July 30, 2021

New Podcast: Weather Whiplash Week. From Heatwave to Thunderstorms to the Big Cool

My podcast today will review the major shift in our weather that will occur this week.   And in the second segment, I will talk about Northwest thunderstorms.

We start with a minor heatwave today with temperatures zooming to around 90F in western Washington away from the water and into the upper 90s in the Willamette Valley.

But at the same time, a major plume of moisture will move northward into eastern Washington and Oregon, bringing thunderstorms (the image below shows the predicted rainfall through 5 PM Sunday).


Wildfire smoke will move in overhead during the weekend but not reach the surface in western Washington, so you can breathe easily.  But the plot of total smoke above us on Sunday night is scary:


Finally, there is the BIG change at the end of the week.  Clouds, precipitation, cooler temperatures.  Way earlier than normal.  The 48h total rain ending at 5 PM Friday is shockingly wet.


My podcast will not only describe this forecast but give you an essential background regarding Northwest thunderstorms.

To hear the full story, listen to my podcast below or select your preferred streaming service



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11 comments:

  1. So long as our skies clear for the Perseids meteor shower on August 12-13, I welcome a bit of free watering for my plants.

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  2. Cliff, the euro model is much weaker with Thurs and Friday storm and since the euro model is more accurate why are you following the gfs?.

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  3. Thank goodness for some early rain to throw a wet blanket on the fire season.

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  4. Weather Underground station KWAKENT109 is reporting 95 as I write. Yesterday it reported 92. "Minor."

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  5. Thank you for the detailed explanation about thunderstorm behavior. My husband knows that I like to read your blog and he recently asked me how lightning starts so many forest fires when thunderstorms are so often followed by intense downpours. It seems like such a simple question, but I didn't have a good answer for him. Your description of smoldering fires that conflagrate as conditions dry was an excellent illustration. I'm going to pass it along. Thank you again!

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  6. Do you think Mt Hood will stay in the smoke this weekend? Monday and Tuesday?

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  7. I got married in Seattle on August 6, 1995 - we’d planned an outdoor ceremony, but moved it inside as what initially looked like a little morning drizzle crescendoed into a legit all day rainstorm. Looks like it might happen again this year, and it will be welcome!

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  8. I don't understand why you are referring to this little frontal system as being "way earlier than normal." It seems to me that most summers, a few lows manage to push by the Pacific high and give our area some rain.

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    Replies
    1. I think he is meaning that typically, we don't get moisture of this type until mid to late August generally, and only for a day or two.

      We typically don't get thunder storms either but early to mid spring and late summer if we get them at all. I grew up here so am well aware of things like this and has been like this for as long as I remember.

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