I was struck by the latest infrared satellite picture...a winter-like front is heading for us tomorrow morning (see image)...and look a the predicted 24-h rainfall ending 5 AM on Tuesday (image)! Wow..this is serious rainfall, particularly in the north Cascades. We are going to cooler and wetter than normal for a few days...but guess what...we get warm and dry for next weekend!
Thanks for the news that the sun will return before next year! My garden needs rain, so let it rain.
ReplyDeleteAgreed Chris, I just received my latest water bill. Should have invested in soaker hoses, I guess. Certainly is more comfortable at work in the kitchen this week, but I can tell my tomatoes are pretty darned confused. Sounds like I should prepare for a tomato explosion next week, though.
ReplyDeleteSorry for a dumb question, but what's the scale in that second image? Apparently my house is predicted to get 84 of rain! (Not inches, one presumes.)
ReplyDeleteEricka,
ReplyDelete.84 inches...hundredths of an inch...sorry. cliff
While I did not enjoy the heat wave, I don't like this stuff during the summer either. I'm happy to see the longer range forecasts suggesting that warmer and drier weather will return . . . though I'm sure it will be nothing like before.
ReplyDeletehow warm and dry?
ReplyDeleteMrb,
ReplyDeleteCliff and others more knowledgeable than I might want to hazard a guess with more detail. I'm just referring to the http://www.cpc.noaa.gov/ site where you can view their 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks.
This will help lessen the fire danger at least for a while; however, I do hope summer returns for a while. Interesting weather year hey?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I'm bummed out about rain but I just put my kid on Da Boata for a week of horse camp at Camp Sealth. It stinks that it's going to be cool and rainy for her first sleep-away camp!
ReplyDeleteOh well. The garden will be happy.
Consulting KOMO's Odds it Will Rain chart, it looks like only the 13th time in the past 116 years we've had rain on this date.
ReplyDeleteI saw in the Seattle Times today, that we went 26 days with out measurable rain fall, or any rain fall for that matter. I had`nt realized it had been almost a month with out rain. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteThey say lightning never strikes the same place twice, but we've had TWO lightning strikes here in Fremont tonight. The most recent just occurred (9:02pm).
ReplyDeleteCliff,
ReplyDeleteThis question is unrelated to your blog subject but do you know if Ray Ramsey is still around? I still remember my grand tour of the weather studio and his rotating box!
Yea, unfortunately it could be 90 degrees again by next Tuesday. Mother Nature likes to tease us with the weather we've had the past few days, making us think the weather is finally getting better... but we should all know it doesn't last. It's not even mid-August yet, it'll definitely get worse again before it gets better for awhile.
ReplyDeleteThere is a book by CE Rusk, "Tales of a Western Mountaineer: A Record Of Mountain Experiences On The Pacific Coast" , about his observations in the NW from the previous century. He noted that the middle of August, give or take a week, there is usually a break down in the weather which lasts for several days.
ReplyDeleteA "break down in the weather"? Meaning?
ReplyDeleteSeems to me like the weather breaks down all summer - there's nothing going on.
Meaning you secretly love our summers and this is some kind of cheap therapy for you trying to bait everyone with your weekly dilemma. You can always move to Alaska.
ReplyDeleteMy tomatoes have been queuing up; ripening at a slowly increasing rate over the past week. I have a feeling that next week, picking tomatoes from my twenty-ish plants will be like pulling weeds. Time to start the canning process, which never seems to take place in cool seasons.
ReplyDeleteShould have PLENTY of Summer left. If it boringly tops out at 78 F. for the next month I won't complain too much.
mainstreeter, can you please stop the personal attacks? And just accept that fact that some people LIKE different things than you?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I'll tell you what season it is - summer... don't let the past couple days fool you - the strong ridge and the heat is coming back. Looking at the extended GFS-WRF and the strength of the ridge and offshore flow it depicts next Wednesday is amazing considering the heat event we already just had. We'll see how things evolve, but it's looking increasingly likely that we may at least tie the annual record for 90+ degree temperatures (record is 9 in 1958; we've had 7 this year at the airport).
ReplyDeleteThe 589 decameter 500-hPa ridge and offshore flow is so strong on the 00z GFS from this evening that these are surface temps on the GFS at 5pm Wednesday, August 19 - yes, that's upper 90s in Seattle:
http://www.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/data/2009081300/images_d2/tsfc.168.0000.gif
I remember a heat period of 90+ about the 16th or 17th of august last year when I was transferring radios/antennas from one vehicle to another so it's possible again.
ReplyDeleteThat link didn't turn out the best, so let's try again:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.atmos.washington.edu/mm5rt/data/
2009081300/images_d2/tsfc.168.0000.gif
Has anyone noticed that the leaves are falling off the trees? It looks a bit like October around here! My assumption is that the trees are stressed from the lack of water and high heat. Anyone else have any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI have seen some of the alder and other trees shedding leaves and others turning fall like. Should be another good year for fall colors.
ReplyDeleteChris, I've noticed the same thing. I think it does in fact have to do with the dry and hot conditions that have prevailed since mid-May.
ReplyDelete