Snow In The Mountains

Hi everyone, hope your weekend was great. Well, I woke up this morning to a heavy rain at my house here in the Issaquah Highlands and a few minutes later my 4 year old son asked me, "Hey dad why is it not snowing?" I of course told him it wasn't cold enough and that is was probably snowing in the mountains. Guess what we did today? That's right, we drove out to see some snow at Stevens Pass today. Luckily, I work from home so I had some time to spare. I just wanted to share some pictures.

When we got there at 2pm today it was snowing heavily and there was already a good 3 inches on the ground. We only stayed for 30 minutes (enough time to have a quick snowball fight) and the snow kept coming down at a pretty good clip.

Look for more snow showers to continue in the mountains through tomorrow afternoon. Maybe the SKI resorts can start building a base so we can partake in some real winter fun soon.

As for the weather in the Seattle Metro area, look for showery conditions tomorrow and chilly temperatures in the upper 40's to lower 50's. Wednesday should be dry as we await the next system due in here on Thursday. I'll leave you all with a couple more pics from the Snow Storm today @ Steven's Pass!

Possible Colder Weather Next Week - Flurries?

I have been following the long range models and it appears at this time we could see high temperatures anywhere from the mid 40's to low 50's sometime next week. Details are sketchy this far out, and long range models aren't usually very reliable beyond 5 days. Just be prepared for the possibility of colder weather late next week and if we're lucky, maybe a few early season Snow Flurries around the area.

First, look at the deep trough forecasted to develop on THU 10/29 over the area with cold air pouring out of Canada. Notice the upper airflow coming from the cold Northwest? Looks cold doesn't it?




Take a look at the 540 (rain/snow line) isotherm at the 500-1000mb level poking down into the region early next week with some moisture around. Models show the cold air aloft staying around for a few days.



Also, the 850mb (about 6K feet up) isotherm goes south of the area with below freezing temps aloft above the line.



Finally, the GFS is showing high pressure out in the pacific bringing down colder air (40's) in a N-NWLY flow at the surface.



These images are from today's 18Z GFS run. Most precip that falls would be Snow based on this GFS run. Please don't take too much of this to heart as it is still several days away and the errors could be quite large, at the very least we should see some colder temperatures around here (below normal), snow in the mountains, and some cold trick or treaters :)

~ Steve

Typical Fall Rain

After a couple of descent days here in Seattle, clouds are on the increase and showers will begin to approach the coast tonight in advance of the next frontal system. Light rain & showers will be around the area for most of tomorrow. We should see light rain approaching the interior sometime around 7am - 9am. The rain should turn to light showers later in the day once the front passes the area and we get into a nice westerly flow which could cause a Puget Sound Convergence Zone (PSCZ) to form over part of our area.

Rainfall amounts should generally be fairly low with most locations receiving .10-.30 inches.



The long range models are starting to hint at stronger Pacific systems and possibly some colder air arriving in about 7-10 days. Also, some models are showing the atmosphere getting cold enough for some lowland snow to fall towards early November, but temperatures are looking warm enough right now to prevent any accumulations if Snow does come early this season. Stay tuned as I will post more information as we get closer to the end of the month.

Are you guys enjoying this crisp, fall weather?

~ Steve

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog featuring information on the weather in the Seattle area. I will try to place a summary of each day's weather and future outlooks. Living in the PACNW has taught be a lot about weather and just how interesting it is. There are many different types of weather events that we experience in Western WA and this will be a good place to discuss local weather, especially during the Fall/Winter months when we experience our most active weather. When at all possible I would like for you guys to post local observations of the weather in your area so we can share with everyone.

Please check back often as I intend to update this blog frequently.

Have a great week!

~ Steve