Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone has had an amazing week so far and enjoyed the lovely weather. Today will be a beautiful day with a high of 71 and a low of 44. Tomorrow will … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 22, 2024 The Other Type of Mountain Wave Cloud Folks love to talk about lenticular clouds which are generally produced by air moving up and down downstream of a mountain barrier see picture below Such clouds are generally found in the lower atmosphere at or just above the crest level of the mountain barrier that produces . them Picture by Joel David-Aldridge As shown by the schematic below , lenticular clouds , also called trapped lee wave clouds often come in multiples downstream of the mountain barrier and have a lens shape see below Such mountain-wave clouds are called trapped because the clouds and the motions associated with them are trapped in the lower
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 20, 2024 A Strong Surge of Marine Air Brings Relief to the Pollen Afflicted During the past weeks , I have gotten several emails from folks with pollen-related allergies . nbsp When will the suffering end they asked Early spring is the time of tree pollen , and the recent warm weather brought high values and substantial suffering to the . sensitive As shown the pollen levels at Seattle for the last 30 days below , from pollen.com the values during the past several days reached a high level red colors The rise began in late March , with several ups and downs . nbsp Ups during warm periods , downs in cooler periods with onshore flow of marine . air Compare Seattle's
By Sheldon Kusselson Animations: ALPW Layer Vapor Transport Percentile Ranking
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone has had a great week so far and has been surviving the heat! Today will be another rainy and stormy day with higher winds. Temps will remain in the mid … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 16, 2024 A Good Chance of Seeing an Aurora Tonight over Northern Washington State A moderate solar storm provides the potential for an aurora extending southward into Washington State tonight and tomorrow . night In fact , quite a decent auroral show was evident last night over northwest Washington , documented by Greg Johnson of Skunk Bay Weather on the northern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula Check it out below The current Kp score , a measure of solar activity , was as high as 5 a few hours ago , enough to push the aurora southward into the northern . U.S The last prediction of the NOAA Space Weather Center shows the southern extent of auroral visibility reaching: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 15, 2024 A Huge DEI Establishment is Undermining the University of Washington The University of Washington has been experiencing some major problems of late , including a costly financial system that is failing , violent destructive students doing major damage to the student union , and a serious homeless problem on campus , to name only a . few Two years ago , the highly respected Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression FIRE rated the UW as the lowest-ranked public university in the nation regarding freedom of speech and expressing diverse views . nbsp But perhaps the greatest threat to the UW comes from the development of a huge DEI Diversity , Equity ,: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 13, 2024 A Drier Than Normal Spring over the Pacific Northwest I had to water some new plants today because the last few weeks have been relatively . nbsp So I was curious . how dry has it been in our region Below is the March 22-April 12th precipitation in Seattle for the past 75 years . nbsp This year we had 1.5 inches over the period when 2.5 inches is more typical . nbsp Not a record dry year by any means , since some years had only about 0.3 inches for the same period . nbsp Interestingly , early springs have gotten a bit wetter over the past 75 years , so one can't blame the dryness on global . warming Another reason you can't blame global warming is that
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 11, 2024 More Typical Spring Temperatures Will Save Washington and California's Cherry Crop this Year Last year was a cherry disaster for the West Coast and the key driver was the cool wet weather late last winter and spring in California . nbsp This resulted in a very bountiful but late California cherry crop that became available at the same time as the larger Northwest cherry harvest , which was early because of a few warm weeks in . May With too many cherries available simultaneously , cherry prices plummeted and several Northwest orchards left their cherries on the . trees Cherry armageddon But this year should be much better for cherry growers and lovers of
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone has had an amazing week so far and has managed to stay dry! With a hazardous weather outlook currently issued by the National Weather Service, multiple waves of rain will … Continue reading →: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 09, 2024 The Surprising Weather Miracles of Yesterday's Total Solar Eclipse The solar eclipse had substantial impacts on local weather , some of which might . surprise First , many reported a miracle with the clouds thinning just before the . eclipse And the miracle was true , but there is a scientific explanation But first , let me show you what . happened Just before the eclipse there were a lot of low clouds over the totality path in northeastern Texas see blue oval area below But during and right after the eclipse , many of the clouds were gone see below Divine intervention The influence of the prayers of the astronomically devoted No , it was the result of the
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 07, 2024 The Hail Mary Strategy for Texas Eclipse Watchers The forecasts have not been favorable for the many total eclipse seekers in Texas , with considerable clouds forecast for tomorrow morning . nbsp But the latest forecasts show this is a significant chance to experience the full impact of the total eclipse in a narrow band across a portion of northern Texas--one worth a . try A Hail Mary strategy for eclipse . enthusiasts For those not familiar with this : terminology In American football , a Hail Mary pass is a long forward pass with a low chance of being completed , usually made in desperation It's often used by the losing team when time is running out and: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 05, 2024 Eclipse Disappointment We are now within 72h of the Monday solar eclipse and the forecast models are in . agreement Unfortunately , the situation I discussed in my blog on March 28th will come to pass : substantial clouds over much of the total eclipse tracks , particularly in Mexico and Texas where many are . going As a reminder , a map showing the path of totality is shown below . nbsp From Mazatlan to Dallas to Columbus to northern . Maine The cloud forecast for 1800 UTC April 8 near the time of the eclipse from the latest U.S . GFS model run is shown below . nbsp The European Center forecast for the same time is also displayed . nbsp They are nearly: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 03, 2024 Undulating Clouds Last evening around 6 PM I was enjoying a run with my dog around Seattle's Magnuson Park and noticed some amazing . clouds The bottom of the cloud deck was distorted by strange waves and structures . nbsp So unusual that several people sent me pictures and the nearby National Weather Service office posted some pictures see some samples below Picture courtesy of the NWS Seattle Office Picture provided by John McBride These stunning clouds have an impressive name : Undulatus Asperatus Often they are simply called Asperitas clouds You can get another perspective on these clouds from the SpaceNeedle PanoCam at 6 PM . nbsp Pretty scary Or you
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone managed to stay safe from any storms that came through yesterday! As this storm system continues to push through, there are some slight chances for rain throughout today, as well … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 01, 2024 The Subtropical Jetsteam Versus the Total Eclipse We are now close enough to the April 8 total eclipse that the skill of our models is now . appreciable And many of these increasingly skillful forecasts indicate a real threat to good viewing over Texas and much of the Midwest , where many plan to . go A double threat exists : clouds associated with two features : the subtropical jet a nd a low-pressure area moving in from the southwest . U.S This blog will describe these important features and the current uncertainties in the . forecast Let me start with the forecast cloud cover near the time of the Monday eclipse 11 AM PDT , 2 PM EDT , 8 April made by the: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 01, 2024 New Research Finds that Solar Eclipses are Harder to See Due to Global Warming There is a lot of concern about cloudiness obscuring the sun during next Monday's total . eclipse Interestingly it turns out that such eclipse-viewing problems are increasing as the earth warms up due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse . gases A recent study in the Journal of Climate Statistics by Professor Wade Rocston of the University of Western East New Brunswick documents a significant 23 increasing trend in cloud-obscured solar . eclipses The origin of the increasing cloud cover is clear according the Professor Rocston . nbsp Increasing CO2 leads.png)
: : Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events March 30, 2024 Northwest Wind Generation Collapses Again : Can We Blame El Nino The latest Northwest energy generation statistics are available from the Bonneville Power Administration and they are sobering : nbsp wind energy generation green line has collapsed over the past several days see below Spring is normally a time when wind generation increases robustly , but not this . year What is going on Something happened between March 25th and March 27th . nbsp But what Winds are driven by pressure differences , so let's examine the changes in the regional pressure . fields At 5 PM on March 25th , there was high pressure offshore and low pressure over eastern Washington 
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events March 28, 2024 First Look at the Weather for the April 8 Solar Eclipse I have gotten a lot of inquiries about the weather on April 8, the day of the total solar eclipse of the sun over the eastern half of the . U.S Our operational forecast models reach that far in time and have for a few days . nbsp But considering the uncertainty at such a long projection , I have refrained from commenting until . now The model solutions are starting to settle down and I have increasing confidence that I can provide useful information . nbsp So let me do the first of several updates on the weather associated with the . event The area of totality will extend from Texas to Ohio to