Snow in the Passes and Eastern Slopes of the Cascades

 I have received several inquiries about snow in the Cascade passes from folks who will be traveling over Thanksgiving, and for others looking for some snowy recreation this week.

So let's take a look at the latest forecasts.   

A weather system is off our coast right now and has our name on it.  It will move in on Tuesday afternoon, with precipitation into Wednesday.

The UW ultra-high resolution model predictions of snowfall totals through 1 PM on Wednesday (below) show up to about a foot in the Cascades, with about half that amount in the passes. 

Much more snow on the eastern slopes of the Cascades than to the west.  Substantial snows on the southwest side of the Olympics as well.

But this is just the beginning:  more snow will come in on late Thursday and Friday over the north Cascades (see total through 4 PM Saturday below).

There is some uncertainty in the forecasts...let me illustrate. 

 A powerful tool used by meteorologists is ensemble forecasting....running our forecast models many times with slight differences in initial conditions or physics (e.g., precipitation processes).

Below is the ensemble prediction of snow at Stampede Pass at 4000 ft on the eastern side of the Cascade crest.    

The mean forecast is for about 6 inches, with a range of 4 to 12 inches.   Snoqualmie will get less...perhaps 2-4 inches.  So, not the end of the world, as predicted by a few online sites.

Not enough snow for downhill skiing, but plenty for snowballs and perhaps snowshoeing.    The landscape will look pretty.

Enjoy.  And please drive carefully when crossing the Cascades.

The Problem With Wind Energy in the Northwest

This was a bad week for wind energy in the Northwest, but before I discuss this, let's step back for a few minutes.

There is a lot of interest in renewable energy in the Pacific Northwest that could supplement our hydropower.   

With our northern latitude and extensive clouds for much of the year, solar energy can only make a small contribution.   

To illustrate, here is the annual solar energy map for the U.S.  Western Oregon and Washington have poor solar resources.  Better in eastern Oregon and the Columbia Basin.  But even in these areas, there is very little resource from November through February.

The wind energy situation in the Northwest is better, but not particularly good.   Consider the map of annual wind energy resources in the U.S. (below).   The windy High Plains of the U.S. have terrific potential, but the western U.S., away from the coast, has very modest wind energy, at best.  Only the coastal waters from central Oregon to central CA have good wind potential.

Here in Washington State, the only decent non-coastal area for wind energy is the eastern slopes of the Cascades (see map below).   That is why nearly all of the wind turbines are there.  Constructing wind turbines offshore is very expensive and has significant environmental problems.

But there is a problem.   For much of the year, these turbines generate little power.

Consider the Bonneville Power Authority (BPA) statistics for the past week.   The total energy demand is the red line, and hydro generation is blue.

Wind energy (green) has been very small most of the week, except on one day (November 18) when a frontal system moved through.  The output from one nuclear plant (purple) has been constant and generally much higher.

The truth is that wind generation in our region is only really significant from late spring to late summer, when strong westerly flow descends the eastern slopes of the Cascades.

To see this, consider the winds at Ellensburg, surrounded by wind turbines on several sides.  Good winds from April into the middle of August.  But consistently slower (and often very weak) the remainder of the year.

In short, our region needs to maximize our hydro resources and invest in next-generation nuclear (fission) plants, which are inherently safe.

With rapidly increasing demand for electricity, expected to roughly double by mid-century (see NW Power Council estimate below),  without new generation capacity, there is a near certainty of blackouts, particularly during cold periods. 

Wet California

 This has been a very wet fall in California.    A big contrast with last year.

Los Angeles this week

Consider the differences from normal of the precipitation during the last month for the western U.S. (below).   

Wow.  Some parts of southern California have gotten 800% of normal precipitation!  The entire state is considerably wetter than normal.

Many of the rivers are running MUCH higher than normal, as shown by the latest percentages below.   Crazy high river levels over coastal southern California.

What about the levels of the all-important California reservoirs?  The answer is below.

All are at or above normal.  Over southern California, some are full.

Last year, had one of the driest Octobers through December on record in Southern California, which contributed to the LA wildfire in early January.   

Some claimed this was the result of "climate change."

The atmosphere did not get the message.   Consider the precipitation from October 1 through November 19 over the past 50 years.  This year was the second wettest of the entire record!

This wet fall has led to the suppression of wildfires.    

So far this has been a VERY low wildfire year in California....something that is being given little attention in the media. 

Below are the statistics for wildfire acres year to date.    So far in 2025, about 525,208 acres have burned compared to a fire-year average of 1,315,947.

That is only about 40% of the recent average.

So, why has California been so wet?    The answer:  a persistent trough of low pressure off its coast.

For example, here is the anomaly map (difference from normal) for the heights at 500 hPa pressure (think of pressure around 18,000 ft). 

Purple and blue indicate lower than normal values....troughs of low pressure.    Right off of California!

Drought Misinformation

There have been several stories in the Seattle Times and some local media that have hyped and exaggerated the "drought" over Washington State.

For example, a few days ago, the Seattle Times had a big spread talking about drought for the Yakima River basin:

The lack of rain and snow forced farmers to tear out their apple orchards by the acre. Wine grapes are withering on the vine. Miles-long irrigation canals leak and crumble.

This basin is the face of Washington’s drought. This might be the driest year in recent memory, fresh on the heels of severe droughts last year and the year before..

They had a picture of Lake Keechelus that showed it being completely dry.

Very deceptive.  I went up there on Sunday and this is what I saw:

They took a picture of one of the lake flanks, which is always dry during this season---even during a normal year.  

This is not honest journalism.

The truth is that the Yakima Reservoir system is rapidly filling, and Yakima River levels are normal.  

Still believe the Seattle Times?  Let's look at the actual numbers.

Below is a plot of storage for the entire Yakima system over time, showing average values (red), last year (green), and this year (blue).

This year, we are WAY higher than last year and rapidly refilling.  

In fact, the current storage now is about the same as last year, ONE FEBRUARY 1.

What about the water flow in the critical Yakima River?   (see below)

The flow is now above normal, and the prediction is for it to stay that way.

The Seattle Times is making all kinds of serious drought claims, with a lot of hints about global warming being the cause.

But is precipitation really declining over time on the eastern slopes of the Cascades, the watershed area for the Yakima Basin?

Let's check, using the official NOAA climate division data.  

Below is a plot of October through August precipitation totals on the eastern slopes of the Cascades.

Both the last two years were below normal.  No doubt about that.  But other years were drier...some much drier.  

Importantly, there is no long-term trend toward drier conditions, which is a sign of climate change. 

 Climate change is not the origin of the last two dry years....it is natural variability.

This year is clearly going to be substantially moister than the last two years.

There is a critical issue that the Seattle Times and certain activists never consider:  

Is a drier-than-normal year really a big deal?

 For example, if the Yakima Valley region receives more precipitation than it really needs on average, is being down modestly a problem of any significance?

It turns out that the "drought" had very little impact on Yakima Valley agriculture:

• The 2025 Yakima Valley apple crop was large and high-quality, with a record-tying amounts.
• The 2025 Yakima Valley cherry crop was excellent, with a good-sized and high-quality harvest resulting from favorable weather conditions. The cherry season was particularly long this year.
• The 2025 Yakima Valley grape crop is expected to be a "standout vintage" for quality.

Bottom line:  the agricultural impacts of the "drought" were very minor for the eastern slopes of the Cascades.

In a future blog, I will take on the Seattle Times' claims about drought on the western side of the Cascades.    

But I can't help myself.  Here are the latest reservoir levels for Seattle

Precipitation has been a bit above normal over watershed

and reservoir levels are rising rapidly and are almost at normal levels

______________________

Enjoy the great outdoors with Play Tennis Seattle. Find tennis partners, tennis coaches, tennis lesson and classes, and join the Seattle tennis community. 

https://www.joinplaytennis.com/seattle

A Remarkable Mini Atmospheric River Hits Western Washington

Most of the time, atmospheric rivers--plumes of lower-atmospheric moisture from off the Pacific Ocean--are relatively wide and thus produce large amounts of precipitation over a broad region.

But on Friday, something relatively unusual occurred:   a very narrow "mini" atmospheric river was locked over our region for hours, producing a narrow band of intense precipitation over western Washington and into the Cascades.

You can really see it in the regional weather radar image for Friday morning (below).  Yellows indicate the heaviest precipitation.

The southwest-northeast plume of heavier rain was very evident.  Totally dry over the San Juans and the southern Cascades.

  

Consider the precipitation totals on Friday below (only values more than a third of an inch are shown).

You can clearly see the precipitation band; where the moisture plume was forced to rise by the central Cascades, 3-5 inches fell.

Local rivers have surged, some to near flood stage.  The black dots below show the rivers that are now experiencing MUCH above normal flow.

Ironically, this is the area that the wacky Drought Monitor graphic shows SEVERE DROUGHT.

The UW WRF model accurately predicted this moisture plume the day before.   Below is the prediction (for Friday morning) of water vapor flux (the amount of water vapor brought in by the wind).  Orange shows the highest amounts.    Not bad.   

The model precipitation total (through 4 PM Friday) was excellent:  here is the proof:

We have come very, very far in our ability to predict local weather.  Really stunning.

This is something the gloom and doom global disaster folks don't seem to understand:  we now have the ability to predict and prepare for severe weather.

My colleagues in the National Weather Service recognized the situation and put out a flood advisory yesterday morning for the moisture plume area.

For those of you (like the Seattle Times) who are worried about drought conditions and lack of water for our region, the plume of precipitation made a direct hit on Seattle's Tolt Reservoir, where almost four inches have fallen:

Reservoir levels are moving up rapidly as a result.

Apparently, this has gotten some folks nervous.

More rain is coming later Sunday and Monday. Sorry...this IS November.

______________________

Enjoy the great outdoors with Play Tennis Seattle. Find tennis partners, tennis coaches, tennis lesson and classes, and join the Seattle tennis community. 

https://www.joinplaytennis.com/seattle

A Near "Bomb" Cyclone Approaches the West Coast

 Last weekend, I started getting emails from folks concerned about a "bomb cyclone" approaching Washington state.    Some of the amateur Facebook and YouTube sites were also starting to beat the weather drums.

The reason?  Several model runs at that time had scary forecasts, such as this one for 4 PM Thursday (tomorrow).  The kind of strong low that would easily take out power to hundreds of thousands of local customers.

When I took a look at the situation, I realized the uncertainty of these forecasts was very, very large:  the ensembles of many forecasts have a huge spread in solutions, and the forecasts changed radically run to run.

That is why I did not blog about it.  

We are close enough now to have a good idea of what will occur tomorrow... the rapid development of a strong low off the California coast. 

A low center that will dissipate almost as quickly as it developed.

Here is the pressure analysis for 4 AM this morning.  An amorphous 1002 hPa low-pressure center off of northern California.  Yawn.

Now look at the forecast for 4 AM Thursday morning:  a 986 hPa low has formed.  Impressive.

A deepening of 16 hPa in 24 h.   Not quite the bomb rate (24 hPa in 24 h), but very substantial.

The developing low was quite evident on the visible satellite image this afternoon (see below, and I marked the low-pressure center).

The water vapor satellite imager tonight (8:30 PM) was quite impressive:

By 10 AM on Friday, the low will weaken to 1001 hPa and drift nearly due south.

This storm is predicted to drive some large waves offshore (see wave forecast for 4 PM Thursday), with some getting to 25 feet, and some modest waves reaching the coast.  No big deal.

Here in Washington State, we will get little wind from the low center.  However, it will push a plume of moisture into our region (yes, an atmospheric river) that will provide more welcome rain (see forecast of the water vapor transport below).

The forecast totals through Sunday at 4 AM are impressive in the mountains:

______________________

Enjoy the great outdoors with Play Tennis Seattle. Find tennis partners, tennis coaches, tennis lesson and classes, and join the Seattle tennis community. 

https://www.joinplaytennis.com/seattle