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Pac NW obs and discussion


Mallow

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I'll peek in and add my (feeble) comments since I'll be in Tahoe the 18tth thru the 25th. I'm glad I can bring the persistant EC trough out with me for a short visit.

Powerful dual jet storm Wednesday as the GoA low spills SE into the area. Could see blizzard conditions all the way down to the valley floors with the heavy snow and strong winds. QPF looks to be 1.6" increasing to 3" at the ridges.

Cut off low for the weekend, maybe. Another, bigger storm just after the holiday. Hopefully these 2nd and 3rd storms are not too far south for you. Looks plenty cold but I don't know what elevation you are at.

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I'll peek in and add my (feeble) comments since I'll be in Tahoe the 18tth thru the 25th. I'm glad I can bring the persistant EC trough out with me for a short visit.

Powerful dual jet storm Wednesday as the GoA low spills SE into the area. Could see blizzard conditions all the way down to the valley floors with the heavy snow and strong winds. QPF looks to be 1.6" increasing to 3" at the ridges.

Cut off low for the weekend, maybe. Another, bigger storm just after the holiday. Hopefully these 2nd and 3rd storms are not too far south for you. Looks plenty cold but I don't know what elevation you are at.

I'm near sea level (~200' elevation).

Unfortunately, with onshore flow, we need 850s generally at or below -6C for snow to the valley floors. Snow levels generally remain around 500'-1,500' in patterns like the midweek pattern coming up, with perhaps heavier showers dumping snow briefly down to the surface (which melts quickly).

The storms later on could be better, though, if we can get offshore gradients.

The Seattle area looks to do decent, though, as onshore flow there won't be as prominent.

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I'll peek in and add my (feeble) comments since I'll be in Tahoe the 18tth thru the 25th. I'm glad I can bring the persistant EC trough out with me for a short visit.

Powerful dual jet storm Wednesday as the GoA low spills SE into the area. Could see blizzard conditions all the way down to the valley floors with the heavy snow and strong winds. QPF looks to be 1.6" increasing to 3" at the ridges.

Cut off low for the weekend, maybe. Another, bigger storm just after the holiday. Hopefully these 2nd and 3rd storms are not too far south for you. Looks plenty cold but I don't know what elevation you are at.

Heading to Parlk City the 22nd -27th and I am looking for some disco for the Wasatch and this is about as close as I can find. It's sure looks promising for all of the western ski resorts for the forseeable future.

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Heading to Parlk City the 22nd -27th and I am looking for some disco for the Wasatch and this is about as close as I can find. It's sure looks promising for all of the western ski resorts for the forseeable future.

Ya, though the further east you go, the less promising it is.

Still, I think the Wasatch should do well.

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Ya, though the further east you go, the less promising it is.

Still, I think the Wasatch should do well.

Sierras and Ruby Mtns in Nevada look to be the big winners in this pattern.

GFS has been trying to develop an unusual low in Southern California towards Day 8/9 as that trough begins to break down...never seen a low pressure placement like that before. I wonder if it will evolve into an El Niño-like Four Corners system or whether the energy stays consolidated as more of a North Pacific low.

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After this morning's little surprise snowfall, I now have three traces for the winter. <_<

Still, I got to enjoy driving in the snow on Mount Scott (>1"), and playing in the snow in Happy Valley (1/4-1/2") this morning.

http://maps.google.c...an+and+se+tyler

I know another met from Milwaukie area. He used to work at Meridian Environmental when I first started--but he moved back home. He is a killer forecaster.

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As a former westerner I take an interest in that region- long range models really give the NW a super cold airmass with thicknesses below 516 in SEA and below 522 in SFO by the mid-to late week period, many coastal sections could see snow in this setup.

Ya, but so far this winter, everything has changed once it's gotten within day 5. Late November was the only exception... but the agreement on this one looks about as good as the Late November deal, so maybe, just maybe.

Still, the Late November pattern, while cold, couldn't manage more than a trace of snow for me (lots of precip until the cold arrived, then almost nothing). Hopefully the same doesn't happen here.

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00z models are still good.

But there's still enough spread in the models for me to be nervous, and it wouldn't take TOO much of a change (cold stalls further and further north each run) to ruin it.

Rooting for you big time... But,

You should move to, Milwaukee in winter, your talent on this board is so wasted in winter.

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Rooting for you big time... But,

You should move to, Milwaukee in winter, your talent on this board is so wasted in winter.

Thanks! :D

:snowman:

He just needs to move up 1000-1500 feet in elevation and he'd be looking good.

Ya, that would definitely do the trick!

This is where I'd probably move if I could:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=e+larch+mountain+rd+and+se+red+elder+dr&aq=&sll=45.518256,-122.151833&sspn=0.027905,0.077162&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=E+Larch+Mountain+Rd+%26+SE+Red+Elder+Dr,+Corbett,+Multnomah,+Oregon+97019&t=p&ll=45.522947,-122.165222&spn=0.055805,0.154324&z=13

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Thanks! :D

:snowman:

Ya, that would definitely do the trick!

This is where I'd probably move if I could:

http://maps.google.c...5,0.154324&z=13

I know the intermountain W so well--but I feel lost in Oregon and Washington. You should definitely post over in the plains more--and I will post more in your Pac NW region. I can guarantee I would look like the bigger fool.

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I know the intermountain W so well--but I feel lost in Oregon and Washington. You should definitely post over in the plains more--and I will post more in your Pac NW region. I can guarantee I would look like the bigger fool.

Psshhh. You could do it... it just takes some practice.

And it's not like I've had much experience with forecasting for the plains. The most I've done was forecasting for Fargo and Oklahoma City during a school forecast contest at the UW.

No doubt.. I don't know how he does it yr after yr out there where he picks to reside. Makes it all that more special during the good times though.

That it does. December 2008 was wonderful!

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Its amazing what just 1000 feet can do int he PAC NW...2000 feet is like snow heaven. Its almost exponential out there.

Ya.

I have driven up a 1,000' hill about 10 minutes from my house several times this winter. Amazing to watch the transition from rain, to rain/snow, to snow in just a short drive.

The road climbs from below 400' to above 800' in a 2 minute drive (1 mile). Those two minutes make a huge difference.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=FS6FtQId7r-x-CkjdZ1n2Z-VVDHkn_6WKK8LVw%3BFbB2tQIdtAqy-Cmz-FLNzZ-VVDG5wqBajYcOkg&q=se+92nd+and+idleman+to+se+walnut+and+idleman&aq=&sll=45.449624,-122.553949&sspn=0.013969,0.038581&ie=UTF8&ll=45.448661,-122.559099&spn=0.01397,0.038581&t=p&z=15&saddr=se+92nd+and+idleman&daddr=se+walnut+and+idleman

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153 hour GFS sounding temps: for Seattle

Station: KSEA

Latitude: 47.45

Longitude: -122.30

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LEV PRES HGHT TEMP DEWP RH DD WETB DIR SPD THETA THE-V THE-W THE-E W

mb m C C % C C deg knt K K K K g/kg

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SFC 1015 100 -4.6 -12.3 55 7.7 -6.7 360 7 267.4 267.6 265.6 271.4 1.46

1 1000 216 -7.1 -13.4 61 6.3 -8.7 2 11 266.0 266.3 264.4 269.8 1.35

2 950 613 -10.9 -14.9 72 4.0 -11.8 6 11 266.2 266.4 264.4 269.7 1.27

3 850 1457 -16.3 -20.9 67 4.6 -17.1 40 6 269.1 269.2 265.7 271.5 0.85

4 800 1911 -18.4 -24.3 60 5.9 -19.4 15 9 271.5 271.6 267.0 273.4 0.67

5 750 2390 -20.7 -29.4 45 8.7 -21.8 6 13 274.1 274.2 268.3 275.4 0.44

6 700 2897 -23.7 -35.5 33 11.8 -24.9 5 16 276.3 276.3 269.4 277.1 0.26

7 650 3434 -27.1 -41.2 25 14.1 -28.2 8 18 278.3 278.3 270.4 278.8 0.16

8 600 4007 -30.3 -46.9 18 16.6 -31.3 11 24 281.0 281.0 271.9 281.3 0.09

9 550 4622 -33.6 -51.6 15 18.0 -34.4 13 32 284.2 284.2 273.7 284.4 0.06

10 500 5285 -37.2 -55.4 13 18.2 -37.8 14 41 287.7 287.7 275.6 287.9 0.04

11 450 6006 -41.1 -58.9 13 17.9 -41.6 14 51 291.6 291.6 277.5 291.7 0.03

12 400 6800 -44.9 -61.3 14 16.4 -45.3 12 58 296.6 296.6 279.8 296.7 0.02

13 300 8698 -50.4 -64.4 18 14.0 -50.7 7 71 314.3 314.3 286.9 314.4 0.02

14 250 9881 -52.2 -66.2 17 14.0 -52.5 5 69 328.5 328.5 291.3 328.6 0.02

15 200 11320 -53.4 -69.1 13 15.8 -53.7 2 60 348.3 348.3 296.3 348.3 0.02

16 150 13176 -51.5 -78.0 3 26.5 -52.1 356 40 381.3 381.3 302.5 381.3 0.01

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18z GFS ensemble mean 850s at hr 144:

PDX... -16C

SEA... -18C

Pretty incredible.

Unfortunately, even though the operational euro is on its own, the solution it shows worries me. That kind of solution is much more common (cold getting hung up further north), and while even the Euro shows cold/snow, it's not nearly to the extent that the other models do.

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Ya.

I have driven up a 1,000' hill about 10 minutes from my house several times this winter. Amazing to watch the transition from rain, to rain/snow, to snow in just a short drive.

The road climbs from below 400' to above 800' in a 2 minute drive (1 mile). Those two minutes make a huge difference.

http://maps.google.c...nut+and+idleman

it can be like that here near Lake Superior as you gain elevation in the hills. A 5 - 10 minute drive you can go from rain to snow in no time. It is incredible.

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