The front is through, the convergence zone has weakened, and a nice day beckons (gardening day for me!). Take a look at the latest high-resolution visible satellite image (attached). Mostly cloud free and sunny over central an southern Puget Sound, with a very weak residual convergence zone feature near Everett. Offshore you will see some scattered showers moving in, but they are very weak and most won't make it across the Olympics. So partly sunny and mid-40s over the Puget Sound lowlands and some minor snow showers over the Cascades. No precip in eastern Washington's Columbia Basin.
PS: For those that are interested, I will be talking about mountain meteorology and snow at REI on Thursday evening at 7 PM. And doing a book signing afterwards.
Speaking of mountain snow, it will be interesting to see tommorrow`s snowpack data from the NWAC.It appears that we are beginning to develop a winter drought here. Even though the medium range models recently have been forecasting a fairly typical late season zonal flow,in actuality the west coast high(and occasional split flow)have been the dominant features most of this month.Yesterday`s fizzling cold front/pseudo CZ was the latest disappointment. It will be interesting to see, after next weekend,whether the high pressure ever gets completely broken down. If not,it`s sure going to be a dull February,weatherwise.
ReplyDeleteThe latest models do continue show split-flow through at least end of next week along with dry weather for the most part. However, GEM/Canadian models put showers and NW flow back in the picture by end of the week.
ReplyDeleteHey Cliff...you said is gardening day for you. Cool. Do you ever stop in at Molbaks here down town Woodinville?
This high pressure ridge just won't go away. It truly is the ridge from hell. I never thought I'd crave the days of zonal flow. When's the last time a sub-990 mb low crossed the Queen Charlottes or Vancouver Island??? October 4?? Ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteBut if the ridge from hell can park itself at 150W, my complaining will cease...
sunny here in bellevue
ReplyDeletePartly cloudy/overcast here in Woodinville with 43 degrees.
ReplyDeleteTODAY IS NOT NICE!! PLEASE STOP CONTINUING TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE IT IS! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY SAY YOU LIKE WEATHER!
ReplyDeleteAgree with the other Anon, way too ridgy as of late. Looks like more of the same for the next 5 days. What is this, an El Nino winter? I really hope for a pattern shift in the second week of February, even if it's not snow, a windstorm or anything would be welcome.
ReplyDeleteToday is a nice day....though cool. And it`s better then it being gray and rainy.
ReplyDelete18zGFS shows that after about Mon and after the warm front brushes our region, that we`ll be in a split flow pattern through most of the work week with thicknesses rising into the lower 550`s and 500mb heights getting into around the mid 560`s to maybe 570dm for brief time. And flow aloft looks to be SW-SSW and switching over to WNW flow for late in the weekend with weak high pressure just off shore keeping us mainly dry right through Sunday it appears. So taking for what it`s worth, should be a pretty nice week with partly skies and high likely in the 50`s.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/nwprod/analysis/namer/gfs/18/images/gfs_500_090s.gif
You zonal flow junkies crack me up. You weirdos!!! I think I am a ridge junkie. Yes!!!! Ridges Rock!!!! Good weather in Queen Charlottes ---- bonus!!!! Haida Gwaii deserves some ACTION!!!!
ReplyDeleteActually, I am so happy to find people who like weather!!!!!!! I am a weather GEEEK, wahoo!!!!
I guess it was a nice day... at least the sun actually came out.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind a bit of nice weather in wintertime, but it seems to me that we've only had two, maybe three weeks of winter this year. Think about it... November was incredibly dull, so was the first half of December, and now most of January we've been stuck under this ridge.
The worst part is that most of these days haven't even been sunny. Just dull and cloudy/foggy. It's not like summertime where it's warm and you want to be outside all the time. It's just boring and depressing.
More winter please... a windstorm would hit the spot right about now.
Here`s a picture of the evening sky from earlier this evening that I took here in Woodinville.
ReplyDeletehttp://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o125/andycottle/?action=view¤t=IMG_1066.jpg
It was much worse than being gray and rainy. You couldn't even see it was so bright.
ReplyDeleteThe sun is suppose to be bright.. :o)
ReplyDeleteAt least we didn't wish for an Ice Storm. There could have been some weather geeks back east wishing for that before the big event.. Be careful what you wish for..
ReplyDeleteAnyone know... is "nice" a technical weather term? I can't find it in weather glossaries anywhere, but it apparently has a set definition in the meteorology field.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I believe it is the same "Anonymous" person making very strange and mad comments about not liking "nice" weather--what MOST people would describe as providing pleasant temperatures and bright sunshine to enjoy and lighten the mood. I for one, love the sunshine in the winter when we can get it. I was in Bellingham today and it was absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI would enjoy a good windstorm and snowstorm and was in heaven the last half of December and am looking forward to more snow before winter is over. But man, enjoy the Northwest outdoors when we have days like this, that is why we love living here, right? Find something real to complain about.
Jan Weather obs for Woodinville 2009:
ReplyDeleteAvg. High: 43(over all avg. is 47. So am -5 below that.)
Avg. low: 33
Days with above avg temps: 13
Days with normal temps: 1
Days with below avg. temps: 17
Warmest high: 62 (18th)
Coldest low: 19 (26th)
Days with measurable rain: 11
Monthly rain fall: 2.49"(Avg. is 5.40" and am -2.91" below avg.)
Yearly rain fall so far: 2.49"
By the way WeatherNerd, you can enjoy the Northwest outdoors best when it's nice outside too. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Cliff and all who read! I just moved here recently - within the past year - and want to know if this past year has just been very abnormal?
ReplyDeleteI had heard from so many people before I moved here that it was usually cloudy here, and that Seattle sees very little sun. That's the main reason I moved here. Well, the summer seemed to see nothing BUT endless sun and heat, and that has some bad effects on my body, it can't take it. I need some nice conditions once in awhile. When the winter came, it seemed to be a bit better, but there still seems to be a lot more sun than I've heard occurs here. I heard it was usually cloudy here for five or six consecutive months in winter - but I've seen a lot of sun this winter. Is this just abnormal? Does a lot of sun in winter like this year mean a nicer spring/summer than normal? I may have to move back away from this if this tremendous amount of sun is normal here.
I'm glad I found a place where I can ask this and maybe get an answer. Thanks!
Anonymous who needs to avoid the sun... you are done for in summer, my friend. It is very commonly very sunny from early July until mid to late September. It won't be super-hot, for the most part, though we do often get a few days to a week in the high 80s and 90s, but it will be clear and pretty.
ReplyDeleteWinters are often greyer on the whole than this one has been.
Also to the one whos looking for less sun. Think on those really cloudy, gloomy days, you will be wishing for sunshine. Any nice sunny days here in Western Wa are a bonus since there are`nt a lot of them during the winter.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as normal anymore
ReplyDelete