February 2014 in the PNW

[SilverFallsAndrew]

I have Montana in my sights right now, but my heart will always be in the PNW. If I do actually move there, I will probably end up back out here some day. I just need to get my cold/snow/thunderstorm fix for 8-10 years.

 

It isn't really the "hell" Tim and Jim are making it out to be, though. If it was a bad as they are saying this region wouldn't be inhabited with millions of people, and it wouldn't have been the promised land for thousands of pioneers and settlers in the mid-19th Century.

 

A lot of people I know love the mild climate of the PNW lowlands. The part we hate (Lack of extremes.) they love.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Impressive, but UHI should be taken into consideration when looking at these records.

 

Very true, but the lows even up at my place were notably warm last summer. I had several 60+ lows. The average lows at my location in August and September were both about 7-8 degrees above normal. 

[IbrChris]

Impressive, but UHI should be taken into consideration when looking at these records.

What is your methodology to do so? Sure, I am aware there's UHI influence in the more recent decades.

[Jesse]

Went hiking in the Opal Creek area in the Little NF Santiam River drainage east of Salem. There was a decent amount of snow once you got up to "Jawbone Flats" I think that is a little over 2000'.

 

 

Nice. I've been wondering what it's like up there. I was last at Jawbone Flats in mid-April last year. There was a skiff of fresh snow then.

 

Thinking about doing a hike somewhere around Hood tomorrow. Probably a snow hike.

[TT-SEA]

Sunset this evening...

 

 

Even if we got a foot of snow at home... I would still rather be here.  

 

As it is... we have missed days and days of cold rain and rain/snow mix. 

[Jesse]

What is your methodology to do so? Sure, I am aware there's UHI influence in the more recent decades.

I don't necessarily have a methodology. Just take recent warm low records at urbanized stations with a grain of salt, that's all.

[IbrChris]

Impressive, but UHI should be taken into consideration when looking at these records.

Also, there's been some similar months to Aug 2013 in the older records:

 

82.3/59.9 in Aug 1897.

82.7/59.8 in Aug 1915.

81.5/59.6 in Aug 1923.

80.7/59.0 in Aug 1930 etc.

 

Compare to 81.5/60.9 in Aug 2013

 

UHI is a factor but not nearly to the degree it is in warmer/drier areas like Phoenix.

[TT-SEA]

I have Montana in my sights right now, but my heart will always be in the PNW. If I do actually move there, I will probably end up back out here some day. I just need to get my cold/snow/thunderstorm fix for 8-10 years.

 

It isn't really the "hell" Tim and Jim are making it out to be, though. If it was a bad as they are saying this region wouldn't be inhabited with millions of people, and it wouldn't have been the promised land for thousands of pioneers and settlers in the mid-19th Century.

 

I have not been saying its 'hell' lately.  

 

The last year has been really nice.    Almost as good as it gets.   

[IbrChris]

I don't necessarily have a methodology. Just take recent warm low records at urbanized stations with a grain of salt, that's all.

It is what it is.

[Jesse]

I completely agree...but as a kid I hated it here. I hope my kids grow up enjoying it. If we could keep these summers with the winters we had during the latter 19th century, that would be optimal.

 

Bozeman area is really cool, I'd love to live there. My folks live near Rexburg, Idaho a similar distance from Yellowstone Park and roughly the same climate as Bozeman. Arctic air tends to stick around awhile longer in eastern Idaho with no Chinooks to mix it out. Bozeman gets reprieves but also gets the truly arctic stuff a bit more often than Idaho.

 

Great area.

I'm looking at Bozeman or Kalispell. Both areas are really nice. My girlfriend's parents both went to college in Bozeman and showed us around the area last summer. I really took a liking to it. This was during the trip when we did a five-day backpacking trip in the Beartooths. It was incredible.

[Weather101]

Updates on Vancouver BC tonight/till Monday morning ?

[IbrChris]

I'm looking at Bozeman or Kalispell. Both areas are really nice. My girlfriend's parents both went to college in Bozeman and showed us around the area last summer. I really took a liking to it. This was during the trip when we did a five-day backpacking trip in the Beartooths. It was incredible.

Ya, Kalispell is really nice. Missoula isn't bad either, more urban feeling than the others. Hamilton also nice. Bozeman of course, also Red Lodge. Livingston isn't bad either.

[IbrChris]

It is what it is.

Forgot to add that I prefer to look at mean temperature personally, in which case Aug 2013 was beaten by Aug 1915.

[TT-SEA]

Snow is sticking to the roads on the Barkley Village camera in Bellingham...

 

 

http://barkleyvillage.com/web-cameras/

 

 

This could be huge up there... looks like moisture goes non-stop for another 48 hours.

[Snowman5678]

Snow is sticking to the roads on the Barkley Village camera in Bellingham...

 

 

http://barkleyvillage.com/web-cameras/

 

 

This could be huge up there... looks like moisture goes non-stop for another 48 hours.

ya, gonna be watching that cam to get my snow fix

[Snowman5678]

Temp actually rising here...was at 35.1 a couple hours ago, up to 35.8 and rising.

[TT-SEA]

ya, gonna be watching that cam to get my snow fix

 

 

Fun camera because its a live stream.    Just like looking out the window... except you can't go out and play in it.  

[IbrChris]

If you want to see a spring torch why not check out 1934 which is easily the warmest Feb-April stretch in modern records across the NW US.

PDX monthly mean temps:

Feb 1934: 49.4, warmest ever
Mar 1934: 55.2, warmest ever
Apr 1934: 59.7, 2nd warmest ever

I bet the weather weenies were all lamenting and crying "FML!" back then.

[Bham_Guy]

Fun camera because its a live stream.    Just like looking out the window... except you can't go out and play in it.  

 

I'm watching it too, because it isn't accumulating much on my side of town yet.

[SilverFallsAndrew]

Just saw that Silverton ended up with their 2nd coldest mean temp for December, of course their records only go back to 1962. They had a mean of 33.9, which is just behind 1985 and just ahead of December 1990. The average high of 39.4 in December beats out 1990 for the coldest average high in December in the period of record.

[Phil]

Summers are pretty good...but not overly thundery. CDA still sees around 12-15 tstorm days a year, perhaps 1-2 more than Spokane. July highs are in the mid 80s with lows dropping into the lower 50s. It's not much different than the rest of the inland NW. Afternoon RH values do fall below 20% often in summer.

 

Winters in CDA are a bit colder than the bulk of eastern WA, a couple degrees colder than Spokane but not as cold as Colville.

Anything in the way of severe, though? I'm not too familiar with the summer climo east of the Cascades, but I love legit storms so long as they don't ruin my life.

 

We usually get 5-7 outbreaks per year here, but could be happy with one or two, honestly.

 

I know that during my visit to Chelan as a kid, there was a pretty wild thunderstorm one night that literally blew away my uncle's $1500 telescope. That would qualify as legit in my book.

[IbrChris]

Anything in the way of severe, though? I'm not too familiar with the summer climo west of the Cascades, but I love legit storms so long as they don't ruin my life.

 

We usually get 5-7 outbreaks per year here, but could be happy with 1 or two, honestly.

 

I know that during my visit to Chelan as a kid, there was a pretty wild thunderstorm one night that literally blew away my uncle's $1500 telescope. That would qualify as legit in my book.

Not generally severe, aside from some marginally severe hail and/or wind gusts. Pretty garden-variety compared to Maryland. I would say areas further S around Pendleton and Walla Walla have a higher frequency of severe storms. Even there it's pretty low though.

[Black Hole]

It is interesting what a few years in a snowier climate can do. I still love snow but I definitely am not nearly as crazy as I used to be. No use in getting up to watch rain/snow mix when you know its going to happen many times every year. Also, just about every year has long stretches of snow cover. We went about 1.5 months this year with snow on everything. So even though I still like that, what becomes more appealing is big storms, which are rare here because of the dryness of the climate.

 

Also, storms here happen more often than in PDX but are generally still relatively small compared to the Midwest and not THAT frequent. We get usually 1-3 Sever thunderstorm watches a year but I've never seen anything verify IMBY. So if there is anything that I want to see more of its thunderstorms. I would love to live in an area with a little more action.

 

That said my whole life I have become accustomed to mountain climate. The Gorge or the Great Salt Lake have interesting and unique effects on climate that you won't see elsewhere. I think the mountains add a lot more unknown to the mix that you don't have in other places.

[Brennan]

I'm watching it too, because it isn't accumulating much on my side of town yet.

It wil be shortly. I just drove from Lake Whatcom near Strawberry Point to my place off of Aldrich and Northwest. Snow sticking to the roads along the Lake. Getting slushy on the roads all the way into town. Its snowing moderate to heavy now here at my place. STILL 33.3! But the snow is drier and things aren’t as wet. JUST MEASURED. 0.5” so far on a hard surface. LOL

[SilverFallsAndrew]

It is interesting what a few years in a snowier climate can do. I still love snow but I definitely am not nearly as crazy as I used to be. No use in getting up to watch rain/snow mix when you know its going to happen many times every year. Also, just about every year has long stretches of snow cover. We went about 1.5 months this year with snow on everything. So even though I still like that, what becomes more appealing is big storms, which are rare here because of the dryness of the climate.

 

Also, storms here happen more often than in PDX but are generally still relatively small compared to the Midwest and not THAT frequent. We get usually 1-3 Sever thunderstorm watches a year but I've never seen anything verify IMBY. So if there is anything that I want to see more of its thunderstorms. I would love to live in an area with a little more action.

 

That said my whole life I have become accustomed to mountain climate. The Gorge or the Great Salt Lake have interesting and unique effects on climate that you won't see elsewhere. I think the mountains add a lot more unknown to the mix that you don't have in other places.

 

Living in Okahoma for 3 years I got burnt out on thunderstorms.They also pretty much ruined any t-storms we have here west of the cascades.

 

Also I agree to an extent on the snow part. It snowed 1/2" here Wednesday morning and I could have cared less.

[IbrChris]

It is interesting what a few years in a snowier climate can do. I still love snow but I definitely am not nearly as crazy as I used to be. No use in getting up to watch rain/snow mix when you know its going to happen many times every year. Also, just about every year has long stretches of snow cover. We went about 1.5 months this year with snow on everything. So even though I still like that, what becomes more appealing is big storms, which are rare here because of the dryness of the climate.

 

Also, storms here happen more often than in PDX but are generally still relatively small compared to the Midwest and not THAT frequent. We get usually 1-3 Sever thunderstorm watches a year but I've never seen anything verify IMBY. So if there is anything that I want to see more of its thunderstorms. I would love to live in an area with a little more action.

 

That said my whole life I have become accustomed to mountain climate. The Gorge or the Great Salt Lake have interesting and unique effects on climate that you won't see elsewhere. I think the mountains add a lot more unknown to the mix that you don't have in other places.

 

I was not very impressed with the monsoonal storms at SLC...best stuff almost invariably south of Utah County and east of the Wasatch. In terms of storm severity I'd say eastern Idaho has stronger storms from my experience, although less of them than SLC on average. SLC averages about 35 tstorm days a year vs 25 or so in eastern Idaho across the Snake River Valley.

[snow_wizard]

My wife is pulling for Chelan because she used to vacation there every summer. I've been once and I loved it. I can almost still hear the sound of the cottonwood leaves rustling in the breeze.

 

My problem is that I currently live near a bunch of wind turbines, (I live on backbone ridge) and I'm not sure anyone will want to buy my house unless I take a loss.

Leavenworth is really close to Chelan and that's kind of where I'm looking. It snow a ton there. Chelan gets plenty of snow also and probably more sunshine.

[Phil]

It is interesting what a few years in a snowier climate can do. I still love snow but I definitely am not nearly as crazy as I used to be. No use in getting up to watch rain/snow mix when you know its going to happen many times every year. Also, just about every year has long stretches of snow cover. We went about 1.5 months this year with snow on everything. So even though I still like that, what becomes more appealing is big storms, which are rare here because of the dryness of the climate.

 

Also, storms here happen more often than in PDX but are generally still relatively small compared to the Midwest and not THAT frequent. We get usually 1-3 Sever thunderstorm watches a year but I've never seen anything verify IMBY. So if there is anything that I want to see more of its thunderstorms. I would love to live in an area with a little more action.

 

That said my whole life I have become accustomed to mountain climate. The Gorge or the Great Salt Lake have interesting and unique effects on climate that you won't see elsewhere. I think the mountains add a lot more unknown to the mix that you don't have in other places.

 

I love the mountains too..that's all I've ever known actually. Basically when I moved for work I had to choose between Chicago, Brownsville (TX), or Morgantown (WV). I took an initial cut in pay but definitely do not regret it.

 

If there's one thing I hate about this climate, it's the humidity from June through early October. I don't mind it during severe Wx outbreaks, but otherwise it sucks gorilla balls.

[Bham_Guy]

It wil be shortly. I just drove from Lake Whatcom near Strawberry Point to my place off of Aldrich and Northwest. Snow sticking to the roads along the Lake. Getting slushy on the roads all the way into town. Its snowing moderate to heavy now here at my place. STILL 33.3! But the snow is drier and things aren’t as wet. JUST MEASURED. 0.5” so far on a hard surface. LOL

 

I'll be waiting

[Phil]

They also pretty much ruined any t-storms we have here west of the cascades.

Huh?

[Phil]

Leavenworth is really close to Chelan and that's kind of where I'm looking. It snow a ton there. Chelan gets plenty of snow also and probably more sunshine.

The sunshine is important to me, definitely. It's somewhat of a rarity to get it here during winter.

[TT-SEA]

It wil be shortly. I just drove from Lake Whatcom near Strawberry Point to my place off of Aldrich and Northwest. Snow sticking to the roads along the Lake. Getting slushy on the roads all the way into town. Its snowing moderate to heavy now here at my place. STILL 33.3! But the snow is drier and things aren’t as wet. JUST MEASURED. 0.5” so far on a hard surface. LOL

 

 

Seems like this is going to be a pretty big event there.    The moisture is not going to end for 2 more days.

[snow_wizard]

And Jim... you will not be moving.   You have had this same meltdown at least 10 times on here in the past.

 

The problem is that I know you are miserable 90% of the time in the winter here like you said tonight... but then you put on this silly-positive face with your posts and I know its not real.   I just wish you would be real all year long.   So what if it sucks for cold and snow lovers?    We can't we call a spade a spade and not pretend... or be forced to only make positive posts about the prospects for cold and snow?

I really am ready. Even during the summers which I totally love here I frequently think about my growing dissatisfaction with our winters over the past 20 years. It's just not worth going through this every year. The winters during the last cold phase would have satisfied me, but obviously we are unable to achieve that anymore.

[snow_wizard]

The sunshine is important to me, definitely. It's somewhat of a rarity to get it here during winter.

One thing you should be aware of is long lasting inversions can happen during some winters east of the Cascades which can produce long stretches of low clouds. For the most part there is lots of sunshine there though.

[westiztehbest]

One thing you should be aware of is long lasting inversions can happen during some winters east of the Cascades which can produce long stretches of low clouds. For the most part there is lots of sunshine there though.

Yeah if you can get through the foggy/cloudy winters you get rewarded with summers that are fantastic.

[BLI snowman]

At this point I am so ready for this winter to be over. My absolute least favorite time of year. Winter is pretty much done and it takes forever and a day for it to finally get nice. This time we have the added treat of a possible major El Nino next winter to look forward to! Have I ever made it totally clear how much hate this climate? My wife has agreed it's past time for us to make a serious effort to get out of here. I can hardly wait until we are in a position to be able to sell our house so we can do it. Tim sure picked a good time to get out of here this year.

 

You sure get negative when others get the snow. Get a grip.

[BLI snowman]

It wil be shortly. I just drove from Lake Whatcom near Strawberry Point to my place off of Aldrich and Northwest. Snow sticking to the roads along the Lake. Getting slushy on the roads all the way into town. Its snowing moderate to heavy now here at my place. STILL 33.3! But the snow is drier and things aren’t as wet. JUST MEASURED. 0.5” so far on a hard surface. LOL

 

Have about 1.5" on the grass here, less on everything else. Hasn't been accumulating a ton as it's still about 33 here as well, but it's steady and there's a good layer of slush on my road.

[Guest Monty67]

WTF its 33F and raining in Hope, BC. Thought it would be colder by now.

 

5" of new snow here so far this evening.

 

EC is forecasting an additional 2-4" tonight and up to 4" tomorrow here.

[Skagit Weather]

This sucks. My location for the last few hours has been stuck about 20ft too low in elevation. If I walk 200ft up the road there is almost an inch on the road, while there is nothing here. The temperature just has to drop ever so slightly, but it has been stuck resolutely at 34.0F and I am still getting a rain/snow mix. If all the precipitation had been snow today (.56") I would be sitting on almost 6" of snow. I can't imagine the temperature is going to stay the same the whole night, but I guess it could.

[VancouverIslandSouth]

WTF its 33F and raining in Hope, BC. Thought it would be colder by now.

 

5" of new snow here so far this evening.

 

EC is forecasting an additional 2-4" tonight and up to 4" tomorrow here.

 

Wow, areas just to the south of here (Nanoose) are doing much better for snowfall tonight. We just can't seem to get a decent precipitation intensity going to cool things down at the lower elevations. I expect it will be better as the E/NE gradients increase through the night, so we'll see, right now we're just barely too warm for accumulation without heavy precip. Just looking at some obs, outflow winds appear to have made it down to Lytton and the Arctic high has firmly established over Prince George.