March 20, 2010

Warmth

Update at 6 PM. Really got toasty today....upper 60s to 70 on Puget Sound eastside and the southern Sound. But clouds are now rolling in now . I went cross country skiing at Blewett Pass today on the eastern slopes of the Cascades. At 4000-4800 ft there was snow, but it wasn't pleasant in many spots. Icy in the shade, rutted and full of holes everywhere. Spring skiing (which is ok) in the sun. Driving across Snoqualmie Pass, conditions looked pretty marginal. On the other hand, my vegetable garden is doing well and my pea seeds germinated in the warming soil.


Today will be very warm west of the Cascades. With offshore flow this morning and southerly flow this afternoon, temperatures will rise to the mid-60s in many locations, and at some upper 60s, approaching or reaching daily records. Probcast, the statistical package that works with ensemble forecasts (www.probcast.com), is very good at high temperatures under full sun...and here is the prediction for max temps today:


Note the cooler temps on the upslope (eastern) side of the Cascades. Another thing that is helpful is that the sun is much stronger now (equivalent to the middle-end of September!). And only some scattered high clouds to intercept the solar radiation.

Tomorrow things will go downhill...so today is the day..
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5 comments:

  1. Kevin PurcellMarch 21, 2010 at 1:14 AM

    The first onshore push of the year!

    It shows up nicely in the
    UW rooftop observations: Windspeed jumps up and switches from E to S (again!). Temperature drops. Relative humidity increases. Pressure increases.

    Just like summer :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. smokejumperMarch 21, 2010 at 1:43 AM

    My short time at CWU I'd explore the Mt range N. of Eburg many occasions. Lions Rock, directly N of town, went from 2000ft to 6800ft in 12 miles. Desert to forest to tundra. Loved it for the view and meteorological stance. Highest accessible pt. by vehical in the state. Made it in my two door coupe.

    Knowing that, May of 08 we had close to a 100 degree in town. Grab my friends and we went sledding that day around 5000 ft. within 20 minutes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jim TerryMarch 21, 2010 at 11:54 AM

    It was a wonderful day! It got a touch nasty toward the end of the day though. I was finishing up a project outside about 8 p.m. and a gust of wind came up from out of nowhere, and suddenly it got windy for a few minutes.

    I'm up at about 400 feet just outside Monroe. It was neat how the wind just seemed to switch on!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ChasMarch 21, 2010 at 9:56 PM

    Driving over Stevens Pass on Saturday afternoon got me wondering how the snow line differs east and west of the crest. I presume it is generally lower on the east side but is it predictable or does it vary depending on topography etc.? Is snow level also generally lower east of the crest during snow events?? Thanks for all the great info. BTW being from north-central Idaho I would love to see something like this for the interior northwest - we get some pretty interesting weather over here also!

    ReplyDelete
  5. PeterMarch 23, 2010 at 9:41 AM

    Cliff, is it really going to be as showery and cool all next week as the long range forecasts seem to show, for Eastern/Central WA & OR? I'm trying to plan a camping trip with my son and I'm looking for a ray of hope (and sunshine)...

    ReplyDelete

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