December 2020 Weather Observations for the PNW

[SouthHillFrosty]

3 minutes ago, seattleweatherguy said:

I have to say Whatcom country/Victoria/Vancouver is long over due to be nailed. 

Didn’t Whatcom get hammered last year? 

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 5 Aleutian ridge has a bit more amplification than previous runs

[jakerepp]

42 minutes ago, GHweatherChris said:

Radar has a sword penetrating Forks currently!

RIP vampires 

[MossMan]

I’m still in the 3rd shade of blue like most of the models have shown all day for me...

[jakerepp]

31 minutes ago, wxmet said:

GFS is warmer at KSEA which is probably why it’s showing heavy rain instead of snow with a temps in the upper 30s. Brutal. I definitely need to move.

Same. I want to live somewhere that I get enough snow that it’s not an event to celebrate, but not so much that I get sick of it. 30-40” a year maybe?

[wxmet]

2 minutes ago, MossMan said:

I’m still in the 3rd shade of blue like most of the models have shown all day for me...

I’m in the 2nd shade of blue but only have 300’ of elevation. Let’s see what the UKMET and ECMWF say.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 6

[mtep]

15 minutes ago, SouthHillFrosty said:

Didn’t Whatcom get hammered last year? 

Sure did. Snow on the ground for a week.

[SouthHillFrosty]

3 minutes ago, mtep said:

Sure did. Snow on the ground for a week.

So how would make you due again. The south sound and Portland got nothing 

[mtep]

3 minutes ago, SouthHillFrosty said:

So how would make you due again. The south sound and Portland got nothing 

I definitely agree. It was painful watching those down south get ghosted last January

[TacomaWaWx]

25 minutes ago, seattleweatherguy said:

I have to say Whatcom country/Victoria/Vancouver is long over due to be nailed. 

Yea..they definitely got nailed last winter...and the one before that. They’re probably the least “due” out of the whole region. 

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 7

[Rubus Leucodermis]

7 minutes ago, mtep said:

Sure did. Snow on the ground for a week.

And not just any snow. Squeaky-cold powder!

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 8

[Brian_in_Leavenworth]

17 minutes ago, jakerepp said:

Same. I want to live somewhere that I get enough snow that it’s not an event to celebrate, but not so much that I get sick of it. 30-40” a year maybe?

Where I live, we get 90 inches a year.  So definitely not as exciting when it snows or as disappointing when it doesn't, but I don't get tired of it until about March.  Then it starts to melt.  I've gone to Colorado several times, and for many areas the biggest snow months are in March.  That might be a bit much even for me.

 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

8 minutes ago, SouthHillFrosty said:

So how would make you due again. The south sound and Portland got nothing 

Slightly higher annual average snowfall. We are “due” every year.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 9'er

[Jesse]

2 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Slightly higher annual average snowfall. We are “due” every year.

You seem like a sore winner. Should go over well here.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 10

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 minutes ago, Brian_in_Leavenworth said:

Where I live, we get 90 inches a year.  So definitely not as exciting when it snows or as disappointing when it doesn't, but I don't get tired of it until about March.  Then it starts to melt.  I've gone to Colorado several times, and for many areas the biggest snow months are in March.  That might be a bit much even for me.

 

Went to college in northern Utah in a climate where the snow could last until April. It sucked. Dirty, slushy, trashy (literally, filled with all the trash that got buried during the winter and was now melting out) snow making everything look drab. Oh, and it still has a high albedo so forget about that sprig sunshine accomplishing much. So you get to hear the Salt Lake stations boast about another glorious spring day well into the 60's, but your high was in the 38–42 range AGAIN. With not a green thing in sight.

It sucked.

Yes there CAN be such a thing as too much snow.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

2 minutes ago, Jesse said:

You seem like a sore winner. Should go over well here.

I wouldn't be surprised if I see a couple inches tomorrow.

I also wouldn't be surprised If I saw nothing more than lots of 35˚F rain.

 

[snow_wizard]

3 minutes ago, DJ Droppin said:

Day 10

This is beginning to look a lot more promising.  Three chilly troughs in the next 10 days.

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

4 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Went to college in northern Utah in a climate where the snow could last until April. It sucked. Dirty, slushy, trashy (literally, filled with all the trash that got buried during the winter and was now melting out) snow making everything look drab. Oh, and it still has a high albedo so forget about that sprig sunshine accomplishing much. So you get to hear the Salt Lake stations boast about another glorious spring day well into the 60's, but your high was in the 38–42 range AGAIN. With not a green thing in sight.

It sucked.

Yes there CAN be such a thing as too much snow.

Salt Lake is the ugliest place on earth I've ever been. Summer, winter, dosen't matter.

[snow_wizard]

10 minutes ago, Brian_in_Leavenworth said:

Where I live, we get 90 inches a year.  So definitely not as exciting when it snows or as disappointing when it doesn't, but I don't get tired of it until about March.  Then it starts to melt.  I've gone to Colorado several times, and for many areas the biggest snow months are in March.  That might be a bit much even for me.

 

In Colorado it often melts even during the winter though.  Not usually the case in Leavenworth.

[wxmet]

12 minutes ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Salt Lake is the ugliest place on earth I've ever been. Summer, winter, dosen't matter.

I had a a layover there and thought it looked pretty with all the mountains and snow around. That must change once you leave the airport.

[Brian_in_Leavenworth]

3 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Went to college in northern Utah in a climate where the snow could last until April. It sucked. Dirty, slushy, trashy (literally, filled with all the trash that got buried during the winter and was now melting out) snow making everything look drab. Oh, and it still has a high albedo so forget about that sprig sunshine accomplishing much. So you get to hear the Salt Lake stations boast about another glorious spring day well into the 60's, but your high was in the 38–42 range AGAIN. With not a green thing in sight.

It sucked.

Yes there CAN be such a thing as too much snow.

My thing is that once the snow has stopped for good, I hope for a quick melt.  The grass will have lost its color and will take awhile until it turns green.  That is why March is my least favorite month.  At least we don't have 100 inches on the ground like some of the places in Colorado.  They call the melt season the Mud Season.  

Still is great to live in a snowy area though.

[snow_wizard]

I have the answer for where the cold air comes from that the NWS can't figure out.  It comes from the cold air that will be dammed up along the north slopes of the Olympics earlier in the day.  Once the low center goes east of Puget Sound it causes that dammed up cold air to pour down Puget Sound.

[snow_wizard]

1 minute ago, Brian_in_Leavenworth said:

My thing is that once the snow has stopped for good, I hope for a quick melt.  The grass will have lost its color and will take awhile until it turns green.  That is why March is my least favorite month.  At least we don't have 100 inches on the ground like some of the places in Colorado.  They call the melt season the Mud Season.  

Still is great to live in a snowy area though.

I think the Cascades get more than Colorado.

[Brian_in_Leavenworth]

1 minute ago, snow_wizard said:

In Colorado it often melts even during the winter though.  Not usually the case in Leavenworth.

Depends on where in Colorado.  Like Washington they have pretty dry and relatively warm areas, and of course Denver can go from a foot of snow to 70 degrees in a day, but the mountains will have the snow really pile up.  Winter Park, for example, often has snow on the ground for 6 months. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

2 minutes ago, wxmet said:

I had a a layout there and thought it looked pretty with all the mountains and snow around. That must change once you leave the airport.

It's beautiful just outside the city as you go into the mountains. 

[bainbridgekid]

WRF cut totals as expected because it's a couple degrees warmer.

 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 minute ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Salt Lake is the ugliest place on earth I've ever been. Summer, winter, dosen't matter.

Thankfully, I was in Logan. Much nicer. It's in this amazingly lush valley (both farms and wetlands). An impressive oasis in an area that's generally semiarid. Downside is that there can be severe temperature inversions in that valley, and as already mentioned spring can take a long time to come.

[snow_wizard]

4 minutes ago, Brian_in_Leavenworth said:

Depends on where in Colorado.  Like Washington they have pretty dry and relatively warm areas, and of course Denver can go from a foot of snow to 70 degrees in a day, but the mountains will have the snow really pile up.  Winter Park, for example, often has snow on the ground for 6 months. 

That makes sense.

[Gradient Keeper]

00z GFS 10 Day Rainfall, Snowfall totals

[snow_wizard]

The GFS is far from terrible.  Some pretty chilly looking troughs in the believable range.

[VancouverIslandSouth]

The 0z GEM looks similar to the GFS with the placement of the low, maybe slightly further west:

 

In spite of the similarities, it actually shows the Seattle area getting the same amount or more snow than here (albeit only 1~2").

[Rubus Leucodermis]

Chilliwack, BC got about a 1 m of snow last January, and some models show them getting 50 cm this time. Be glad nobody is posting from there to gloat. It's still in the lowlands but far enough east that they are to Bellingham as Belligham is to Eugene or perhaps Redding.

[snow_wizard]

4 minutes ago, DJ Droppin said:

00z GFS 10 Day Rainfall, Snowfall totals

Where did the snow from tomorrow go on that map?  Kind of odd how that doesn't match up with the maps for tomorrow.

[Front Ranger]

13 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

I think the Cascades get more than Colorado.

Depends on elevation and the year. The high elevation Cascades certainly outdo the Rockies during their snowiest winters.

[Gradient Keeper]

2 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

Where did the snow from tomorrow go on that map?  Kind of odd how that doesn't match up with the maps for tomorrow.

I dunno. I know Pivotal was having server problems earlier.