5 reasons why a significant Puget Sound windstorm occurred with almost no warning
After the rainiest start to a year on record, a moderate windstorm blasted through most of Washington State with surprisingly little warning. Widespread wind gusts in the 45-55 mph range were recorded in central Puget Sound around midnight – 1 AM on Wednesday January 13 with a max gust of 61 mph in Federal Way.
Will sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) lead to an arctic cold blast in late January?
The calendar shows that it is now January 2021 but winter weather has yet to make much of an appearance in the continental United States. Temperatures over the past 30 days have run above normal over the majority of the US and Canada. Not surprisingly, snow depth is below normal over a large portion of
Assessing the potential for lowland snow in the Seattle area on Monday evening
Western Washington snow fans haven’t had much to cheer for yet this year, but weather models have hinted at at least a slight potential for snowflake or two on Monday Dec 21. On Saturday afternoon, NWS Seattle issued the following statement about the potential. The NWS graphic suggests that snow will generally be confined to
Why was Saturday’s convergence zone stronger than expected?
After a weak frontal passage overnight Friday, the general consensus was that the Seattle area would experience clearing skies by Saturday afternoon with perhaps an isolated shower or two. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas. A little after 8:30 AM, the main frontal band was already well off to the southeast and skies were clearing…except
Stormy, wet conditions likely to persist into December (or longer) as La Niña strengthens
November is climatologically the wettest month of the year in the PNW and that has certainly been the case so far this month. Tuesday’s powerful cyclone, pictured below, capped off a impressive week with convective squall lines in the Seattle area, strong winds, high surf/beach erosion on the Pacific coast, and an early snowpack buildup
Winter begins in the Cascades
It was a stormy weekend for the Pacific Northwest. Early last week Washington weather enthusiasts were excited about a possible windstorm that wound up striking further south (50+ mph gusts in Newport, Or!), but I was looking forward to something different – the first big snowfall of the season for the Washington Cascades. Active weather
Assessing the potential for a significant windstorm on Friday night
Social media has begun to hype the possibility of a significant windstorm in western Washington on Friday night. While uncertainty remains very high, there is enough of a possibility of a significant event to warrant taking a closer look… Where is the storm right now? It doesn’t exist yet! The energy source for the storm
PNW winter 2020-21 forecast: Will a giant warm blob cancel the effects of La Niña?
Before I get into the details, here’s a summary of what to expect this winter in the PNW (December-February): Near-normal temperatures Above-normal precipitation Above-normal mountain snowfall Lowland snow in the Seattle area is more likely later in the winter (Jan-Feb) than early (Nov-Dec) To set the stage for the forecast, I first want to quickly
Early season cold air outbreak to bring widespread snow to the PNW this weekend
The calendar reads October 20 but the upcoming weather pattern in the PNW is more typical of mid-winter. In fact, it looks like an unusual widespread October snowstorm will occur Friday into Saturday in the mountains and eastern Washington, with the chance of at least some snowflakes in the lowlands west of the Cascades. Here’s
Stuck under an inversion
On the large scale, the past week in the Pacific Northwest has featured stagnant weather with relatively light winds and generally clear conditions aloft. However, on the local scale conditions have been far more variable, with a number of interesting temperature and cloud patterns that are worth a closer look. As the title of this
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