December 14, 2009

Snow and Ice Pellets over NW Washington

It is snowing in Eastsound on Orcas now and ice pellets are raining on Bellingham. On the other hand, for the rest of us there is moderate rain and rapidly warming temps.
Check out the latest radar...you haven't seen wet like that in a while.

And here are the latest surface obs. The approaching low is sucking air out of the Fraser River Gap with cool NE flow moving into Bellingham and the San Juans. Won't last forever--eventually they will turn to rain too.Why? Because a warm front is approach (see graphic) and when it passes through warm, strong sw flow will inundate the region. You will feel like you have gone to Hawaii...well, sort of.

This figures provides temps in the lower atmosphere..yellow is warm and blue and white are cold. Also pressures and winds.

Snowing in the mountains (see cam at Snoqualmie)...and they are going to get hammered..which is really good for all you skiers.


PS: A reminder--I will be giving a talk.."The Secrets of Snow" at 7 pm at 3rd Place books in Lake Forest Park on Thursday, Dec 17th.
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14 comments:

  1. smokejumperDecember 14, 2009 at 9:03 PM

    Cold air in place here along the east slopes for a overrunning snow event. Moisture kinda meager so far, especially considering the snow ratio. Would like to see a surface low closer and further to the south along to coast for impressive snow here. Think we'll end up with just lighter flurries most of the night.

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  2. JanDecember 14, 2009 at 9:17 PM

    This is a bit off-topic, but I don't know where else to ask this question and hoping one of you has some experience with this.

    A friend of mine has a boat that is locked in an inch of ice at his slip at the Kenmore marina(north end Lake Washington). Do you think it will thaw sufficiently to free his boat by Friday night?

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  3. RobbyRobDecember 14, 2009 at 10:01 PM

    It has been snowing for the last couple of hours on Snoqualmie Ridge, elevation 850'. Some very strong easterly winds blowing through the pass, guessing it will continue to snow until the gradients relax.

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  4. LiemboDecember 14, 2009 at 10:08 PM

    What's the forecast for 10am tuesday for the Dreamliner flight? Boeing needs a 1500ft ceiling, no rain, low winds.

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  5. mainstreeterDecember 15, 2009 at 8:32 AM

    On This Day, December 15, In 1924, A Two Week Cold Snap Began On 15th. Most Streams Or Rivers Were Frozen Over Or Blocked With Ice, And Automobiles Were Driven Across The Willamette River In Portland.

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  6. srexecmarkDecember 15, 2009 at 8:52 AM

    It seems that this is the year of the mountain rain. I see the forecast for 5,000' snow levels for later in the week. Is this the pattern for this year? We get a bunch of nice snow then it rains it off!

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  7. MichaelDecember 15, 2009 at 11:07 AM

    Prof. Mass, this is not a comment on today's post but rather, I am curious what your thoughts are on the whole "Climategate" affair. Given your position as a Professor and climate researcher, could you spell out if this is truly something to be worked up about or just "noise".

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  8. Cliff Mass Weather BlogDecember 15, 2009 at 12:42 PM

    Michael..I will, but I think I will do it in a future post...I have a lot to say on this...cliff

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  9. JewelyaZDecember 15, 2009 at 12:48 PM

    @Liembo,

    The 787 flew and it was gorgeous! It's still in the air as far as I know, expected to land @ Boeing Field ~2:30pm.

    http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/188198.asp

    http://787firstflight.newairplane.com/ffindex.html

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  10. Karin CorbinDecember 15, 2009 at 2:26 PM

    Blue hole over the straits worked for Boeing today. That was the only place they could go. The went back and forth and round and round inside the rain shadow.

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  11. ChristopherDecember 15, 2009 at 3:43 PM

    Looks as though we have a series of storms lined up to amuse us over the next few days. Do any of these look like major wind events?

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  12. Julie StrykerDecember 15, 2009 at 6:59 PM

    Off topic -- looking for a website that does reviews on weather station software. I just bought a Davis Vantage Vue & would like to see if people like the Weatherlink software they sell for it.
    Thanks in advance!!!

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  13. JoshDecember 16, 2009 at 7:42 AM

    http://www.weathermatrix.net/wxstation/hardware/ is a good review site

    along with weather underground

    josh

    ReplyDelete
  14. Julie StrykerDecember 16, 2009 at 5:29 PM

    Thanks Josh - the forum moved to accuweather.com. That was helpful.

    ReplyDelete

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