10 billion dollars to make, with a 50-75 year life span they make money pretty early on in the life cycle. I won't go into the short lifespan of wind/solar or the waste produced making solar cells, or where to bury wind turbines every 5 years, or lithium mining for batteries. 

"Green energy" is a combination of all the renewables, but it will always be dominated by nuclear. If it isn't, it won't succeed. 

 The concern was in a Carrington event, those generators wouldn’t work. Pumping water would become an issue. Vehicles wouldn’t work, so getting the manpower to the plant to remedy the problem would also be an issue. That said, there are many people smarter than me that could solve this before the next Carrington event—which is inevitable especially with a weakening electromagnetic field.
 

I’m with you on this by making nuclear a staple for cheap, reliable energy. Fusion has a long way to go, however. I can’t wrap my head around why making energy less reliable and more expensive is “green.” 

[MossMan]

Taking a walk around the property just a few minutes ago and having flashbacks of when I was a kid walking to the end of the driveway waiting for the school bus again after about 3 months of summer fun. The smell of the marine air (not too thick but it’s there slightly obscuring the trees further away) the crispness but not quite chilly air, the dew dripping off the trees, the very distant sound of I-5 that is mostly drowned out by the birds and squirrels…And just wanting the day at school to scream by so I could get home and get back into the woods since the weather was still summer like in the afternoons in early September. Always brings back those memories. 

Currently 52 degrees. 
 

[ShawniganLake]

 

[Anti Marine Layer]

Idaho has a smokefest.

[MossMan]

3 minutes ago, Anti Marine Layer said:

Idaho has a smokefest.

They can keep it. 

[snow_wizard]

48 minutes ago, ShawniganLake said:

 

Very perturbed atmosphere continues.  Hope it holds for winter.  I mean the perturbed state and not the ridge obviously!

I wish they had given the year of the previous record BTW.

[snow_wizard]

Pretty thick fog this morning.  Winter is coming!

[Tyler Mode]

Fog and visible spider webs this morning that's to all the mist.  Very October like.  49 degrees.  Smoke is already moving north:

 

[the_convergence_zone]

11 hours ago, Timmy said:

The weather was nice today, the mariners were not

Do yourself a favor and stop watching that monstrosity until next April, when we will all be back with fresh optimism for a day or two. 

[Mapletree]

Woke up to fog this morning

[MossMan]

Where’s our heatwave? 

[snow_wizard]

Meanwhile on the solar activity front.  At least we are still running below cycle 23 which was the one at the turn of the century.  I'm disappointed this cycle has gotten as high as it has though.  I was hoping this would become a grand minimum so we could finally see if a very inactive sun would cause global cooling or not.  Looks like we may have to wait a LONG time to find out.

[snow_wizard]

3 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Where’s our heatwave? 

Hasn't happened yet.

At any rate these late season heatwaves are much easier to handle than the July ones.

[snow_wizard]

Seems like the NWS might be overstating the heatwave.  The GFS only shows 90 for SEA and it's usually too high.

[fubario]

28 minutes ago, the_convergence_zone said:

Do yourself a favor and stop watching that monstrosity until next April, when we will all be back with fresh optimism for a day or two. 

Or, do yourself a better favor and stop watching/supporting this trash franchise altogether until they are under new ownership.

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

2 hours ago, Groundhog said:

 The concern was in a Carrington event, those generators wouldn’t work. Pumping water would become an issue. Vehicles wouldn’t work, so getting the manpower to the plant to remedy the problem would also be an issue. That said, there are many people smarter than me that could solve this before the next Carrington event—which is inevitable especially with a weakening electromagnetic field.
 

I’m with you on this by making nuclear a staple for cheap, reliable energy. Fusion has a long way to go, however. I can’t wrap my head around why making energy less reliable and more expensive is “green.” 

A carrington event would kill a mechanical engine? In that scenario, I agree. It would be bad.... everywhere.