Cold, moist unstable air has been moving into the region on Saturday, with the showers obvious on the high-resolution visible satellite imagery (see below).
If hiking on Mount Rainier you would have "enjoyed" a mixture of rain and snow with very little visibility (see below).
The cool air around western Washington is pushing strong winds down the eastern slopes of the Cascades (see max winds today below). Good for wind energy, bad for fires.
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RE: wind energy
ReplyDeleteHere, near Ellensburg, wind has been strong for weeks. I recall spring of 1990 was similar (my first year here). A grocery store has had a heavy chain hanging as a wind indicator. At least anecdotally, EBRG is noted as a windy place.
My question: Is there an "accumulated wind index" similar to the Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) metric? This is often used as a hurricane measure; no sign yet of any such in 2024.
Disgustingly cold this weekend. I am not against rain and was hoping to see a decent thunderstorm... and none yet. But why on Earth does it have to be so cold? Fifteen degrees below the average high for 6/16 here in Bothell. I have seen higher temps in winter. Juneuary, indeed!
ReplyDeleteI've read a few articles online saying Washington could have the hottest summer on record, so if your sick on the cold just be patient the heat will be here soon enough.
DeleteBrrr! Here on the west side of the Cascades it's been a very chilly year - reminds me of the late 1990's. When we experience a little break in the clouds and get a short blip of sunshine that lasts a half hour or hour, the resulting "daily high" statistic may lead to misleading (climatology) readings re actual condition(s). Heaven knows, "location" is everything in these parts. There are at least three distinctly different weather [convergence] zones that a person passes-through when driving from Glacier to Bellingham (banana belt).
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