Wetand News

There is a good chance that La Nina--cooler than normal waters in the central tropical Pacific-- will return this fall.  And the reprise of La Nina has major implications for the weather of the upcoming winter. As I have discussed many times in this blog, there is only one truly useful tool for predicting Northwest weather months in advance:  the correlation between temperatures of the central tropical Pacific and the weather circulation over the western U.S. A rough cycle, called ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation), shuttles between warmer than normal water temperatures (El Nino), to near normal conditions (neutral), to colder than normal tropical waters (La Nina).  The period of this cycle is approximately three to seven years.  The figures below illustrate the changes between El Nino and La Nina.    You can think of the cycle as analogous to water sloshing back and forth in a bathtub, with less dense, warm water on top.   When the warm water sloshes to the east,  you have El Nino. 

Climate hype is profoundly damaging the environment and society; the evidence for this is compelling and discussed in this blog. I have always been an environmentalist, worried about the protection of our natural environment. And I am concerned about global warming and its effects on humanity and the health of the planet. Thus, I have become increasingly apprehensive about apocalyptic climate change hype, which is profoundly damaging the environment of our region and undermining the well-being of many. Picture courtesy of Cristian Ibarra Santillan Damage to the Northwest Environment from Climate Change Hype There is substantial damage being done to the Northwest environment from the unfounded hype found in the media, some politicians, and several activist groups.  Consider a few examples: Wildfires and Lack of Forest Management.   Prominent politicians in our state and some media/activist groups have stated that climate change (a term used to mean human-caused global warming) is the p

 We have just begun a major weather transition for the region....and you will be much more comfortable because of it. A weak cold front is now moving through the region, bringing clouds to the west and much cooler temperatures.  As shown in this morning's visible satellite image, low clouds dominate the offshore waters and have pushed across the western Washington lowlands and southern BC.  With the switch to westerly (from the west) winds aloft, much of the region is smoke-free, except for locations downwind of localized fires. Thus, green colors (good air quality) dominated the regional AIRNOW map, particularly west of the Cascade crest.   Over the next week temperatures will remain in the 70s in the west and 80s in the east, and relative humidity will rise, lessening fire danger in general. But there is a wildfire risk today as cool air streams into the west.  The cooler, denser air will result in increased pressure west of the Cascade crest and the development of a large pressu

On Thursday afternoon, the temperature at Bellingham, Washington, surged to 100F, breaking the all-time record for any day at that site. Not surprising the previous all-time record (99F) was set during the extreme heatwave of late June this year, something illustrated by the plot of high and low temperatures at Bellingham this summer (below, purple shows daily high temperatures, cyan, daily low temperatures) The interesting thing is that locations a few miles south of Bellingham were warm but nowhere near record-breaking levels that day (the high temperatures on Thursday are shown below, click on the image to expand).  Looking closer, there appears to be a swath of 100F temperatures extending from the Fraser River Valley and very warm highs over northern Victoria, BC. Looking even closer, there were temperatures as high as 106 and 107F to the northeast of Bellingham!  Wow. What in the world was going on? I think there is an answer to this strange anomaly.  The effects of strong downsl

 My new podcast is out, and I discuss the current smoke situation, the UW IPCC climate report, and major changes in Northwest weather for the next week. Smoke covers the region this morning You can listen to my podcast below or select your preferred streaming service (see bottom of blog) In my podcast, I examine the bottom line of the new UN climate report, noting it is FAR more optimistic than many of the apocalyptic headlines you read in the media or in the pronouncements of certain politicians. I also talk about the current smoke situation, which is peaking today over western Washington and should decline tomorrow as marine air starts to move in at low levels.  The situation at 10 AM shows very poor surface air quality over eastern WA,  moderate air quality over western WA, with better conditions along the coast (see image, purple is the worst air quality, green is the best) Finally, I talk about the startling localized extreme heat that hit Bellingham, with downslope flow into the

Western Washington has escaped serious wildfire smoke at the surface, but that is about to change tonight and tomorrow. A serious smoke storm will invade western and eastern Washington, and those that are vulnerable should prepare. The smoke layer was evident from Crystal Mountain this morning The visible satellite imagery this morning shows smoke over eastern Washington and a band of smoke extending over western Washington (see below) Over the west side, this smoke is currently aloft, while serious smoke is surfacing over eastern Washington.  Reflecting this situation, air quality shown in the AIRNOW plot (below) is generally good (green dots) west of the Cascade crest (except in the Fraser River Valley).  But eastern Washington and BC have many locations with poor and even unhealthy (red and purple) conditions.   Ironically, the smoke aloft is greatly reducing solar radiation reaching the surface and will take the edge off the heat today.  Still quite hot, but it would have been seve