February 04, 2020

It's Snowing!

I have to admit, I am still a kid at heart when it comes to snow.
Well, snow is now reaching the ground around Puget Sound.

The National Weather Service has an app that allows folks to report their weather conditions (MPING) and latest download shows a number of folks reporting snow:

And snowflakes are being reported at a number of airport locations around the area.

A Pacific weather system reached our region this morning and at first the snow was aloft and then subsequently extended to the surface, with sublimation/evaporation of the snow causing sufficient cooling to allow snow to reach the surface in places.  Near the warm water and close to sea level, only light rain is being observed.

The surfacing of the snow was really dramatic from the Seattle Space Needle PanoCam....let me show you.  The first image is at 7:55 AM, the last one is 10:30 AM





In the first images, did you notice that the cloud bases are fuzzy and indistinct? When you see that, you know there is precipitation coming out of the cloud...in this case snow.

And when the evaporating snow fell into the dry air below, it increased the humidity and cooled the air by sublimation (like evaporation).  That was evident from the weather observations from the top of my building at the UW (see below, click to expand). Relative humidity (fourth panel down) has gone up the last hour or so, as has dew point (a measure of moisture in the air--third panel, red line). Temperatures has gone down.

And here is a video of the snow from the home of Dr. Peter Benda, high in the hills of Bellevue:


Enjoy the snow...it won't last more than a few hours.  I am going out to find a hot chocolate.

13 comments:

  1. At the Olympia airport the temperature got down to 24° last night--26° at my house which is closer to the water. I am glad I did not trust the forecast of an overnight low of 31° but then, having experienced the temperature getting 5 to 7 degrees or more lower than the forecasted low, I assume a lower low if I have plants I may need to protect from low temps.

    Snow started around 7:15 am and continued until nearly 11:00 am. I am now seeing mainly rain with snow for a minute or two then back to rain.

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  2. Glad to know I'm not the only feeling giddy :)

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  3. It's already lasted more than a few hours here in north Whatcom County. Been snowing since 8am this morning and supposed to continue into the evening, unfortunately. Looks nice, but we've already had enough snow days.

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  4. The Bow WA Weather reporting rock-on-a-string is white at 2:30 PM!

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  5. In Bellevue it was snowing until about 1:15 pm - A lot later than anticipated! Unfortunately, it did not accumulate, maybe a tiny bit on dirt on grass, but then melted quickly. Still fun though!

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  6. There are few things in the world more depressing than watching snow transition to rain.

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  7. It has snowed for most of the day in Whatcom County, particularly from Ferndale northward, where 0.5"-1" accumulated on grassy and elevated surfaces by 5PM. Currently snowing in NW Bellingham with a temperature of 33F.

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  8. Cliff, We had a few minutes of many snowflakes that were fun! It always makes me think of school being canceled making homemade hot chocolate, neighborhood snowball fights, and reckless sledding down the double big hill near my home as kids. It's amazing we escaped with our lives not to mention our limbs and noggin's.

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  9. Snowed all day here on Orcas, got about two - three inches accumulation!

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  10. Hi Cliff, CPC forecasting way below normal temps in teh western US for the 6-12 day time period.

    Would love to hear your thoughts on the chances of more snow when we get a bit closer to the event.

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  11. It's sad the left (and those who are centrist but associate more left in disguise) all whisper and giggle with each other spreading (often fake) rumors and lies but never listen to outside answers for the full picture.

    They (You) folks have no idea what your missing out on in the broad circle of life outside the big expensive falling apart cities.

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    Replies
    1. Poor troll. Nobody fed you - you're all skin and bones! It would help, though, if anyone could figure out what you're on about and why you came here to share it.

      Delete
  12. Hi Cliff! I would love to hear more about climate models, climate change and what the new science is saying about what will happen and when. For example I have heard about the 2020 Grand Solar Minimum, will this only dent or slow climate change temporarily? Any comments regarding a new study showing ocean circulation increasing instead of decreasing? https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/global-ocean-circulation-is-speeding-up-67066

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Please make sure your comments are civil. Name calling and personal attacks are not appropriate.

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