December 2014 Observations for the Pacific Northwest

[HighlandExperience]

SEA is up to 63. I think its December record is 64.

 

Wow. You would think somehow this massive torch would be balanced by cold weather.

 

Not banking on it though.

 

The ski season so far makes last season look wonderful.

[MossMan]

Heh the wax is smart... Reminds me of the time I ended up inadvertently following a deicer truck on the way to work several years ago. That stuff is a sticky mess! It also didn't help at all when the sleet, snow, and freezing rain hit a few hours later.

Yeah I spend way too many hours on it, but it does make a big difference!

[Snowman5678]

Yeah I spend way too many hours on it, but it does make a big difference!

 

Quite the fleet.

[bainbridgekid]

Time of day does not really matter in this scenario... record highs can happen in the middle of the night.

Sure but it still makes a small difference even in situations like this which makes it slightly even more impressive.

 

There are a couple stations East of Lake Washington and in the foothills that are sitting at 68 degrees right now. That's just crazy.

[Bham_Guy]

BLI and SEA are now at 65

[TT-SEA]

BLI and SEA are now at 65

That is insane.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

New warmer climate norms are becoming apparent. Or we are living through a December 1929 redux.

[Abbotsford_wx]

63F here... our second straight day of record heat. The all-time monthly record here is 64.8F, so it will be interesting to see how close we get to that.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

We were due for a winter month to totally torch. It's been about what 5 years?

[TT-SEA]

In Issaquah right now car shopping... it feels crazy warm for December.

[Jesse]

BLI and SEA are now at 65

That's what we get for a seeing a few weeks of cold in the past month!

[Jesse]

New warmer climate norms are becoming apparent. Or we are living through a December 1929 redux.

Did December 1929 ever get really warm up north? I know places in the Willamette Valley allegedly hit 70 that month.

[bainbridgekid]

In Issaquah right now car shopping... it feels crazy warm for December.

I just went out to get the mail without a shirt and in shorts and felt perfectly comfortable. Just downright weird. 65 degrees.

[bainbridgekid]

Euro brings a 985mb low to the tip of the Olympic Penninsula. Slightly further East and it would be really significant, but I think the most likely solution is for a slightly stronger low to curve a bit further offshore. That would certainly fit with the normal bias the models seem to have with these kinds of lows.

 

[DareDuck]

Why is it so warm up there? "Only" 55 down here.

[ShawniganLake]

Did December 1929 ever get really warm up north? I know places in the Willamette Valley allegedly hit 70 that month.

Not up here.  53F max high for the month.  19 lows of 32 or below and 17.5" of snow.  Pretty decent month actually.  Mean temp came in at 37.6F

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Did December 1929 ever get really warm up north? I know places in the Willamette Valley allegedly hit 70 that month.

That 72 at sle is fairly dubious, but it was a warm month overall.

[bainbridgekid]

Why is it so warm up there? "Only" 55 down here.

BLI and SEA are very susceptible to warming SE downslope winds. Not so much for Portland and Eugene.

[TT-SEA]

Euro brings a 985mb low to the tip of the Olympic Penninsula. Slightly further East and it would be really significant, but I think the most likely solution is for a slightly stronger low to curve a bit further offshore. That would certainly fit with the normal bias the models seem to have with these kinds of lows.

 

Not expecting much more than a typical windy December day out here.

[bainbridgekid]

Not expecting much more than a typical windy December day out here.

It's a tumultuous situation. Slight differences in track would make a big difference per usual. The Euro still shows gusts over 50 for Seattle but pushes the timing back to near Midnight.

 

It develops a Leeside low on the NE tip of the Olypmics which creates a pretty strong gradient up the Sound. There's about a 8mb gradient between SEA and Port Townsend on the Euro which would definitely bring some strong winds.

 

It doesn't seem like your area gets very strong South winds though, right?

[seattleweatherguy]

my power just almost went out with a gust of winds! just now. i foresee and predict 30 to 40 mph winds around my area maybe close to 50 at best. 65 would be a hell of a long shot. Still stormy and cause damage

[Snow]

The new 12z GEM at Thursday 4pm. The Sou'Wester is closer to the coastline than on the GFS and EURO.

 

http://www.tropicaltidbits.com/analysis/models/gem/2014121012/gem_mslp_wind_nwus_7.png

[Brennan]

65*F... No words.

[Bham_Guy]

That is insane.

 

Now 66

[DareDuck]

BLI and SEA are very susceptible to warming SE downslope winds. Not so much for Portland and Eugene.

 

I see, thanks for clarifying. Not complaining, just curious. Our heating bill sure appreciates overnight lows in the 50s.

[bainbridgekid]

Now 66

Unbelievable. Can you imagine what it would take to shatter the all time December cold record by 3 degrees?

[Bham_Guy]

Unbelievable. Can you imagine what it would take to shatter the all time December cold record by 3 degrees?

 

One thing is for sure; it would be quite chilly

[Jesse]

Now 66

This kind of stuff just gets old.

[BLI snowman]

New warmer climate norms are becoming apparent. Or we are living through a December 1929 redux.

 

Like I said before, those SLE readings in 1929 are bogus.

 

Also, Bellingham was getting a big snowstorm at this point in 1929.

[BLI snowman]

I hope we go for 70.

[Bham_Guy]

I hope we go for 70.

 

Boeing Field is reporting 68

[Jesse]

It's hard for me to picture how, in all of these years, BLI has never had a warmer set up in December. There have got to be other occurrences when they had a warm SE wind with 850s up around +10c. Is this literally the first time that has ever happened in the history of that location?

 

Edit: Looks like 850s in the Bellingham region are between +7 or 8 right now.

[Bham_Guy]

This kind of stuff just gets old.

 

You will probably get snow in February.

[Jesse]

Trees will start blooming up north soon at this rate.

[ShawniganLake]

I hope we go for 70.

Only 52F over here.  We generally get much warmer with a SW wind, though.

[Jesse]

You will probably get snow in February.

That should make up for the near constant barrage of warm records we've seen the last several months.

[BLI snowman]

It's hard for me to picture how, in all of these years, BLI has never had a warmer set up in December. There have got to be other occurrences when they had a warm SE wind with 850s up around +10c. Is this literally the first time that has ever happened in the history of that location?

 

Edit: Looks like 850s in the Bellingham region are between +7 or 8 right now.

 

Not just Bellingham, Seattle has now shattered their December record and Olympia has tied their's.

 

Those 850mb temps are pretty insane for this time of year. Easily 10c above average, and you add to that the strong low level WAA and it's a pretty unique setup.

[bainbridgekid]

Today's satellite image is a great illustration of how complex and unpredictable meteorology is.

 

Today's storm is an absolute BEAST extending from Alaska to Southern California, yet all it is bringing us is moderate wind and rain and the warmest December temps ever.

 

Meanwhile tomorrow's storm which will bring more significant wind is a mere speck in comparison.

 

[BLI snowman]

Boeing Field is reporting 68

 

Crazy! Even on the SW OR coast, that would be an extremely impressive reading for this time of year. For western WA it's thoroughly nuts.

[ShawniganLake]

A link for anyone interested in this current storms impacts north of the border.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-flooding-risk-continues-as-3rd-storm-wallops-west-coast-1.2867042