Wetand News

On Friday evening, camera 3 of Greg Johnson's wonderful Skunk Bay weather site captured an extraordinary lightning picture (see below), with the camera looking east over Whidbey Island from its location over the northern Kitsap Peninsula (see map below).   What is so amazing and unusual about this lightning?     Look how it starts at a single point at the surface and then fans out into multiple lightning channels as it rises.   It looks like something out of the movie Ghostbusters or some science fiction flick! Most lightning does not look that this.... in fact, 99% of lightning hitting the ground does just the opposite, dividing into multiple branches as it approaches the ground from above (see samples). The lightning that hit Whidbey Island around 8 PM on Friday represents "upward-moving" or "ground to cloud" lightning.   Such lighting not only has a strong thunderstorm or cumulonimbus cloud above, but generally starts on some kind of high tower, itself often

 This weekend promises relatively dry weather over the lowlands and showers on the western side of the Cascades, as a ridge of high pressure settles in over the eastern Pacific.    Washington's snowpack is in excellent shape, with most of the region beingaround 140% of normal (see below).   But there is a serious issue:  avalanche danger is high and everyone needs to be careful if they venture into the backcountry. After the forecast, my podcast goes into some depth on why Texas has such extreme weather during the winter, gyrating between heat and cold. You can listen to my podcast below or on your smartphone using your favorite podcast service. Here is my podcast: Click the play button to listen or use your favorite streaming service (see below) You can stream my podcast from your favorite services:   Listen on Apple Podcasts   Listen on Spotify Podcasts   Listen on Google Podcasts

  Few places in the world experience more rapid and extreme temperature changes than Texas. A place whether the temperature can be 80F at noon and 15F by midnight. A state where a phenomenon called the Blue Norther can produce extreme winds with rapid temperature declines. And the impacts of these rapid temperature falls can be larger than some hurricanes:  in fact, the effects of this month's cold wave will probably end up being more costly than Hurricane Harvey--both in terms of property damage and loss of life. Texans Have A Reputation for Thinking They Can Deal with Anything Mother Nature Throws at Them! Image by Maroonbeard under a Creative Common's Licence Consider the case Austin, Texas, a city that not a few Northwesteners are thinking of moving to.  Below is a figure that shows the observed highs and lows (black bars), as well as the normal temperature range (green band) and the record highs and lows for February.   In the beginning of the month, temperatures were ab

One of the key elements of western Washington weather in the Puget Sound Convergence Zone, a band of clouds and precipitation that is produced by air moving around the Olympics Mountains and converging...or coming together...over Puget Sound (see schematic below). style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;">https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-progressive-decline-and.html

 The super rain shadow event of the past day resulted in startling precipitation contrasts over the region. style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;">https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-progressive-decline-and.html

  There are rain shadows.... and then there are super rain shadows.   On Sunday, a super shadow will produce an area of virtually no rain over northern Puget Sound country. And another super rain shadow will occur over the eastern slopes of the Cascades. As I have discussed many times in this blog, when air approaches a terrain barrier, it is forced to rise on one side, producing bountiful precipitation, and when it descends the other side, the air is compressed, warms, and dries (see figure).  The wet side is the windward side, the dry side, the leeward one. style="background-color: white;">https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-progressive-decline-and.html

 My new podcast is online.  In the first part I talk about the weekend forecast, which on Sunday includes heavy precipitation on the western slopes of the Olympics and Cascades, but relatively dry conditions over the western lowlands.  Below is the 72 hour precipitation through 4 AM Monday.   Up to 5-10 inches over the western slopes but a rain shadow "dry hole" of only about a tenth of an inch from north Seattle to southern Whidbey Island.  Also very dry east of the Cascades.   Listen on Google Podcasts ________________________ Featured blog on KNKX:  >https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-progressive-decline-and.html

During the past decade there are few things that I am more proud of than the role I played in saving public radio station KNKX. And there are few things that I find more disturbing and disappointing than the failure of the station to fulfill its promise to the community, its declining listenership, and the increasingly partisan tone of its news coverage and station management.  And yes, the fact they ended my weather segment because of the anti-violence stance in one of my blog posts. This blog describes the progressive decline of the station, its embrace of cancel culture, and its rapid loss of listeners.  And I ask your help in persuading station management to change direction. stunning interview this year, he described the "uncomfortable truths" about the racial makeup of the KNKX staff, announcers, and "very white" audience.   There is a term for being uncomfortable about an individual because of their race.  Needless to say, such an attitude is inappropriate f

 Texas and neighboring states are experiencing a major cold wave causing substantial snowfall and power outages affecting millions of people. A number of major media outlets are making the claim that such cold is a "sign" or "indication" of global warming (see sample below) Disturbingly, a few prominent public scientists are parroting these claims, suggesting that the cold waves are examples of "global weirding " caused by greenhouse warming. Such claims are demonstrably untrue and can be easily proven to be untrue. The facts are clear: Global warming has been occurring and has preferentially warmed the Arctic, the source of cold air for North America. The number of cold waves and cold temperature records have declined as the Earth has warmed. Cold waves are the expressions of the natural variability of the atmosphere. If global warming caused more cold waves, then we should be seeing more of them, since global warming is occurring.   We are not seeing mor

A number of you sent me emails about the snowflakes over the weekend. Why were the flakes so SMALL Saturday morning?  Tiny flakes! And then they got much bigger Saturday afternoon and on Sunday.  Why? To see what they mean, here is an image of the snow falling Sunday morning. BIG FLAKES!  Similar on Saturday afternoon style="color: #2288bb; font-size: 15.4px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://knkxcancel.blogspot.com/2021/02/knkx-and-cancel-culture.html

  This snow drama was always going to to be in three acts.    The first was a teaser, the second was the main act, and the third will be the transition from snow to rain. The second act brought substantial snow to the region, particularly from 11 PM Friday through 9 AM this morning.  Here are a few reports from this morning...and keep in mind that many had another inch or two after these reports. Around 15 inches near Olympia.  12 inches at Ocean shores.    Seattle reaches 8 to 11 inches. Public Information Statement National Weather Service Seattle WA 1236 PM PST Sat Feb 13 2021 ..SNOWFALL REPORTS... Location                     Amount    Time/Date       Lat/Lon/Elev (ft.) Carbonado                    18.0 in   1041 AM 02/13   47.08N/122.05W 9 WNW Alder                  16.0 in   1016 AM 02/13   46.83N/122.47W 3 N Olympia                  15.5 in   1135 AM 02/13   47.09N/122.89W 2 N Tanglewilde-Thomps       15.0 in   1118 AM 02/13   47.08N/122.77W 2 NNE Melbourne              15.0

The models have converged.  Uncertainty is less.  A snowstorm will hit western Washington tomorrow. But it will be a snowstorm with a twist: radical differences in snowfall within a matter of tens of miles.  The theme from the movie JAWS should be playing as I show you the latest infrared satellite image (see below), with lots of moisture ready to move in tonight. style="background-color: white; color: #2288bb; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4px; text-decoration-line: none;">https://knkxcancel.blogspot.com/2021/02/knkx-and-cancel-culture.html

 I have a new podcast that provides an update on the snow forecast for this weekend over the region.  There will be huge variations in snow amounts from zero to several feet!   Listen on Google Podcasts _________________________________________________________ If you are interested in learning more about public radio station KNKX and cancel culture, check out my new blog/website on the  issue:  >https://knkxcancel.blogspot.com/2021/02/knkx-and-cancel-culture.html

4 PM in Olympia, Courtesy of Mark Maurer  Light snow has begun to fall around the region.    Earlier today, flow from the  Fraser River Valley and Strait of Georgia moved southward into the northern Olympics, and being forced to rise, dropped snow around Sequim and north Olympic foothills (see picture along US 101) And the advertised first low pressure system is now heading towards Oregon (see forecast position at 4 PM), sending a shield of precipitation over northern Oregon and southern Washington The weather radar image around 1 PM shows the light precipitation associated with this system.  Snow is now observed from SeaTac Airport and to the south,  lighter to the north.  Flurries to the north. The latest WSDOT cams around Olympia are downright winter-like. Now that we are close in, I can show you recent high resolution forecasts.  The latest run of the NOAA/NWS HRRR model showing accumulated snowfall is shown below. First, through 10 PM tonight.  Light snow over most of weste