September 2024 PNW Weather Discussion

[snow_wizard]

3 hours ago, MossMan said:

He hated me even more because I was a native that enjoys sunny warm days in the summer. He couldn’t comprehend that concept.
 

I sure hope this was more of an online character of his instead of how he is in real life because if this is truly him he is going to have a rough go in life. 
I wish him well but I’m glad he is no longer here. 

In my view he just wouldn't own up to his own issues.  He was always so quick to point out everyone elses.

[BLI snowman]

14 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

I think Renton had a gust to 100 so the 58 for SEA is either a total fluke or some kind malfunction.  SEA usually hits 50 pretty easily.

Yeah, it's weird how far down the list Columbus Day ranks with their highest wind events there. Boeing Field hit 66mph at least, but elsewhere in the Sound it was pretty consistent with the rest of the region. Everett hit 81mph, Tacoma hit 88mph, and Renton hit 100mph as you said.

Corvallis was the big "winner" with that with 127mph and that was right before they literally had to abandon the station, so it's possible it got higher.

Edited September 12 by BLI snowman

[snow_wizard]

6 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Yeah, it's weird how far down the list Columbus Day ranks with their highest wind events there. Boeing Field hit 66mph at least, but elsewhere in the Sound it was pretty consistent with the rest of the region. Everett hit 81mph, Tacoma hit 88mph, and Renton hit 100mph as you said.

Corvallis was the big winner with that with 127mph and that was right before they literally had to abandon the station, so it's possible it got higher.

I think I read somewhere that Naselle radar station hit 150 or some ridiculous thing.  That's at 2000 feet or so though.  The site was run by the Air Force at the time so they probably had good equipment.  

The interesting thing is, there is absolutely no reason a repeat of that event couldn't happen again.  I don't think climate change precludes that at all.

[Tenochtitlan]

32 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Like with snow, it really just depends on the specific storm and the track it takes. I don't think there's a lot of inherent difference with either city's capacity for south wind. 1962 was a freak of nature and SEA's number with that was outlier-low. 

Bellingham OTOH has way more potential than Portland or Seattle simply because of the topography and the ease with which southerly gradients are maximized there. I saw as many 60+ mph south wind events in my 5 years there as I probably have in all my years elsewhere in the region. Though the trees there are probably a little adaptive as a result and the frequency of those events there effectively clears out a lot of the dead stuff and underbrush, so a 60mph storm in Portland/Seattle is much more destructive.

Dang. It’s starting to seem like Portland is only exceptional for how hot it gets here in the summer, lol. I thought at least there were more thunderstorms than in Seattle, but I’m not sure that’s actually the case. 

[Cold Snap]

Honestly I will say I never really had a problem with Jesse. Probably because I was on his good side since I’m not the biggest fan of hot weather. I do enjoy sunny days though especially after it’s been gloomy for a while. There were some people on here he seemed to be pretty mean to at times such as @TigerWoodsLibido. Made me feel kind of bad for him.

[BLI snowman]

Just now, snow_wizard said:

I think I read somewhere that Naselle radar station hit 150 or some ridiculous thing.  That's at 2000 feet or so though.  The site was run by the Air Force at the time so they probably had good equipment.  

Yeah, the Coast Range radar sites were among the highest in the region. Naselle was estimated at 150mph and Mt. Hebo in OR was estimated at 170mph. I think Cape Blanco was the absolute highest measured with an actual anemometer at 145mph before it blew away.

[snow_wizard]

4 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

Dang. It’s starting to seem like Portland is only exceptional for how hot it gets here in the summer, lol. I thought at least there were more thunderstorms than in Seattle, but I’m not sure that’s actually the case. 

I'm pretty sure Portland gets more warm core thunderstorms than Seattle.  Seattle might get more of the cold variety though.

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, BLI snowman said:

Yeah, the Coast Range radar sites were among the highest in the region. Naselle was estimated at 150mph and Mt. Hebo in OR was estimated at 170mph. I think Cape Blanco was the absolute highest measured with an actual anemometer at 145mph before it blew away.

An absolute hurricane.  Probably at least cat 2 on the coast.

[BLI snowman]

4 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

Dang. It’s starting to seem like Portland is only exceptional for how hot it gets here in the summer, lol. I thought at least there were more thunderstorms than in Seattle, but I’m not sure that’s actually the case. 

Honestly Portland and Seattle have pretty near identical climates (other than summer high temps) and both basically suck most of the time if you're looking for big action. Portland does have more elevation in its hills I guess, so if you can afford to live off Skyline you're doing alright.

If you're looking for a fun lowish elevation climate that's relatively close then Hood River/White Salmon is where it's at. Basically westside flora with eastside cold/snow.

 

[Tyler Mode]

Looking for some nice crisp, sunny afternoons for hiking on my days off.  Not gonna happen next week either.  My two days off (Tuesday/Wednesday) have been the cloudiest days of the last few weeks lol

At least maybe we can score a high in the 50s?

[Randyc321]

2 hours ago, the_convergence_zone said:

I think the dude likely has serious PTSD from being up close to wildfires and I really feel for him for that reason. 

That would only explain the last two or so years.  What about the previous 15?

Won't miss him.

[Tyler Mode]

Great news for western Montana and Idaho with this system.  Most areas receiving a good soaking.

[kokaneekidz]

5 minutes ago, Randyc321 said:

That would only explain the last two or so years.  What about the previous 15?

Won't miss him.

Yeah he actually has toned it down from what it was like back in 2019 but still a headache on certain members for sure 

[Tenochtitlan]

37 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Honestly Portland and Seattle have pretty near identical climates (other than summer high temps) and both basically suck most of the time if you're looking for big action. Portland does have more elevation in its hills I guess, so if you can afford to live off Skyline you're doing alright.

If you're looking for a fun lowish elevation climate that's relatively close then Hood River/White Salmon is where it's at. Basically westside flora with eastside cold/snow.

 

Dang. I think along with my delusions about Portland being a public transit and cultural paradise, I also deluded myself into thinking it was like a more continental version of Seattle with severe thunderstorms every year. Epic fail on my part!

Realistically, the best place in this region for me to live, balancing weather and other factors, would probably be Capitol Hill in Seattle, or somewhere near Northgate. At least those places have a bit of elevation, and Northgate can get good convergence zones. And they’re both near light rail stations. 

I kind of wish I could live in Chicago or Boston. 

[TigerWoodsLibido]

58 minutes ago, Cold Snap said:

Honestly I will say I never really had a problem with Jesse. Probably because I was on his good side since I’m not the biggest fan of hot weather. I do enjoy sunny days though especially after it’s been gloomy for a while. There were some people on here he seemed to be pretty mean to at times such as @TigerWoodsLibido. Made me feel kind of bad for him.

The guy had zero concept of what it's like here in the south Willamette Valley and what a bad location for winter weather it is as well as the fact that the airport can have different temps than us because it's like 15 miles to the NW and gets more cold air damming.

The people that weenie this stuff simply don't have any understanding of what it's like and how hot it gets here even more consistently than Portland and they deserve to be banned when they do it over and over. I doubt PDX had 37 days that reached 90F or hotter.

It'll also be nice to not get ridiculed when I suggest that we need better restaurants in the Eugene-Springfield metro area.

[snow_wizard]

1 hour ago, BLI snowman said:

Honestly Portland and Seattle have pretty near identical climates (other than summer high temps) and both basically suck most of the time if you're looking for big action. Portland does have more elevation in its hills I guess, so if you can afford to live off Skyline you're doing alright.

If you're looking for a fun lowish elevation climate that's relatively close then Hood River/White Salmon is where it's at. Basically westside flora with eastside cold/snow.

 

At least they both have their moments.

[Tenochtitlan]

2 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

At least they both have their moments.

And at least for both cities, you only have to drive about 45 minutes to get to significantly snowier spots for a day trip. 

[snow_wizard]

1 hour ago, Tenochtitlan said:

Dang. I think along with my delusions about Portland being a public transit and cultural paradise, I also deluded myself into thinking it was like a more continental version of Seattle with severe thunderstorms every year. Epic fail on my part!

Realistically, the best place in this region for me to live, balancing weather and other factors, would probably be Capitol Hill in Seattle, or somewhere near Northgate. At least those places have a bit of elevation, and Northgate can get good convergence zones. And they’re both near light rail stations. 

I kind of wish I could live in Chicago or Boston. 

Hard to beat the CZ area north of Seattle if you want a large city in the lowlands of the NW.  Bellingham is better if you are just thinking about cold, snow, and wind.

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, Tenochtitlan said:

And at least for both cities, you only have to drive about 45 minutes to get to significantly snowier spots for a day trip. 

And of course we get the occasional very decent winter.

[Meatyorologist]

43 minutes ago, TigerWoodsLibido said:

The guy had zero concept of what it's like here in the south Willamette Valley and what a bad location for winter weather it is as well as the fact that the airport can have different temps than us because it's like 15 miles to the NW and gets more cold air damming.

The people that weenie this stuff simply don't have any understanding of what it's like and how hot it gets here even more consistently than Portland and they deserve to be banned when they do it over and over. I doubt PDX had 37 days that reached 90F or hotter.

It'll also be nice to not get ridiculed when I suggest that we need better restaurants in the Eugene-Springfield metro area.

The real issue is that he was policing your reactions, along with everyone else's. Even though you're actually knowledgeable and creative with the way you complain.

[Tenochtitlan]

14 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

And of course we get the occasional very decent winter.

That’s true. 2008-09 in North Seattle is still one of my favorite winters of all time, better than all the winters I spent in Bellingham except for perhaps 2016-17 or 2018-19. Actually, I think those Bellingham winters win out for total cold days and length of snowcover, but 2008-09 in Seattle might win for total snowfall.

Bellingham just has that consistency where you can be pretty sure it will get cold and snow in a given winter, moreso than Seattle and Portland. I think it averages about twice as many subfreezing highs per year, which is a big part of what makes it feel like winter. 

[snow_wizard]

12 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

That’s true. 2008-09 in North Seattle is still one of my favorite winters of all time, better than all the winters I spent in Bellingham except for perhaps 2016-17 or 2018-19. Actually, I think those Bellingham winters win out for total cold days and length of snowcover, but 2008-09 in Seattle might win for total snowfall.

Bellingham just has that consistency where you can be pretty sure it will get cold and snow in a given winter, moreso than Seattle and Portland. I think it averages about twice as many subfreezing highs per year, which is a big part of what makes it feel like winter. 

Surprisingly the worst run of epic fail winters for Whatcom County was 1943-44 through 1945-46.  Essentially no snow for three straight winters.

[Tenochtitlan]

6 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Surprisingly the worst run of epic fail winters for Whatcom County was 1943-44 through 1945-46.  Essentially no snow for three straight winters.

Wow. 

2014-15 and 2015-16 were frustrating because it did get cold there. It just didn’t snow at all aside from one night we got maybe 1/3 inch with freezing rain that turned the roads into sheets of ice. 

[T-Town]

Beautiful afternoon here in God’s Country. Sunny skies and 65 degrees. Nice over performance on the rain the last couple of days and now some autumn sunshine to enjoy. 

[BLI snowman]

24 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

That’s true. 2008-09 in North Seattle is still one of my favorite winters of all time, better than all the winters I spent in Bellingham except for perhaps 2016-17 or 2018-19. Actually, I think those Bellingham winters win out for total cold days and length of snowcover, but 2008-09 in Seattle might win for total snowfall.

Bellingham just has that consistency where you can be pretty sure it will get cold and snow in a given winter, moreso than Seattle and Portland. I think it averages about twice as many subfreezing highs per year, which is a big part of what makes it feel like winter. 

Bham is fine but I would say they still tend to share the lowlight a bit when the PDX and SEA metros bomb. The majority of the big turd winters are still essentially trash for BLI, aside from the rare instances like December 1980 or January 2005. 

Being north of Smith Road really does make a substantial difference in temperature and snowcover. Lynden and Sumas are often a different world from the urban parts of Bellingham, and while not dud-proof are pretty nice. Abbotsford which is essentially Sumas averages roughly twice the amount of snow that BLI gets despite only being 25 miles away at the same elevation. 

[Tenochtitlan]

1 minute ago, BLI snowman said:

Bham is fine but I would say they still tend to share the lowlight a bit when the PDX and SEA metros bomb. The majority of the big turd winters are still essentially trash for BLI, aside from the rare instances like December 1980 or January 2005. 

Being north of Smith Road really does make a substantial difference in temperature and snowcover. Lynden and Sumas are often a different world from the urban parts of Bellingham, and while not dud-proof are pretty nice. Abbotsford which is essentially Sumas averages roughly twice the amount of snow that BLI gets despite only being 25 miles away at the same elevation. 

That’s true. I remember in February 2017 how frustrating it was waiting for the rain/snow line to dip south of about that line.

Fairhaven also does noticeably worse than the rest of Bellingham much of the time. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 hours ago, Tenochtitlan said:

I kind of wish I could live in Chicago or Boston. 

Why can’t you?

[Tenochtitlan]

7 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Why can’t you?

My mom is getting up there in years and lives alone (my dad passed away in 2021). My brother lives outside of the US, so there’s a good chance me and my husband will move to Seattle in a year to be close to my mom. 

[jcmcgaffey]

2 hours ago, BLI snowman said:

Honestly Portland and Seattle have pretty near identical climates (other than summer high temps) and both basically suck most of the time if you're looking for big action. Portland does have more elevation in its hills I guess, so if you can afford to live off Skyline you're doing alright.

If you're looking for a fun lowish elevation climate that's relatively close then Hood River/White Salmon is where it's at. Basically westside flora with eastside cold/snow.

 

Goes to show how smart early settlers were when deciding places to settle in this area. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

3 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

My mom is getting up there in years and lives alone (my dad passed away in 2021). My brother lives outside of the US, so there’s a good chance me and my husband will move to Seattle in a year to be close to my mom. 

It's not (or shouldn't be) your job to stay put while your brother gets to move to where it wants. Why can't your brother sacrifice some as well?

Also, if you find a good job in Chicago or Boston, you could always move your Mom to be closer to you so you can take care of her.

[Tenochtitlan]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

It's not (or shouldn't be) your job to stay put while your brother gets to move to where it wants. Why can't your brother sacrifice some as well?

Also, if you find a good job in Chicago or Boston, you could always move your Mom to be closer to you so you can take care of her.

That’s a good point. I’ll have to talk to my brother about it. We’re both worried about her memory, it seems like she’s been forgetting things a lot lately. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 minute ago, Tenochtitlan said:

That’s a good point. I’ll have to talk to my brother about it. We’re both worried about her memory, it seems like she’s been forgetting things a lot lately. 

It's never easy. Old age comes for us all.

[Tenochtitlan]

Just now, Rubus Leucodermis said:

It's never easy. Old age comes for us all.

Yeah  it’s tough too because her main support system is her two brothers. They’re all getting old at the same time 

[BLI snowman]

16 minutes ago, jcmcgaffey said:

Goes to show how smart early settlers were when deciding places to settle in this area. 

Yeah, and no coincidence that the areas with the best access to waterways are also some of the crappiest for snow. The rain shadows also help, and probably helps explain why Portland and Seattle exploded while Astoria and Aberdeen did not. 

Edited September 13 by BLI snowman

[iFred]

13 minutes ago, Tenochtitlan said:

My mom is getting up there in years and lives alone (my dad passed away in 2021). My brother lives outside of the US, so there’s a good chance me and my husband will move to Seattle in a year to be close to my mom. 

There are near-Cascade suburbs and small towns like Cashmere, Cle Elum, and and on the other side of the Sound you have the typical snow traps.

Truth be told though, you'd be better set on finding ways to embrace the local climate or you're going to find yourself crying at your keyboard watching a stream of Jim Cantore trudging through waste high snow on  an abandoned Lake Shore Drive while looking out the window to 57ª and drizzle.

[Tenochtitlan]

Just now, iFred said:

There are near-Cascade suburbs and small towns like Cashmere, Cle Elum, and and on the other side of the Sound you have the typical snow traps.

Truth be told though, you'd be better set on finding ways to embrace the local climate or you're going to find yourself crying at your keyboard watching a stream of Jim Cantore trudging through waste high snow on  an abandoned Lake Shore Drive while looking out the window to 57ª and drizzle.

Lol that’s true. For now, I’m still living on the high of last month’s thunderstorm. Also, if it snows even an inch this winter I’ll be content. And if not I’m sure I’ll manage anyway! 

[Port Angeles Foothiller]

Today’s harvest. Tomatoes and peppers should really get rolling soon. 

[TacomaWx]

68/54 today with 0.18” of rain this morning. 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

16 minutes ago, BLI snowman said:

Yeah, and no coincidence that the areas with the best access to waterways are also some of the crappiest for snow. The rain shadows also help, and probably helps explain why Portland and Seattle exploded while Astoria and Aberdeen did not. 

General storminess explains a lot of that. The outer coast gets many more high wind events per winter. That, and rail access. The railroads arrived in Portland and Seattle first. At that point, they started booming because they had both rail access and a deep-water port. By the time the railroads made it to the outer coast, it was too late: the dominant position of both Seattle and Portland was already assured.

[Phishy Wx]

3 hours ago, snow_wizard said:

I think I read somewhere that Naselle radar station hit 150 or some ridiculous thing.  That's at 2000 feet or so though.  The site was run by the Air Force at the time so they probably had good equipment.  

The interesting thing is, there is absolutely no reason a repeat of that event couldn't happen again.  I don't think climate change precludes that at all.

anyone have access to the synoptic and mesoscale maps for that setup anywhere,  was it also windy over this way?