August 17, 2010

It's Coming!



The Onshore Push Wind Chime Symphony at 10:30 PM

There are few greater summer pleasures than an onshore push of marine air after a heat wave.

It often starts between 8 and 10 PM. The wind chimes start ringing. Leaves rustle. A comfortable coolness envelopes us. And it is about to happen.

The satellite picture at 6:30 PM shows low clouds are moving inland.

The difference in pressure between Hoquiam and Seattle reached 3.5 mb...enough to guarantee the change.

Update at 9:30 PM. The marine air has pushed past Shelton with a vengeance! Here are the observations for the past few hours:
(click to see better). At 0353 UTC (8:53 PM) Shelton was 57F with winds gusting to 31 knots! Cool air has now reached Tacoma and Bremerton, but has yet to influence the central and northern Sound. But be patient! It is working its way in and should hit Seattle by11 PM.

The latest "fog" imagery shows low clouds now reaching the south Sound and into the Strait (see below). I am cleaning up my wind chimes for the expected chorus in a little while.


Update at 10:30 PM...its here! See my video at the top. It is cooling down fast and one can hear the chimes and winds rustle the leaves.

15 comments:

  1. I'm not particularly good with the technical, but oh my, that cloudy swirl in central/eastern Oregon looks mighty pretty to me!
    Did enjoy Flaming Geyser Park on Sunday tho.
    Thanks Cliff!

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  2. I'm in Sammamish, it's 7:03pm, and I'm waiting for your fabled "marine push" to arrive. It still feels like it's in the mid 80s right now.

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  3. Like that satellite image with the counties drawn in. Where woes it come from?

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  4. yes its really windy here in chehalis... FINALLY!!! Of course this week we were going to paint the kitchen but murphy's law of washington state says HEAT WAVE instead :(

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  5. "few greater summer pleasures than an onshore push of marine air after a heat wave" ... amen, brother.

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  6. 8pm. Shelton Cloudy 57 SW24 G33. Olympia Clear 71 SW5. Are you having a marine push party on your patio tonight? Start in t shirts and finish with wearing sweaters. Go from serving ice tea to hot cocoa.

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  7. Right on, Cliff. We were on the deck as the breeze picked up, the wind chimes started singing, the seagulls were soaring over the chop on the bay. Wonderful. Now I'm having to drop the umbrellas and roll up the outside window shades as the wind has picked up to around 10 kts.

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  8. 10 pm. Port Angeles 52, wind gusts W at 22. Just cold, nasty, and raw. Unbelievable.

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  9. Oh, I can't wait for the big cool down... BRING IT.

    (my wind chimes are tinkling as I type)

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  10. Alhough it does make for interesting weather I can't say I appreciated the harbinger of cool air. I've been in the swimming pool the last 3 days and it rarely warms up enough to inspire me to swim in the Northwest. Tomatoes everywhere will mourn for the "heat wave." I was lovin' it! :)

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  11. Right on time, shortly after 10 PM i looked out and our chimes were ringing and the leaves were rustling. This morning it's chilly outside.

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  12. Hooray for the push! Enough of energy sapping heat and dripping sweat!

    This wonderful cloudy morning, sunny afternoon is so typical here. Want proof? The east sloping roof on my house appears to have a decade or more of life left in it. The west sloping roof is very badly weathered and at the end of its life. Physical witness to decades of cloudy am/sunny pm! You want sun all day/every day? Move to LA!

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  13. The push never makes it here until after midnight when I'm asleep, but it's a shock to wake up to overcast skies and temperatures in the 50's. I prefer a more gradual cool down myself.

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  14. I know complaining can't do anything, and I can't point my finger at Cliff - he just reports and figures out what is going on.
    ...but dang, this summer has really be a huge disappointment.
    Stay far away from me this winter, my Vitamin D hasn't been replenished and I'll be grumpy and probably slightly bitey too.

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  15. I felt it come directly onto our west-facing porch right on your schedule. No wind chimes but just feeling that breeze made me feel human again after suffering for days in the heat and bad air quality. It reminded me of the end of heat waves in San Francisco, when we would finally see the fog creep over the Twin Peaks hills from the western part of the city and the ocean beyond. I cheered it all the way down the hill to our 'hood!

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