Western Washington is the land of mountain-forced atmospheric convergence. Convergence that can produce localized heavy showers and even thunderstorms.
As shown in the figure below, when the low-level airflow off the Pacific is from the northwest, air is forced around the Olympics and then converges over central Puget Sound. This convergence pushes air upwards, producing clouds and showers (see below).
Another convergence zone frequently develops east of southern Vancouver Island as air moving down the Strait of Juan de Fuca converges with air pushing southward down the Strait of Georgia.
The radar image around 4 PM today clearly showed both features:
Both convergence zones were very evident in the visible satellite imagery around the same time (see below). One amazing aspect of these convergence lines is how far east they extend: over and to the east of the Cascade crest!
Think about it....folks in Wenatchee or Ellensburg can have added clouds and showers due to the local effects of the Olympics! Who would have thought?
The southern feature, the Puget Sound Convergence zone, even had some thunderstorms, which were picked up by satellite lightning sensors (see the infrared satellite image below, with lightning strokes).
To show you how far numerical weather prediction has come, the FORECAST radar image at 5 PM from a simulation from yesterday is shown below. Both convergence zones are there! Couldn't do this 20 years ago.
Finally, the convergence zones produced two areas of localized rainfall, as shown below (only amounts greater than a third of an inch are shown). Heavy rain in the mountains with these features.
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The Seattle Election
There is a stark choice between candidates for City Attorney and Mayor, with Ann Davidson and Bruce Harrell being far and away the best individuals for these positions.
City Attorney
Ann Davidson has done an extraordinary job as City Attorney. I am a numbers person, and the numbers show that Ann Davidson's leadership has produced excellent results. Ann entered office in 2022. Filing times for Domestic Violence cases dropped almost immediately.
Retail theft charge rates rose substantially. Very important for keeping local businesses alive.
And the number of prolific offenders dropped substantially.
Ann Davidson's opponent seems to think the race is about Trump. It is not. It is about public safety in Seattle.
I don't agree with the Seattle Times on everying, but they are very correct about Ann Davidson:
Seattleites who want a competent leader who prioritizes public safety and understands the bounds of the office ought to reelect Davison.
Davison is a solid public servant with a strong track record. To ensure a better city, she deserves reelection.
Mayorial Race
The choice for mayor is similarly easy. Bruce Harrel has deep experience with our city. He grew up here, was on the City Council for over a decade, and now has substantial experience in managing a large complex government. He has made some mistakes, but appears to have learned from them.
In contrast, Katie Wilson has never been elected to any office. She has never managed a large enterprise of any kind. Her major initiatives are to tax the rich and use the funds for "affordable housing." Perhaps she hasn't noticed the massive amounts of apartments and house units that have been built during the past decade, or that adding massive numbers of very low-cost housing will attract large numbers of folks from outside the city. She does not appear to understand that much of the homeless problem is driven by drug use and mental illness.
Ms. Wilson also has very unsettling opinions about Jews and Israel, accusing Israel of genocide and calling for Seattle to divest from Israel. Such genocide claims reflect a prejudice incompatible with the leadership of a diverse American City.
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Excellent commentaries here; too bad I don't live in Seattle so that I could campaign for those two fine people.
ReplyDeleteDid that storm that hit Alaska go through extratropical transition? I presume so, if it made it that far north.
ReplyDeleteThe Puget Sound Convergence Zone looks to me like a (messy) Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Is rotation present there?
ReplyDeleteCliff, why don't the annual average rainfall isohyetal maps show the effects of the convergence zone? The zone seems to spend most of it's energy along the north King / south Snohomish county line, but rainfall maps seemingly don't show any increase there over nearby areas.
ReplyDeleteOver the last 50 years or so I have lived from Capitol Hill to Snohomish. Over the years I have slowly moved north. During that time, I have experienced the convergence zone many times. I have noticed moving just a few miles north each time has resulted in, what seems to me, to be an experience of more convergence zone situations to fewer. The maximum convergence zone activity seemed to be when we lived between Bothell and Mill Creek. Now we are living in Snohomish and it seems the worst of the convergence zone is to the south and north of us. We are often in a rain shadow. This just my "feeling" and not proven by any actual numbers.
ReplyDeleteIf you still have democracy vouchers, these candidates take them. The City Attorney could really use them and you can assign them through the city's website: https://www.seattle.gov/democracyvoucher/voucher-replacement
ReplyDeleteNeither candidate is qualified to be mayor. Did anyone hear Mayor Harrell say, in the recent debate, that if he considers a repeat offender (criminal), he isn't thinking to incarcerate that person, but rather is wondering about his/her life story? He really said that. Unfortunately, his opponent is even worse. Seattle is cooked.
ReplyDelete