Wetand News

 During the middle to late spring, the northeastern Pacific fills will low clouds, as illustrated by the visible satellite image from two days ago (shown below). And during fair-weather periods, as we have experienced during the past week, there is a daily rhythm of clouds along the coastal zone east of the Cascade crest, with clouds pushing in overnight and burning back during the day.     Consider what has happened during the past day. Last night at 5 PM, there were lots of low clouds along the coast and a tendril of stratus/fog extending into the Strait of Juan de Fuca But overnight, the low clouds surged inland, as shown by the image at 7 AM.  Coastal river valleys filled with clouds and stratus and fog pushed eastward into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Chehalis Gap (south of the Olympics), and along the Columbia River Valley. Central Puget Sound was fog free this morning as were the western slopes of the Cascades. By noon, the low clouds had pulled back to the coast And there wa

My new podcast is out (see below).    My second segment tells you about the fascinating history of weather forecasting, including a surprising story about the role of the founders of the U.S. Benjamin Franklin had an unexpected major role in the history of weather prediction. But first, the podcast provides the details of the weekend's forecast. This weekend will bring sun and temperatures rising into the 70s in western Washington and the 80's and 90's east of the Cascade crest.  A continuation of one of the driest springs in decades.     Each day will dawn with clouds on the coast, with some extension through the Strait of Juan de Fuca (see image) But the sunny/dry weather is going to end abruptly on Monday as the atmosphere shifts gears, with a major trough of low pressure developing over the eastern Pacific.  An onshore marine push is in our future, with lots of clouds and showers. Here is my podcast: Click the play button to listen or use your favorite streaming servic

Before and during sunset last night, there were some amazing halos visible around the region. Here are two views from Ellensburg, the first by Richard Wilson and the second by Tom and Barbara Jones, both taken near sunset. Courtesy of Richard Wilson Courtesy Tom and Barbara Jones You start by noticing the semi-circular halo , located 22 degrees from the sun.  But there is more....a sun pillar extending vertically from the setting sun.   And perhaps most impressively of all, there is the upper tangent arc at the top of the halo, right about the sun (looks like an upside-down triangle or perhaps some wings on the halo). Just stunning. Halos, sun pillars, and upper tangent arcs are all atmospheric optical effects associated with sunlight interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere.    Most halos are the result of cirrostratus clouds... high-level clouds made up of small ice crystals. We can view the cirrostratus clouds from above, using a high-resolution satellite image at 7:51  P

Seattle’s future is now in jeopardy and two paths lay before it. One path leads to growth into an exciting world-class city. The other leads inevitably to decline, with a rapid exodus of our most creative and innovative individuals and the loss of opportunity for all of Seattle’s citizens. Richard Croft.  Creative Commons License San Francisco demonstrates how a once world-class city can rapidly declin e .   We do not want to follow its example.   Seattle residents have watched in dismay as our mayor and city council allowed a homeless crisis to fester, stood by as a portion of our city was abandoned to the mob, took little action as violent individuals destroyed businesses and threatened those with differing viewpoints, supported defunding of police and the reduction of public safety, discouraged major businesses from growing in our city, and neglected making critical investments in infrastructure. No great city can remain a great city under such poor leadership.   And no city can g

Although the Pacific Northwest is known for bountiful rain and lush rain forests, it also possesses extraordinarily dry locations as well.  To illustrate, the westerns slopes of the Olympics have locations that receive up to 180 inches a year and 100-120 inches per anum is not unusual on the windward (western) slopes of the Cascades (see below).   In western Washington, the driest location is the rainshadow of the Olympics, where some locations, such as Sequim, enjoy 15-17 inches of precipitation per year.  But if you are looking for REALLY dry conditions, you must head to southeastern Washington, where less than ten inches a year reaches the rain gauge. According to the dictionary definition , that portion of eastern Washington can be considered a desert. But where EXACTLY is the absolutely driest location?    Rain sodden western Washingtonians want to know!   And the answer should certainly be of interest to agricultural interests. So let's turn next to the Oregon State PRISM hig

The visible satellite today is a spring-time classic, convective showers with lots of sun breaks over the Pacific and sections of western Washington, a Puget Sound convergence zone over the north Sound, and sunny skies over eastern Washington. The weather radar at the same time (10 AM), clearly shows the showers around the coast and southwest Washington, with an impressive convergence zone north of Seattle, Springtime showers and sun breaks like this are not unusual and are a major component of Northwest weather.  Why do we get these showers?  My podcast explains. A trough of low pressure is over us right now (see below), but should move out by Sunday.  The result will be an improving weather trend, something I discuss in the first portion of the podcast. 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 P

There have been a number of stories in local media about wind energy in Washington State, including questions about its availability throughout the year.  So let's examine the wind energy potential of the State--perhaps some aspects will be surprising. A good place to start is the NREL (National Renewable Energy Lab) maps of annual wind speed at 80 meters above ground level, high enough to be applicable to giant wind turbines  (see below).    You might think that Puget Sound is windy, but that is simply not the case; only along the coast is wind sufficient for wind energy in western Washington    (the orange and red areas) .   The crest of the Cascades and its eastern slopes are a different story, as are several areas over southeastern Washington.    Some decent wind locations.  The best region includes the hilltops near and east of Ellensburg, a region where wind turbines are now everywhere. And the hills surrounding the Columbia Gorge, from The Dalles to Walla Walla, are also goo