January 2021 weather observations for the PNW

[Perturbed Member]

GFS is trying, needs to try harder.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 3

(Past 4 runs)

[MWG]

5 minutes ago, umadbro said:

Forecast low here is 32. Currently 36... Still... I'd be genuinely surprised if I dropped below 34. 

Low here is 30 but yeah right now is 36 too seems like temps are going up instead. 

[TT-SEA]

4 minutes ago, nwsnow said:

GFS is trying, needs to try harder.

 

18Z ECMWF for 24-hour period ending Wednesday morning...

[snow_wizard]

It's amazing how terrible it is for snow in the East Puget Sound lowlands when the trough axis slightly west of optimal.  That easterly surface gradient just kills us.  I'm hopeful the block reset in early Feb will fix the problem.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 4

(Past 4 runs)

[TT-SEA]

Wow... its actually accumulating on Tiger Mountain.   Just flurries here.

 

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 hour ago, bainbridgekid said:

Completely insane forecast for Mt. Shasta City. They're only like 3,600 feet.

But on the windward side of Mt. Shasta, which helps them a lot.

[Timmy]

Looks like about 5” fell during the day in the hills above scappoose, although I went as high as I could. It was 2011’. I know this because some old dude in a Toyota rolled up on us, and yelled “it’s 2011’ here” and drove off.  I would bet he is a member here.

[FroYoBro]

Taken at face value, the 0z shows me getting a lot of cold rain this week. I am prepared. Nice change of pace and I bet I’ll see some flakes one of the days. 

[snow_wizard]

It is kind of interesting how rare it is for a block to set up where it currently is.  Much more common positions are either slightly too close to the coast which results in cold and clear, the sweet spot, or way too far west.  This is kind of a tweener pattern.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 5

(Past 4 runs)

[Rubus Leucodermis]

58 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

It has its charms and upscale areas... golfing, boating, and wineries all close by with reliably sunny weather (pic below where we usually stay).  Worth a weekend getaway when its 55 and raining here and 85 and sunny there.   We always have a blast.  That is why we do it!

We also go to Chelan... and Coeur D'Alene... and Sun Lakes which might be our new favorite weekend escape!

 

Columbia Point in Richland...

I prefer to be closer to mountains and have at least some trees. Winthrop is a nice escape for me. More convenient, from my part of the state, too.

[Cloud]

The Tues/Wed snow chance is kinda dwindling for the Puget Sound region. 

[Perturbed Member]

5 minutes ago, TT-SEA said:

 

18Z ECMWF for 24-hour period ending Wednesday morning...

Looking good. Between this, 3km NAM, GEM/RGEM and WRF it looks nicer than today's event. Potentially greater amounts in the west metro from maybe higher precip amounts and cold air damming from offshore flow banking up against the coast range.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 6

(Past 4 runs)

[TT-SEA]

15 minutes ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

I prefer to be closer to mountains and have at least some trees. Winthrop is a nice escape for me. More convenient, from my part of the state, too.

Its variety for us... we live next to the mountains and in a forest so we have that all the time and love it.   Going east of the Cascades is very easy from here and its a totally different landscape and climate.   Its perfect for a weekend getaway and always fun.

[OysterPrintout]

3 minutes ago, nwsnow said:

Looking good. Between this, 3km NAM, GEM/RGEM and WRF it looks nicer than today's event. Potentially greater amounts in the west metro from maybe higher precip amounts and cold air damming from offshore flow banking up against the coast range.

yeah always feels like we have a puncher's chance with offshore flow. Today felt pretty hopeless even a few days ago when we had runs here and there advertising some slushy accumulation

[Perturbed Member]

Potent low sinking south offshore with decent precip and kicking up east winds. A fundamentally good setup for PDX even with the ho hum airmass. Hopefully the gorge can bail us out with the temps.

 

 

 

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 7

(Past 4 runs)

[Rubus Leucodermis]

1 minute ago, TT-SEA said:

Its variety for us... we live next to the mountains and in a forest so we have that all the time and love it.   Going east of the Cascades is very easy from here and its a totally different landscape and climate.   Its perfect for a weekend getaway.   We always have fun.

Spring is the best time. It’s often cold and drizzly on the west side and warm but not baking hot on the east side. Bonus is that sagebrush scrub-steppe zone typically has great spring wildflower displays at the same time of the year.

Though I will say one of my best memories of camping in Eastern Washington involved rain. It was in May one year when a spectacular desert thunderstorm rolled through while camping in Yakima Canyon. Had been hiking in the hills, noticed the signs of an impending thunderstorm, and cut my hike short.

Was quite the storm, with strong gusts and intense purple-white lightning bolts hitting the hills right above camp. Even got a bit of hail which really filled the air with the scent of crushed sage.

[Perturbed Member]

2 minutes ago, OysterPrintout said:

yeah always feels like we have a puncher's chance with offshore flow. Today felt pretty hopeless even a few days ago when we had runs here and there advertising some slushy accumulation

Agree, even the slightest south/southwest wind seems to obliterate all snow here below 500ft with very very few exceptions. Not like the mid and upper levels were even that cold to begin with. Accumulations at the lowest elevations today was mostly wishful thinking. 522 thickness and -8c or colder 850mb temps generally the bare minimum for snow with onshore flow for us IMO.

[Rubus Leucodermis]

38/31 for the day. Now 36˚F. A bit of morning snow, but mostly cold rain.

[TT-SEA]

1 minute ago, Rubus Leucodermis said:

Spring is the best time. It’s often cold and drizzly on the west side and warm but not baking hot on the east side. Bonus is that sagebrush scrub-steppe zone typically has great spring wildflower displays at the same time of the year.

Though I will say one of my best memories of camping in Eastern Washington involved rain. It was in May one year when a spectacular desert thunderstorm rolled through while camping in Yakima Canyon. Had been hiking in the hills, noticed the signs of an impending thunderstorm, and cut my hike short.

Was quite the storm, with strong gusts and intense purple-white lightning bolts hitting the hills right above camp. Even got a bit of hail which really filled the air with the scent of crushed sage.

Yeah... spring and fall are great.   June is pretty nice as well... still green over there but not intolerably hot yet.       

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 8

[RentonHill]

Did some roof clearing this weekend with my brother in law and now my body is just one big ache. Won’t wait this long ever again. It was about 15 degrees here but sunshine makes all the difference. 
 

 

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 9'er

[MossMan]

1 hour ago, MR.SNOWMIZER said:

Have you been to banks lake?

Loved taking my yearly trip to the little off the grid cabin above Banks lake that I would rent. Nothing but lanterns, and a star filled sky...Then exploring the water by day! 

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 10

[TT-SEA]

Just 276 hours away... I am sure the GFS won't take this one away.   

 

[MossMan]

1 minute ago, TT-SEA said:

Just 276 hours away... I am sure the GFS won't take this one away.   

 

Lock it in! 

[TT-SEA]

Actually a pretty decent pattern for lowland snow after day 11 on the 00Z GFS.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Looks amazing. 

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 11

[Deweydog]

Andrew is snow drunk.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 12 MONEY $$$ 

[Meatyorologist]

That's actually a really nice pattern after day 10. Brisk and sunny at least; beautiful late winter weather.

[Gradient Keeper]

Day 13

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, Deweydog said:

Andrew is snow drunk.

It was a weak first half, but strong 2nd half comeback today. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, DJ Droppin said:

Day 13

Looks nice.