What to expect from the first significant PNW fall storm this Friday-Sunday
The PNW has gotten a few teases of fall weather in early September, but overnight Thursday into Friday morning (9/17) will bring a rapid transition into the rainy/blustery/chilly type of fall weather that many of us have been craving for several months. The early fall transition to rainy season is brought on by the northern
Another hot and dry summer comes to an end
As we close the books on the 2021 meteorological summer (June 1 – August 31), it is of little surprise that 2021 was once again warmer and drier than normal across most of the PNW. Average temperature was the warmest on record across much of the interior PNW and in the top 10% just about
Brief PNW heatwave expected at the end of the week
A ridge that has been building offshore will move into the PNW and British Columbia this week, bringing a short-lived but potent heatwave to the region from Thursday – Saturday. The upper-air 500 hPa anomaly forecast for Thursday evening shows a large 2-sigma ridge centered along Pacific Coast, which is a significant but fortunately short-lived
Will Seattle and Portland continue to avoid the heat and wildfire smoke in August?
Following the extreme heat wave in late June, it appeared that the PNW was in for a long and hot summer. As the map of high temperature departure from average shows below, that forecast has verified for the interior PNW. The coastal PNW west of the Cascades has avoided the worst of the summer heat.
How is climate change influencing PNW heat waves and will the PNW experience more extreme heat waves in the future?
The enormity of what the Pacific Northwest just experienced is difficult to put into words, but it is essential to at least attempt to contextualize what we just experienced and try to answer the #1 burning question on everyone’s mind — what role is climate change playing in PNW heat waves? First of all, it
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
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