The visible satellite picture this morning says it all, Low clouds along the coast, with some of them pushing inland as far as Shelton and Portland. And smoke...lots of it... spreading as far south as Seattle, with dense smoke over southern Vancouver Island, the Strait of Georgia, Vancouver and vicinity. So if you don't like smoke, go south.
The morning cams from a variety of locations show the murk, particularly in southern BC (see below)
The smoke actually cooled the high temperatures down north of Seattle yesterday by reducing the amount of solar radiation. Here is a plot of the solar radiation measured at the University of Washington yesterday...and Seattle did not get the worst of it. On the left is July 4 and on the right is yesterday. See the difference? One is a smooth curve showing radiation under clear skies, the second has a number of dips and reductions due to the smoke.
First, a typical summer day.
The smoke season has begun over the Northwest and it will continue for a few months.
ReplyDeleteGermany Breaks its All-Time Heat Record
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3034
No real easing up here in north Whatcom County. Have yet to see the "real" sky today.
ReplyDeleteNWS animated graphic of Canadian smoke moving across the Conus (Continental United States)
ReplyDeleteThe temperatures in Metro Vancouver still got to 36-37C despite the smoke yesterday. However in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island where the smoke was thicker it only go to the high 20's Celsius.
ReplyDeleteAny idea what to expect next week on San Juan islands ? Forecast keeps changing.
ReplyDeleteDungeness - high of 68 and smokey all day -same as yesterday.
ReplyDeleteCliff, there are currently 3 named storm systems in the Western Pacific Ocean, and 2 low centers in the mid-Pacific. But are they related to the abnormally warm Pacific, or is this typical of a cyclical pattern? If not "normal" is an active Pacific season likely?
ReplyDeleteOnly if you have time to answer of course.
Thanks
John F McBride
Yikes! I've been breathing that brown cloud since Sunday, cough cough.
ReplyDeleteBTW, these shots are looking west from Buck Mountain, not east.
Michael Riordan, Eastsound
Interesting, it seems like the high pressure front that caused the heat wave is losing steam. It's almost over.
ReplyDeleteCliff, I though it was a really lovely June but we really need some rain now!
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember that all through the 1970's, and into the 80's, there were only a couple days each summer with smoke and when it was clear one could see 100 miles. Now, smoke seems to sully the skies for a couple weeks, at least, nearly every summer. More fires? Is this due to fuel buildup? Or climate change? Or both?