I abandoned my post in Federal Way and back enjoying my current preference () down south in Verrado Az. Had enough of the rain up north already ha ha. I don’t have an official weather machine but looks like temps were just over 100 yesterday. Today will be a little warmer. Mother Nature is currently landscaping my backyard . I got a little desert !!!
So far the 1.5 C of average warming in the PNW has been roughly 3 C in summer and 0.5 C rest of the year. Seems likely to continue to be asymmetric moving forward given the moisture feedbacks that are more significant in summer.
This winter was surely an outlier but the general trend of snowpack at low latitudes and low latitudes taking a beating.
In terms of “new normal”, one question would be if folks think Lake Powell will ever fill up again. In my opinion it won’t—and that’s both a supply side and a demand side problem, illustrating that the current agricultural and water use practices are non sustainable in the west especially as the climate warms. I agree the term “new normal” is overused but in some cases it is true given the adaptations needed.