May 30, 2020

All Hell is About to Break Out

I will do an update at 5 PM...right before the big action hits....
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Things are really revving up now.

The latest radar image (7:45 AM) shows a region of thunderstorms approaching Puget Sound and another storm over eastern Washington.  It is starting to thunder outside.


In fact, the latest WWLLN lightning network flash map shows LOTs of lightning south of Seattle and over the Columbia Basin.

And the latest visible satellite image is impressive with strong thunderstorms/convection on BOTH sides of the Cascades.


 The latest wave vapor satellite image is amazing.  In front of a deep low (red arrow) over southern CA a band of moisture and warmth is heading directly towards our region (blue arrow).  The fuel truck is here.   And uplift in front of the approaching disturbance is setting off the storms.


The NOAA Storm Prediction Center outlook has increased the threat of severe convection over our region to "enhanced."  This is quite unusual for us.


The really big action is later this afternoon and tonight...more on this later.

I am going to do a facebook live session at noon to talk about the storm...you can find it here:
https://www.facebook.com/realcliffmass/

22 comments:

  1. Reporting from Tacoma it's dark and wet and seeing flashes of lightning already. Some strikes appear to my south, others, not so much and it all began around 8AM.

    It's raining, but not heavily.

    The first observation was the darkening skies from the west, beginning around 7:30AM and by 8AM it was very gloomy and shortly after that, the first flashes of lightning and a not so close clap of thunder, about 3 seconds after the lightning strike.

    Looks to have calmed down at the moment at 8:27AM but still dark and very gloomy.

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  2. The first bout of rolling thunder started around 6am, I didn't get a real reading as it woke me up and my eyes were blurry. My wife then woke me up around 7:30 and asked "are you hearing this?" We listened to a thunder clap that seemed to last almost 4 minutes. Despite the warnings, I went outside to take a look at the commotion. Before any thunder would cease, several new lightning strikes would flash and bring more thunder. It was constant in the Key Peninsula for an hour solid, and I can still hear the rumbling in the distance right now at 8:44am. Rainfall has been sporadic.

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  3. Lots of thunder sound and lightning activity here in Everett right now (around 845am)

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  4. Your enthusiasm makes me so excited! A thunderstorm came through Port Orchard first thing this morning and I hear another one approaching. It's unbelievably dark now, like it's evening.

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  5. We got caught inside Home Depot around 8:15AM without jackets or umbrellas, so we puttered around until the heavy rain stopped around 8:35. Now, at 9AM on the ridge between Redmond and Duvall, it's thundering and dark. The dog is concerned.

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  6. Uh it's raining hard, and thundering harder in Seattle.

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  7. Thunder, lightning and now rain in Mount Vernon, with about 5 seconds in between lightning and thunder.

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  8. The Rock-on-string Bow, WA weather reporting station is wet and wiggling now and then. It is 9:30 AM and if the rock could see or hear it would be flashes and booming ..

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  9. We had some huge thunderstorms roll through starting around 7am.

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  10. Haha, that was fun. An excellent distraction in these crazy times. For me one of the lightning strikes was so close the thunder hit less than a second after the bolt. Are we still in store for more later today?

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  11. Thunderstorms have been heavy in Mill Creek with a few power flashes

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  12. Morton had some severe thunder that shook the house..nit to mention my dog n I😳

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  13. I don't ever remember lightning and thunder before 7am in my lifetime. Good show! Fairly benign, but Enumclaw got a strong crack right over City Hall before morning's end.

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  14. Maple Valley area about 570 ft.... thunder and lightning still close by! woot!

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  15. More thunder heard right now in Bonney Lake! My kids like to sleep outside these days, but we pulled them in early this morning!

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  16. Bob and Doug are headed to the space station...so cool to watch up close and personal with new technology...Thunderstorms all day to follow with your noontime commentary, amazing weather technology, and timely comments coming from what individuals are experiencing...it's great!

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  17. Must be the calm before the storm, because at around 4:30 PM here in central Seattle things are very quiet indeed!

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  18. looks like 2nd round starting now in Maple Valley

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  19. Cliff,

    The storm drama has been exciting today and some of my family were caught out in the deluge. I would like to catch your next Facebook Live when you have it planned.

    Also, the blog pics and video were lots of fun! Hope nothing was severe enough to hurt anyone.

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  20. The 3 a.m. NWS forecast discussion was utterly clueless -- the aviation discussion actually said there would be no mention of thunder in the SEA TAF because the chance was too small!

    That was annoying because I got caught flat footed trying to get ti a good vantage point to photograph the lightning. Fortunately I had both my camera and my raingear in the car, but I had to scramble to set up at a less than ideal location. Watched lots of very wet and unprepared early morning joggers/walkers slogging thru the downpour.

    At least I was ready and waiting at Kerry Park when the second line came through in the afternoon. Lesson learned -- I won't get caught again relying on NWS for accurate forecasts when there's the potential for strong convection in the mix!

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