Unprecedented June heat wave threatens all-time temperature records
An extraordinary heat wave will build over the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia this weekend, bringing some of the warmest recorded temperatures in the history of the region. The upper-level forecast for Saturday evening shows an extraordinary “heat dome” ridge centered over western North America. Temperatures under the ridge are expected to easily be above
Will Sunday be the most humid day in Seattle in the last decade?
The upcoming weekend and early next week promise to bring another period of active weather to the Pacific Northwest. The culprit is a broad trough of low pressure that will deepen and park itself off the west coast as we move into the weekend. This trough is deeper than the one that brought clouds and
A strong late-season storm approaches the PNW and ends a period of “May gloom”
The parade of cold season frontal cyclones ended several months ago, but one last reminder of winter will greet the PNW on Thursday morning. A loop of precipitable water posted by the NWS shows the cyclonic (counter-clockwise) rotation of a low pressure system off the coast of British Columbia on Wednesday morning with a ribbon
Tracking migrating birds with weather radar
Looking at weather radar this time of year can be a bit confusing, as radar returns often appear seeming out of nowhere just after sunset and disappear just before sunrise. A radar loop of the past two nights over the PNW shows this amazing phenomenon, which can be attributed to migrating birds headed north for
Snowy February, Dry March
Seattle’s February snow pack is long gone, but there is still plenty of snow to be found in the mountains. They got a help from the storm track last month, which was well positioned to blanket Washington and northeastern Oregon with precipitation. To get an idea of the shape of the storm track I’m showing
One of the biggest snowstorms in decades takes aim at Seattle
This is the real deal, a significant 1-2 punch snowstorm is headed for the Seattle metro area beginning Thursday and continuing into Saturday night. Significant snowstorms are extremely rare in Seattle because it is nearly impossible for a storm system to combine cold, arctic air from east of the Cascades with warm, moist maritime air
How much is it going to snow in the PNW lowlands this week?
Time to stock up on bananas and hunker down, the snowiest period since February 2019 is headed for the Pacific Northwest. While there is still some uncertainty about specifics, there is high confidence that the western WA lowlands, particularly the Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia corridor, will experience a period of snowfall at the end of the week. In
Arctic air heads for the Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest has seen little in the way of true winter weather so far this year. With the days getting longer and spring rapidly approaching, time is running out to get some real cold into our region. One month ago I wrote about the possibility that the polar vortex would be paying a visit
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
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