Sometimes the weather gets stuck in a totally benign pattern, with little threat of heatwaves, wildfire explosions, heavy rain, or anything else of note.
During the next week or so, we will be stuck in such a boring pattern, with great benefits for our region.
To demonstrate this benign situation, consider the forecast upper-level (500 hPa pressure, about 18,000 t) for Sunday morning. A ridge of high pressure is inland, and a trough of low pressure is off the northwest coast.
Fast forward to next Friday evening (below). Very similar!
This pattern produces moderate, unremarkable weather over our region, with no heat waves.
To illustrate this, below are the temperature forecasts for Seattle and the Tri-Cities for the next ten days.
BORING. Seattle rises into the mid to upper 70s. The Tri-Cities into the 90s. Very typical.
The forecast upper-level pattern is associated with modest atmospheric rivers, moving moisture from the southwest to the northeast.
To prove this to you, below are the forecast water vapor transport from Sunday and next Friday. The moisture plumes are evident. When the moisture reaches our shores, expect rain.
There will be regional precipitation, particularly over southwestern British Columbia. The total precipitation through Sunday evening is shown below. The Olympics and North Cascades will get a piece of it.
Getting moisture this time of the year....typically the warmest and driest period for our region.. is very good news and will help this summer end with normal or below normal wildfire acreage numbers. Also favorable for Northwest agriculture.
Benign works for me!
ReplyDeleteSame here!
DeleteSeveral wildfire starts last night occurred in the south and central cascades, due to lightning strikes.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Washington State. As a child every summer I spent several weeks East of the mountains with grandma, aunts and uncles, and dozens of cousins in Leavenworth, Cashmere, Wenatchee, Uncle's cabin on Lake Wenatchee, fishing and camping at Entiat... Fires caused by lightning were a pretty normal seasonal thing.
DeleteOk never believe i'd say this but here goes...."i'm ready for fall"
ReplyDeleteThe Grays Harbor Coast has felt like late October and even January this weekend, with cool conditions, decent rain, and even some wind.
DeleteI'm delighted with "benign" too! 'Still have a number of outdoor summer projects to finish before fall and winter, and the clock is ticking. I see the experienced farmers taking their 'second cutting of hay' throughout Whatcom; that's very "typical," very "normal" (and they might even get a third cutting (each is better)). 'Need to finish filling the woodshed, prepping for winter; there's tending to the rain gutters, and so much more. Bottom line: I'm very happy with conditions this summer. Keep us posted! (Always great forecasts, sir)
ReplyDeleteNice to get a report like this; compared to the rest of the country (and Europe) we are doing very well this summer.
ReplyDeleteIndeed we are. We should all be greatful that we are not expierencing the extreme heat that much of the world has been dealing with lately.
DeleteIt was oddly breezy today, but at least it was coming from the south. A majority of my ride was on the Centennial trail, and south winds negate the gain in elevation.
ReplyDeleteHat is driving the high humidity the last few days. My gage has been. Above 65% all day and is pushing eighty tonight
ReplyDeleteAfter the heatwave of Tuesday/Wednesday and a hot house, it was nice to see temps moderate for Thursday through today (Sunday, July 26th) and the house be comfortable again. Was out on the Washington Coast Monday and Tuesday, temps being in the mid 60's and mostly sunny. Came home to near blistering (low 90's in Tacoma) and by Thursday, upper 70's to low 80's, more like it for these parts.
ReplyDeleteToday (Sunday), had a brief shower around 6AM in Tacoma so now everything is damp/wet and it is looking like 71 and mostly cloudy today. It was not bad yesterday and did not go anywhere but did things here at the house.
What is the forecast for winds the next week? Quite windy East of the Cascade crest yesterday, which is pushing a number of fires (Little Giant has been growing by leaps and bounds)
ReplyDeletemuch less windy the next few days
DeleteThat is great news to hear! The firefighters urgently need a break in the weather to get a handle on all the wildfires burning across the Northwest right now.
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