January 2021 weather observations for the PNW

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Looks like temps are near or below freezing from about Aurora south. PDX up around 40. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

1 minute ago, Jesse said:

Nice to see a hard freeze with clearing skies overnight.

Oh wait, accidentally described a world where things actually get cold sometimes. Solid overcast and a low of 35 here.

Looks like it is 28 in Creswell. 

[Jesse]

6 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Looks like it is 28 in Creswell. 

Good job Andrew

[MWG]

It’s 29 and partly cloudy. Storm later today but looking like we aren’t getting any from this one just wind.

 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

Winter weather advisory for here tonight.  Couple inches look like a good bet. 

[jakerepp]

14.5'' of snow from that storm in Lincoln, NE yesterday. Eppley Airfield (Omaha) recorded just under a foot. 

Des Moines Int'l Airport has 10.3'' and it's still snowing there. 

Meanwhile, it's a balmy 34 here this morning.

[Tyler Mode]

It was 23 on Saturday morning, but hasn't been below freezing since.  Always lame with all the snow talk.  ODOT had I-5 so wet with de-icer Sunday morning you would have thought a heavy shower rolled through.  You'd think they would know better.  Better safe than sorry I guess.

[Kayla]

I just noticed that Redding is forecasted to get 8-12" of snow tonight!? Yet the northern tier can't buy a storm these days.

Such a bizarre Niña.

[Timmy]

3km nam looks better for the Portland area.

[snow_wizard]

The 6z parallel was quite good.  Way colder in the 7 to 10 day period than any previous run as well.

[snow_wizard]

2 minutes ago, Kayla said:

I just noticed that Redding is forecasted to get 8-12" of snow tonight!? Yet the northern tier can't buy a storm these days.

Such a bizarre Niña.

Indeed.  Sub 540 heights down into Baja and over half of AZ sub 537.  Unreal.

[jakerepp]

4 minutes ago, snow_wizard said:

The 6z parallel was quite good.  Way colder in the 7 to 10 day period than any previous run as well.

Alright, can someone explain what the 'parallel' is? 

I swear, I had never seen that term until the last week. 

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Hey Jesse, found your hard freeze. Currently 27 in Redding. 

Oh cool, 30 in Sacramento. 

[Phil]

5 hours ago, Kolk1604 said:

Same with the NAM. Is it ever right? Even an hour out it never wins.

Seriously though how many SSWs are we up to? And how many times has the polar vortex split? Unlikely, but maybe the control and the GFS is onto something

The PV actually hasn’t split yet. It’s just displaced and strung out.

Wave-1/displacement SSWings can be prolonged affairs.

[Phil]

The control run has the same spatial resolution as the other EPS members.

The EPS is a medium/long range tool for the most part. I wouldn’t use it for mesoscale stuff unless you really know what you’re doing. 

[MR.SNOWMIZER]

8 minutes ago, Phil said:

The PV actually hasn’t split yet. It’s just displaced and strung out.

Wave-1/displacement SSWings can be prolonged affairs.

It split yesterday, i have a video on my cell phone.

[BLI snowman]

21 minutes ago, Kayla said:

I just noticed that Redding is forecasted to get 8-12" of snow tonight!? Yet the northern tier can't buy a storm these days.

Such a bizarre Niña.

Snowing in Las Vegas right now too!

[TT-SEA]

Snow tonight per the 06Z ECMWF...

 

[TT-SEA]

06Z ECMWF shows a decent band of precip making it north into the Seattle area tomorrow evening... but temps are in the upper 30s at the time.

 

[Jesse]

19 minutes ago, SilverFallsAndrew said:

Hey Jesse, found your hard freeze. Currently 27 in Redding. 

Oh cool, 30 in Sacramento. 

Omegaraptor is gonna rip his BTS poster off the wall this morning.

[AlTahoe]

Currently 8F this morning. Here is the view from Heavenly this morning as we wait for tonight's big storm! 

[The Blob]

Sunrise anyone?

[TT-SEA]

2 minutes ago, hawkstwelve said:

Not half bad for anywhere west of I-5. 

Chris! 

[Phil]

Lesson learned today: Always remember to salt ur front steps before ZR.  

[Jesse]

4 minutes ago, The Blob said:

Sunrise anyone?

[The Blob]

Just now, Jesse said:

New wallpaper

[Phil]

Just now, Jesse said:

That’s sick. Assume the mountain is what’s casting the shadow on the underside of the stratus?

[Jesse]

Just now, Phil said:

That’s sick. Assume the mountain is what’s casting the shadow on the underside of the stratus?

Yes. Inverted shadow of Mt. Hood as the sun rises to its SE.

[The Blob]

Just now, hawkstwelve said:

Hey look, New Mexico is getting some snow! Isn't that nice? 

 

Friends of mine in SoCal got snow yesterday. 

[AlTahoe]

6 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Is that from your house? Very cool that you can see the shadow in the cloud deck from I am assuming Mt Hood? 

[BLI snowman]

3 minutes ago, hawkstwelve said:

Hey look, New Mexico is getting some snow! Isn't that nice? 

 

Albuquerque is 5300' elevation and sees more snow than Portland or Seattle.

[Phil]

Apparently a wedge tornado smacked Fultondale, AL last night. Caught people sleeping so unfortunately there were deaths. Not something you typically see in January, even during La Niña.

[FroYoBro]

13 minutes ago, hawkstwelve said:

Not half bad for anywhere west of I-5. 

I’ve always said that the NAM is one of my best friends. Can’t wait to see this verify later today! 

[Jesse]

5 minutes ago, AlTahoe said:

Is that from your house? Very cool that you can see the shadow in the cloud deck from I am assuming Mt Hood? 

Yeah, we have a nice view from the porch. Can see NE to Silver Star and Larch too. 

[Cloud]

6 minutes ago, hawkstwelve said:

Hey look, New Mexico is getting some snow! Isn't that nice? 

 

It’s so freaking bizarre... Sacramento and San Jose are colder than Seattle and Portland. 

[Jesse]

3 minutes ago, Cloud said:

It’s so freaking bizarre... Sacramento and San Jose are colder than Seattle. 

Albuquerque is usually colder and snowier than us thanks to its high elevation.  And in deep western trough patterns like this it is by no means unprecedented to have the focus of snow and cold anomalies well to the south of here over NorCal. People are just being weenies this morning. Which is somewhat understandable. I want snow too

[BLI snowman]

3 minutes ago, Phil said:

Apparently a wedge tornado smacked Fultondale, AL last night. Caught people sleeping so unfortunately there were deaths. Not something you typically see in January, even during La Niña.

Actually not too unusual to see January tornado events in a Nina. 2011 had a big outbreak at New Years, 2008 had a big outbreak (which famously produced an EF3 tornado in Wisconsin) and 1999 had a massive outbreak with a high risk from the SPC. Of course all three of those years were also crazy tornadic in the spring as well.

[Cloud]

51 minutes ago, jakerepp said:

Alright, can someone explain what the 'parallel' is? 

I swear, I had never seen that term until the last week. 

That may be referring to the GFSv16. It runs in parallel or simultaneously with the GFS. 

[jakerepp]

1 minute ago, Cloud said:

That may be referring to the GFSv16. It runs in parallel or simultaneously with the GFS. 

Ohhh that makes sense. 

[Fircrest]

20 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Yes. Inverted shadow of Mt. Hood as the sun rises to its SE.

Took this photo on January 5 in South Tacoma.