gallopinggertie

Had a nice cold core thunderstorm yesterday in Portland. It poured rain and small hail with some gusty winds and a loud clap of thunder. The NWS put out a special weather statement for it, which was like a consolation prize for the severe thunderstorm watch last week that turned out to be a nothing burger.

This turned out to mostly be a bust. Cape values were way lower than forecast, and the mid-levels were too dry. I didn’t even hear thunder in Portland. Western WA had a decent amount of lightning, but actual severe weather impacts were limited to a couple storms in the Olympic peninsula and Cascades around Snoqualmie Pass. A big letdown for me, since this is the first time I’ve been in a severe thunderstorm watch.

That’s for sure. Not only global warming, but ocean acidification and microplastic pollution will become huge problems. As a random aside, Portland OR (where I live) broke its all-time march record high yesterday, with a high of 82.

A highly unusual severe weather threat is forecast today for the Pacific Northwest. Seattle and Portland are both in SPC’s slight risk zone. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a severe thunderstorm watch hoisted for both cities (that would be the first ever for Seattle proper, I believe).

That storm last weekend was pretty good (by Portland standards), we ended up with about 4” here. That makes it an incredible 9 straight winters I have seen at least 1” of snow, quite the run for the Pacific Northwest.

Round two of this mini storm tonight in Portland. After this morning’s dry snow, the evening brought light freezing rain, and now moderate sleet mixed with snow. Roads are ice rinks!

We finally are getting our first (and probably only) snowstorm of the winter here in Portland, Oregon. It’s a dry snow and we already have a bit over 1” since it started snowing an hour and a half ago. This is the first time I’ve seen proper snow since moving here last winter! Snowfall averages only about 4” per winter here. So anything we get is special, but particularly so when we get one of these cold dry snows that immediately start sticking to the road!

Tropical cyclone Elvis is south of Madagascar, all lonely and heading for the Heartbreak Hotel.

Back in the 90s, I was witness to a famous southern snow…

So is this an all-time record for NOLA?

Sounds like snow pellets or graupel, aka sleet that was coated with rime crystals. Congrats on the frozen precip! You’ve now outdone both Seattle and Portland for the winter. (Very sad achievement for the Pacific Northwest, one of only two or three truly snowless winters I have experienced here).

Looks like Jacksonville will be on the edge of the wintry precip. I would issue a WSW if I were the NWS just to be safe, after all Gainesville is under one…

And seems pretty certain Houston will also get historic snowfall, at least the eastern half of the city.

NWS has issued winter storm watches for the Big Bend and even Gainesville!

Panama City goes from nothing to 4-5”…