Mountlake Terrace, WA Climate

[bainbridgekid]

Hey guys,

 

I'll be teaching 2nd grade in Mountlake Terrace this upcoming year and am looking at apartments around the area.

 

I am particuarly interested in one near I-5 at just over 400 feet elevation and the school is actually at 500 feet.

 

I know a decent amount about the microclimates of the area, but would love to hear any insights from you all. Especially anybody who has spent much time in the Edmonds/Lynwood/Mountlake Terrace area.

 

Seems like it should get hit by the Convergence Zone pretty regularly and with 400+ feet elevation, I would have to imagine they should get a decent amount of snow?

 

After so many years of agonizingly watching the CZ sit just a few miles North of me, I am excited to hopefully finally get to take advantage of it!

[BLI snowman]

No first-hand experience but in my time of radar and observation watching it seems like Mountlake Terrace generally does okay with the convergence zone, not usually the winner in those events though. There are occasions where the PSCZ will remain more north over Everett or Lake Stevens, but your area is often at least scraped by it on the southern edge. 

 

For example, in some past prolific convergence zone dumps

 

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/6182426.html

 

They reported 4" in March 2007

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/17940574.html

 

4" in April 2008

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/40917007.html

 

Apparently only 1" on 12/18/2008, may be bogus though

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/36371689.html

 

 

About 1/2" reported wth the first wave of March 2009 snow

[bainbridgekid]

No first-hand experience but in my time of radar and observation watching it seems like Mountlake Terrace generally does okay with the convergence zone, not usually the winner in those events though. There are occasions where the PSCZ will remain more north over Everett or Lake Stevens, but your area is often at least scraped by it on the southern edge. 

 

For example, in some past prolific convergence zone dumps

 

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/6182426.html

 

They reported 4" in March 2007

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/17940574.html

 

4" in April 2008

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/40917007.html

 

Apparently only 1" on 12/18/2008, may be bogus though

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/36371689.html

 

 

About 1/2" reported with the first wave of March 2009 snow

Interesting. I definitely would have thought they got more on 12/18/08. I wonder what elevations those reports are from.

 

Seems like while they are rarely the hardest hit area, they should get noticeably more than Seattle most Winters and probably often more than Bainbridge. Especially being at 400-500 feet.

 

Of course, you need cold NW flow for CZ snow, and that has been absurdly difficult to come by the last couple Winters.  

[BLI snowman]

Interesting. I definitely would have thought they got more on 12/18/08. I wonder what elevations those reports are from.

 

Seems like while they are rarely the hardest hit area, they should get noticeably more than Seattle most Winters and probably often more than Bainbridge. Especially being at 400-500 feet.

 

Of course, you need cold NW flow for CZ snow, and that has been absurdly difficult to come by the last couple Winters.  

 

I'd imagine their snowfall averages are pretty similar to Bainbridge Island since they don't get quite the benefits from cold air damming that that side of the Sound gets. But they definitely get more shower and convergence zone activity, and their elevation should help with certain wet bulb events, so overall it's likely fairly close.