Here are the maximum temperatures on Tuesday. In places where the low clouds never burned off---northwest Washington north of Everett--temperatures only got into the upper forties, typical mid-winter highs in the area. In contrast, at some stations on lower slopes between 1500 and 2500 ft, temperatures surged into the 70s and 80s. YES, 80s. Mid-summer heat wave territory.
The reason, of course, is that high pressure has produced an extraordinarily large and shallow temperature inversion. The vertical sounding at Quillayute, on the Washington coast, shows conditions yesterday morning. Roughly a 15C (27F) increase in temperature in the lower few thousand feet.
Thank you for posting. I have been SO frustrated with trying to find weather predictions and such online. You have a wonderful service here. I would sure love to know what you think will be happening in the Mid-Willamette Valley this winter.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen an accumulation of snow here (even when everyone else had it), since 2008!
This weather is awful. I have to go out and water the things that are typically getting rain right now. This year, as far as I am concerned, is the driest and most weather frustrating year I have seen while living here for 10 years. I moved here for the rain and this year it appears to have left the area..
ReplyDeleteAnd it just goes on and on. Cliff earlier mentioned a blocking high but this appears to be more a matter of epoxy.
ReplyDeleteCliff, I see tentative indications from NWS that we may finally see the weather become unstuck sometime toward the middle of next week. Is this cause for hope? What's the certainty?
Looking at the GFS long range it looks like anywhere from 10/31 - 11/03 we should be finally getting some rain. I know it's long range, and the date range shows how it's going back and forth, but...seeing as I'm just an uneducated weather junkie I was wondering what your take on this is....obviously you have access to a lot of information, not to mention your education! Lol! Seriously...is there an end in sight to this depressing weather? Anytime soon (within the next week or so?)
ReplyDeleteI'm just going crazy about this weather also! I thought it would get unstuck but then I saw 8 14 day forecast and looks like more of the same! Don't get it!! Is there any hope for change? Frustrating as hell!
ReplyDeleteConstrictor dead and gone...Eastsound clear, mighty sunshine throughout Orcas Island at 4:30 pm
ReplyDeleteBellingham has been clearing during the day. Yesterday, coming into town from the county, I came over the hill into Bellingham (Alabama hill, elevation ~500 feet, I believe) and saw the whole city just covered in fog. I could see over the fog into the blue horizon, but the city was completely covered. Coming down around 400 feet from the top of the hill, the temperature dropped several degrees, and by the time I got into the fog -- it was around 5:45pm -- visibility was maybe a block. By the time I left the gym at around 7pm, visibility was maybe half a block. It was crazy!
ReplyDeleteI finally went flying Wednesday. Interesting. At 2000' my oil temperature was 180 degrees... the rule of thumb is ambient temperature plus 100 degrees! Also took this photo which shows clearly the Puget Sound fog, the inversion pollution and the low level of the inversion. I was about 1500 up at the time. This is why the ferry traffic was so intermittent.
ReplyDeletehttp://farm4.staticflickr.com/3828/10453472435_743df2d7f0_o.jpg
This is not depressing weather. If you have sun 24/7 you forget how beautiful it is wheb it does come out. The rain and fog brings you into a realization of how nice it is to have all seasons.
ReplyDeleteI just saw that Brian Williams gave you a shout-out on Nightly News. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteIf your in the south sound looking for sun head to Capitol Forest! Cloud level hovers between 1500 and 2000'. Bring your mountain bike!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't this similar to what happened in January 2013?
ReplyDelete