Cooler Temperatures from the Smoke of September
The thick smoke that blanketed much of WA state during a stretch of days in September 2020 is apt to be long remembered. A visible satellite image from the morning of 12 September (Fig.
Read moreThe Diurnal Cycle in Summer Temperatures in Washington State
Summer visitors to WA state are sometimes struck by how cool it is during the late night and early morning hours, and how late in the day it stays warm. This can be especially the case during our hottest weather, when peak temperatures often occur at 5 to 6 PM local time.
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Thunderstorms in WA during the Summers of 1990-2019
Summers have been gradually getting warmer and more humid in WA state, with plenty of variability, but has that been accompanied by a tendency for more thunderstorms? We don’t get many thunderstorms compared to elsewhere in the US, especially east of the Continental Divide.
Read moreTop 10 Weather and Climate Events of 2019
In a reprise of previous lists of this sort, here we review the top weather and climate events in WA state for the year of 2019. To be sure, we are halfway through 2020, but hopefully these events are not yet into the dustbin of history and their mention here will bring back some memories, fond or otherwise.
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Springtime Stream Temperatures in Washington
We have used this space to discuss ocean temperatures a number of times in recent years. Here, we will again consider water temperatures, but in this case for Washington State rivers, with a focus on the spring season.
Read moreA Review of Winter 2019-2020
In the fall of 2019, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) – one of the more reliable sources of seasonal predictability for the climate system – was expected to remain near-neutral and thus not a large consideration for our upcoming winter in Washington.
Read moreSheltering in Place – Does it Impact Air Quality?
We have all noticed marked changes in activities due to the COVID-19 outbreak. One obvious one is the scarcity of aircraft overhead, as indicated by Alaska Airlines planning to reduce its flights by 70% for April and May (Seattle Times, 26 March 2020).
Read more3 and 4-week 500 hPa Geopotential Height Predictions for WA
As presented previously in this newsletter, filling the gap between deterministic weather forecasts out about 10 days and probabilistic predictions on seasonal (multi-month) time scales is an active area of research for the meteorological community.
Read moreTiming of Major Floods on 6 Rivers in WA State
The dry weather of autumn 2019 in an overall sense resulted in relatively low streamflows throughout most of WA state, but that story has changed drastically since late December. Since then there have been several periods of above normal streamflows with a number of rivers spilling over their banks.
Read moreSnow Depth versus Snow Water Equivalent in the Cascades of Washington State
Winter has arrived in earnest and the snow is finally starting to pile up in the mountains of Washington state. There are two principal measures of the snowpack: snow depth and snow water equivalent (SWE).
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