December 2020 Weather Observations for the PNW

[Dave]

12 years ago today, the frozen wasteland of Eugene turned to 40 degree rain. 

[Timmy Supercell]

5 years ago I was missing out on one of the top 5 snowiest Decembers on record over here, but was spending quality time with my bro in Wilsonville. Was also the rainiest December on record in places of the metro, but got voicemails on how snowy it was back home.

One week later, shed collapses.

Top 10 Snowiest Decembers

1952 - 37.6"
1992 - 37.0"
1983 - 36.9"
2015 - 33.1" ***
1922 - 33.0"
1948 - 31.5"
1988 - 25.1"
1951 - 24.5"
1941 - 23.6"
1955 - 21.6"

21.5" also fell Dec 2010 at my place. Just a 1/10th inch short of making top 10.

[TacomaWaWx]

11 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

It's December 18th.

30 years ago it was also December 18th.

 

[MossMan]

25 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

It's December 18th.

30 years ago it was also December 18th.

What day did the 1990 loveliness begin? I cannot remember anymore. 

[Timmy Supercell]

14 minutes ago, Timmy_Supercell said:

5 years ago I was missing out on one of the top 5 snowiest Decembers on record over here, but was spending quality time with my bro in Wilsonville. Was also the rainiest December on record in places of the metro, but got voicemails on how snowy it was back home.

One week later, shed collapses.

Top 10 Snowiest Decembers

1952 - 37.6"
1992 - 37.0"
1983 - 36.9"
2015 - 33.1" ***
1922 - 33.0"
1948 - 31.5"
1988 - 25.1"
1951 - 24.5"
1941 - 23.6"
1955 - 21.6"

21.5" also fell Dec 2010 at my place. Just a 1/10th inch short of making top 10.

January has many more examples of 30-50+ inch totals. Once you get into that month it gets increasingly difficult to have a historic January. Here is a list using our old station with over 100 years of records and where 2017 ranks.

Top 10+ Snowiest Januaries

1950 - 56.5"
1901 - 53.0"
1913 - 43.1"
1906 - 39.5"
1996 - 38.2"
1964 - 37.2"
1933 - 37.0"
1943 - 32.0"
1993 - 31.2"
1954 - 31.1"
2017 - 29.5" (#11) ***
1916 - 28.7"

[Deweydog]

2 minutes ago, MossMan said:

What day did the 1990 loveliness begin? I cannot remember anymore. 

December 18th.

30 years later it was today.

[MossMan]

We were just gearing up for that big Saturday storm 12yrs ago today! 
 

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
447 PM PST THU DEC 18 2008
SAN JUAN COUNTY-WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY-SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-
EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-EVERETT AND VICINITY-
SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA-TACOMA AREA-ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-
HOOD CANAL AREA-LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA-OLYMPICS-
EASTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-WESTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-
NORTH COAST-CENTRAL COAST-WEST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES AND PASSES-
WEST SLOPES CENTRAL CASCADES AND PASSES-
458 PM PST THU DEC 18 2008...CORRECTED TYPO

...MAJOR WINTER STORM SHOULD IMPACT WESTERN WASHINGTON FROM LATE
SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY...

AFTER THE CURRENT ROUND OF SNOW SHOWERS IS GONE...THE NEXT WEATHER
SYSTEM TO IMPACT WESTERN WASHINGTON WILL ARRIVE ON THE COAST ON
SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SPREAD INLAND ON SATURDAY NIGHT. THIS
SYSTEM WILL CONTAIN A LOT OF MOISTURE AND SHOULD BRING A WIDE
VARIETY OF WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS TO ALL OF WESTERN WASHINGTON.

PERHAPS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT IMPACT WILL BE POTENTIALLY
DESTRUCTIVE WINDS IN THE CASCADES AND THE EAST PUGET SOUND
LOWLANDS. SEE THE HIGH WIND WATCH ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE.

THIS SYSTEM WILL CONTAIN A LOT OF MOISTURE AS IT SPREADS OVER THE
COLD AIR MASS IN PLACE. PRECIPITATION SHOULD FIRST START IN THE
FORM OF SNOW AS IT SPREADS INLAND. HEAVIEST SNOW AMOUNTS SHOULD
TAKE PLACE ALONG THE CENTRAL COAST...IN THE LOWER CHEHALIS
VALLEY...OVER THE KITSAP PENINSULA AND THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR.
SNOWFALL TOTALS COULD EXCEED 6 INCHES FOR MANY LOCATIONS WITH A
FEW LOCATIONS REACHING A FOOT IN A FEW PLACES. STRONG EAST WINDS
COULD THEN CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW.

ELSEWHERE...INCLUDING THE SEATTLE-TACOMA-EVERETT CORRIDOR...SNOW 
ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED BUT AMOUNTS WILL BE LESS.  

LATER SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING...A LAYER OF WARM AIR
ALOFT WILL OVERSPREAD SUB-FREEZING AIR AT THE SURFACE. THIS COULD
CAUSE SNOW TO MIX WITH OR CHANGE TO SLEET AND FREEZING
RAIN...MAINLY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM OCEAN SHORES TO EVERETT. IF
MORE PRECIPITATION FALLS IN THE FORM OF FREEZING RAIN AS OPPOSED
TO SNOW...THEN SIGNIFICANT ICING IN EXCESS OF ONE-QUARTER INCH
WOULD BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF THIS
MAGNITUDE CAN CAUSE POWER LINES TO SNAP...BRING DOWN LARGE TREE
BRANCHES... AND CAUSE WIDESPREAD TRAVEL DISRUPTIONS.

TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON ARE FORECAST TO RISE A LITTLE
ABOVE FREEZING FOR MOST OF THE WESTERN WASHINGTON LOWLANDS...SO
THE THREAT OF FREEZING RAIN WOULD END AT THAT TIME.

THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM FOR MUCH
OF WESTERN WASHINGTON. MANY OF THE EXACT DETAILS REMAIN
UNCERTAIN...SO CHECK BACK FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS...WATCHES AND
WARNINGS AS THE DETAILS OF THIS EVENT BECOME MORE SOLID.
REGARDLESS OF THE DETAILS...BE PREPARED FOR WINTER WEATHER AND
SIGNIFICANT WEATHER-RELATED DISRUPTIONS THIS WEEKEND STARTING
SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
HANER
 

[Jesse]

Personally I've always thought feeding off people's misery about our lack of arctic outbreaks was always more fun than getting an actual arctic outbreak anyways. 

[Dave]

Most puppies are safe. 

[MossMan]

Perhaps we will still squeeze a January 2012 type event out of this season...That was a fun week. 

[Timmy Supercell]

15 minutes ago, MossMan said:

We were just gearing up for that big Saturday storm 12yrs ago today! 
 

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
447 PM PST THU DEC 18 2008
SAN JUAN COUNTY-WESTERN WHATCOM COUNTY-SOUTHWEST INTERIOR-
EAST PUGET SOUND LOWLANDS-WESTERN SKAGIT COUNTY-EVERETT AND VICINITY-
SEATTLE/BREMERTON AREA-TACOMA AREA-ADMIRALTY INLET AREA-
HOOD CANAL AREA-LOWER CHEHALIS VALLEY AREA-OLYMPICS-
EASTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-WESTERN STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA-
NORTH COAST-CENTRAL COAST-WEST SLOPES NORTHERN CASCADES AND PASSES-
WEST SLOPES CENTRAL CASCADES AND PASSES-
458 PM PST THU DEC 18 2008...CORRECTED TYPO

...MAJOR WINTER STORM SHOULD IMPACT WESTERN WASHINGTON FROM LATE
SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY...

AFTER THE CURRENT ROUND OF SNOW SHOWERS IS GONE...THE NEXT WEATHER
SYSTEM TO IMPACT WESTERN WASHINGTON WILL ARRIVE ON THE COAST ON
SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SPREAD INLAND ON SATURDAY NIGHT. THIS
SYSTEM WILL CONTAIN A LOT OF MOISTURE AND SHOULD BRING A WIDE
VARIETY OF WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS TO ALL OF WESTERN WASHINGTON.

PERHAPS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT IMPACT WILL BE POTENTIALLY
DESTRUCTIVE WINDS IN THE CASCADES AND THE EAST PUGET SOUND
LOWLANDS. SEE THE HIGH WIND WATCH ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE.

THIS SYSTEM WILL CONTAIN A LOT OF MOISTURE AS IT SPREADS OVER THE
COLD AIR MASS IN PLACE. PRECIPITATION SHOULD FIRST START IN THE
FORM OF SNOW AS IT SPREADS INLAND. HEAVIEST SNOW AMOUNTS SHOULD
TAKE PLACE ALONG THE CENTRAL COAST...IN THE LOWER CHEHALIS
VALLEY...OVER THE KITSAP PENINSULA AND THE SOUTHWEST INTERIOR.
SNOWFALL TOTALS COULD EXCEED 6 INCHES FOR MANY LOCATIONS WITH A
FEW LOCATIONS REACHING A FOOT IN A FEW PLACES. STRONG EAST WINDS
COULD THEN CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW.

ELSEWHERE...INCLUDING THE SEATTLE-TACOMA-EVERETT CORRIDOR...SNOW 
ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED BUT AMOUNTS WILL BE LESS.  

LATER SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING...A LAYER OF WARM AIR
ALOFT WILL OVERSPREAD SUB-FREEZING AIR AT THE SURFACE. THIS COULD
CAUSE SNOW TO MIX WITH OR CHANGE TO SLEET AND FREEZING
RAIN...MAINLY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM OCEAN SHORES TO EVERETT. IF
MORE PRECIPITATION FALLS IN THE FORM OF FREEZING RAIN AS OPPOSED
TO SNOW...THEN SIGNIFICANT ICING IN EXCESS OF ONE-QUARTER INCH
WOULD BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF THIS
MAGNITUDE CAN CAUSE POWER LINES TO SNAP...BRING DOWN LARGE TREE
BRANCHES... AND CAUSE WIDESPREAD TRAVEL DISRUPTIONS.

TEMPERATURES ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON ARE FORECAST TO RISE A LITTLE
ABOVE FREEZING FOR MOST OF THE WESTERN WASHINGTON LOWLANDS...SO
THE THREAT OF FREEZING RAIN WOULD END AT THAT TIME.

THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM FOR MUCH
OF WESTERN WASHINGTON. MANY OF THE EXACT DETAILS REMAIN
UNCERTAIN...SO CHECK BACK FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS...WATCHES AND
WARNINGS AS THE DETAILS OF THIS EVENT BECOME MORE SOLID.
REGARDLESS OF THE DETAILS...BE PREPARED FOR WINTER WEATHER AND
SIGNIFICANT WEATHER-RELATED DISRUPTIONS THIS WEEKEND STARTING
SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
HANER
 

I wasn't great at keeping notes in Dec 2008. I think 12/22 or 12/23 was our max depth, but other than that I wasn't real serious on jotting things down until coming to K-Falls.

[Deweydog]

5 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Perhaps we will still squeeze a January 2012 type event out of this season...That was a fun week. 

That was an interesting storm for us.  One of the longest stretches of rain/snow mix I can remember.

[Timmy Supercell]

9 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Perhaps we will still squeeze a January 2012 type event out of this season...That was a fun week. 

Nice pic. Was that around January 18th? That was the day my winter officially started, and began with a nice 5.5-6" event. We quickly made up for lost time going into Feb.

[MossMan]

4 minutes ago, Timmy_Supercell said:

I wasn't great at keeping notes in Dec 2008. I think 12/22 or 12/23 was our max depth, but other than that I wasn't real serious on jotting things down until coming to K-Falls.

I had the maximum depth on 12/25/08, the pic of my buried old Jetta at our old house which was at 300’. The lake pic was taken around the 22nd I think, the elevation there is around 400’. 

[Esquimalt]

I score 15 inches from the 18Z GFS! Let the southward trend begin lol (it's happening on the ICON and RGEM to). 

[MossMan]

2 minutes ago, Timmy_Supercell said:

Nice pic. Was that around January 18th? That was the day my winter officially started, and began with a nice 5.5-6" event. We quickly made up for lost time going into Feb.

I believe I took that pic on the evening of the 18th. 

[MossMan]

8 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

That was an interesting storm for us.  One of the longest stretches of rain/snow mix I can remember.

Sounds extremely memorable down there!! 

[MossMan]

3 minutes ago, Esquimalt said:

I score 15 inches from the 18Z GFS! Let the southward trend begin lol (it's happening on the ICON and RGEM to). 

Will end up being a Whatcom special!! 

[Timmy Supercell]

1 minute ago, MossMan said:

I believe I took that pic on the evening of the 18th. 

Nice to see that blasts on a regional level at once can still happen just like in the old times. 

[TigerWoodsLibido]

Just now, MossMan said:

Sounds extremely memorable down there!! 

51/40 down this way on that day. If one wasn't a weather enthusiast, they would have had no idea that there was anything interesting happening somewhere in the region. Further illustrating how shitt this location is. I want our family to move so badly.

[Deweydog]

3 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Sounds extremely memorable down there!! 

We suck.

[Timmy Supercell]

This was Christmas Eve I think in 2015. 

[MossMan]

Since I’m picture strolling down memory lane... Here is the morning of 12/29/96. Had to race over to my grandparents place (the lake house) and start shoveling the then flat roof as it started leaking with the huge rainy melt-a-thon that happened that day...Which was i’m sure the start of my grandpa’s aneurysm that blew a month later...

[SilverFallsAndrew]

We had 32” of snow and then 11” of rain with the January 2012 storm.

[MossMan]

13 minutes ago, Deweydog said:

We suck.

Except for 2016/17...You guys didn’t suck then...We did!! Also in 2013/14 I think? 

[paulb/eugene]

000 
TTAA00 KSEA 190128
WAZALL-190600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND WASHINGTON STATE WEATHER SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
500 PM PST TUE DEC 18 1990

...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON AND THE OLYMPICS AND
   CASCADES TONIGHT...
...WIND CHILL ADVISORY NORTH PARTS OF EASTERN WASHINGTON TONIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED THE WINTER STORM WARNING TO
THE WASHINGTON CASCADES AND OLYMPICS FOR AREAS OF HEAVY SNOW AND GUSTY
WINDS TONIGHT.

HIGH WINDS ARE ALSO PRODUCING PROBLEMS IN THE BELLINGHAM AREA THIS
EVENING WHERE WIND GUSTS TO 58 MPH WERE REPORTED AT 4 PM WITH TEMPER-
ATURES IN THE LOWER 20S. TEMPERATURES AND WINDS LIKE THESE ARE PRODUCING
WIND CHILLS NEAR NEAR 50 BELOW ZERO. THESE WINDS ARE A RESULT OF FRIGID
ARCTIC AIR POURING SOUTH THROUGH THE FRAZER RIVER VALLEY IN BRITISH
BRITISH COLUMBIA.
<
HEAVIEST SNOW THIS EVENING HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE AREA MAINLY SOUTH OF
EVERETT BUT NORTH OF SEA-TAC AIRPORT. UNOFFICIAL REPORTS INDICATE AS
MUCH AS 6 OR 7 INCHES HAVE FALLEN IN PARTS OF NORTH SEATTLE WITH
COMMUTER TRAFFIC IN MANY AREAS OF SEATTLE AND BELLEVUE AT A VIRTUAL
STANDSTILL.

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD SOUTH DURING THE EVENING COVERING MOST OF
WASHINGTON WITH A WHITE BLANKET BY WEDNESDAY MORNING. ANOTHER 4 TO 7
INCHES IS EXPECTED IN THE LOWLANDS WITH UP TO 12 INCHES NEW SNOW IN
THE CASCADES AND OLYMPICS.

SNOW AND BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED OVER EASTERN WASHINGTON
BEGINNING TONIGHT WITH LOWS DROPPING TO NEAR ZERO PRODUCING WIND CHILLS
TO 30 OR 40 BELOW ZERO AS NORTH WINDS INCREASE.

SNOW WILL TAPER OFF BY WEDNESDAY MORNING IN MOST AREAS OF WESTERN
WASHINGTON BUT TEMPERATURES WILL BE VERY COLD AND NORTH WINDS WILL
CONTINUE TO BE GUSTY.

THIS WEATHER SYSTEM IS LIKELY TO POSE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS TO TRAVELERS
IN WASHINGTON THROUGH WEDNESDAY AND THE COLD AIR BEHIND THE FRONT WILL
CONTINUE TO CAUSE PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT WASHINGTON FOR SEVERAL DAYS.

RESIDENTS OF THE STATE SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND CARRY CHAINS...WARM CLOTHING AND EXTRA FOOD WHEN TRAVELING
LONG DISTANCES.

END/ART SEAWSFO

[Timmy Supercell]

1 minute ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

We had 32” of snow and then 11” of rain with the January 2012 storm.

And folks say Klamath Falls has crazy weather. Silver Falls tops it ten times over. lol

 

[MossMan]

 

[VancouverIslandSouth]

22 minutes ago, Esquimalt said:

I score 15 inches from the 18Z GFS! Let the southward trend begin lol (it's happening on the ICON and RGEM to). 

Looks pretty close to the track from Dec 19, 2017. That was a painful one for Victoria proper, just 10k too far south to get any accumulation.

[SouthHillFrosty]

Just now, VancouverIslandSouth said:

Looks pretty close to the track from Dec 19, 2017. That was a painful one for Victoria proper, just 10k too far south to get any accumulation.

What is that in miles? We don't understand the metric system down here

[VancouverIslandSouth]

Just now, SouthHillFrosty said:

What is that in miles? We don't understand the metric system down here

haha sorry, it works out to about 6 miles.

[Timmy Supercell]

So Euro is saying my next real snow is 12/26. Could be relatively quiet for a bit.

And unimpressive 1.9" for a 10-day total snowfall. 

GFS not much better showing 2.4" for my place.

[Deweydog]

4 minutes ago, MossMan said:

 

Wah wah wah wah....

[Esquimalt]

6 minutes ago, VancouverIslandSouth said:

Looks pretty close to the track from Dec 19, 2017. That was a painful one for Victoria proper, just 10k too far south to get any accumulation.

Yeah that one was infuriating.  I think the saanich peninsula got about 5 or 6 inches with that, I just got mixed precipitation. 

[MossMan]

I just looked at my 12/19/17 pic archives and it did not snow that day. Had a white Christmas though!! 

[Jesse]

57 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Personally I've always thought feeding off people's misery about our lack of arctic outbreaks was always more fun than getting an actual arctic outbreak anyways. 

If some people actually thought I was being serious here, that explains an awful lot.

[Timmy]

This is chilly

[TT-SEA]

39 minutes ago, MossMan said:

Sounds extremely memorable down there!! 

I remember we were buried in snow here and schools were closed and I was driving my then 11-year old sons over to a friend's house and it started drizzling while the car thermometer showed 18 degrees and thought this is about to get really bad.   The next morning the power was out and it was foggy and all you could hear outside was the sound of tree branches breaking... sounded like gunshots every couple seconds.  

That was the worst event for our trees here in the last decade... far worse than the "crippling drought".

[Deweydog]

6 minutes ago, Timmy said:

This is chilly

A little backdoor action never hurt no one!

[Timmy]

There is some more (false) hope