Happy Saturday! Scattered showers and storms have already made their way into west Alabama. The main line of showers and storms will cross the Alabama line around 7pm. These will continue into the late evening hours and overnight into Sunday. Some of us, more so in central-east Alabama, may wake up with a lingering shower […]
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 29, 2023 A Three-Dimensional Heatwave Yesterday Friday , April 28 was the first moderately warm day of the Northwest summer season , nbsp with temperatures ranging from near 90F along the western slopes of the Cascades to around 70F near the water see a map of high temps below Why were the warmest temperatures along the western slopes of the Cascades It turns out that the Friday heat was very three-dimensional . nbsp Water provided some cooling , but the situation was much , much more complex than . that We need to start with the sea-level pressure pattern , with the one at 11 AM Friday shown below . nbsp High pressure over eastern Washington and low pressure overHappy Friday to you, you have made it to the weekend! Tonight will be a great night to eat outside or watch some Crimson Tide softball. Temperatures dip into the mid 50s overnight. Tomorrow morning will be pleasant with partly sunny skies. Temperatures will be warm, heating up to the low 80s. Rain comes into […]Good Thursday evening! We have a few storms we’re watching in east Mississippi that could have an impact on extreme west or northwest Alabama over the next few hours. These storms will fade away this evening and tonight, as the air become stable. Temperatures will fall in the lower 60s. Temperatures will top out in […]Above is a clip of our coverage before we lost power due to the massive Tuscaloosa tornado. We were in a building called Reese Phifer Hall on the University of Alabama campus. UA campus has a very protected power supply, so until that point, we never invested in a back-up generator. There was never a […].png)
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 26, 2023 Warmer in Seattle Than Los Angeles or San Diego A short Northwest heatwave is ahead and it will come on with a vengeance on Friday . nbsp So get those tee shirts , shorts , sunglasses , and a cool drink ready . nbsp It will be all the more jarring after an unusually cold . spring Many of you will experience temperatures in the 80s . Let me start with temperatures predicted on Friday around 5 PM on Friday by the UW WRF model . nbsp The white areas are places where temperatures are predicted to rise to 80F or more . nbsp White . hot Temperatures will be cooler near Puget Sound and over Northwest Washington . nbsp So if you like heat , move inland and south .Good Wednesday afternoon! Our local weather has been very warm for most of the area today, with scattered showers, mainly north of I-20. There is a small chance of a passing shower overnight, but widespread rain is unlikely. We’ll maintain a risk of rain and storms on Thursday as well. Some storms could become strong […]
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone has had a great week so far and enjoyed the dry weather, as the next couple of days we will see rain. It will be mostly cloudy this morning, but … Continue reading →
: , Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 25, 2023 Why is there often a strange , stationary radar echo along the Washington Coast Virtually every week someone asks me about a strange-looking weather radar feature that is often along the Washington . coast UFOs Chinese balloons A stationary flock of birds Or could it be the ocean The answer is revealed . below Below is an example on April 11th around 7 AM from the National Weather Service Langley Hill radar near Hoquiam Washington the radar is shown above You see the bluish area west of Hoquiam , just offshore on the central Washington coast That is the feature . nbsp The other features are areas of precipitation . nbsp They move . nbsp The area off ofGood Tuesday afternoon! Our local weather started off very chilly this morning, then quickly warmed into the 70s this afternoon. Clouds will gradually increase this evening and tonight. A risk for a few scattered showers and storms will become possible late Wednesday and Wednesday night. We’ll maintain a risk of rain and storms on Thursday […]Good Monday afternoon! Today has been an incredible spring day, with ample sunshine and pleasant temperatures. After sunset, temperatures will drop like a rock, with many areas in the middle 40s by sunrise tomorrow morning. Tuesday will feature more very nice weather, with temperatures quickly rising into the lower to middle 70s. Skies will gradually […]: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 23, 2023 The Upcoming Northwest Heatwave and Snowmelt It is now certain that our region and the entire western U.S . will experience a welcome spring heatwave with substantial snowmelt causing a surge in river . levels The origin of the big change is the development of a major upper-level ridge along the West Coast later this week . nbsp To illustrate , here are the forecast 500-hPa heights think of it as pressure around 18,000 ft for 5 AM Friday . nbsp The red colors indicated heights pressures well above normal This major ridge is associated with warmer-than-normal air that will rapidly sink , warming by . compression The latest National Weather ServiceGood Sunday afternoon! It was another beautiful day out across Alabama today. Scattered clouds littered the sky today with mainly sunny skies. Temperatures struggled to get out of the 60s in some areas this afternoon, making for a beautiful Sunday. Overnight tonight, clouds begin to decrease with temperatures dropping into the mid 40s by the […]Sunday begins with a mix of sun and clouds before turning increasingly cloudy through the day, helping to hold temperatures in the upper 60s for highs. Thankfully, winds will be rather light so perhaps just a light jacket is needed if you’re heading to church or brunch on Sunday. Monday appears to be the pick […]
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 21, 2023 One of the Coldest Aprils In Northwest History Will Soon Be History April 2023 has been starkly cool over the Pacific Northwest . nbsp In fact , the second coolest on record in many locations . nbsp The coolest in . others Just look at the April temperatures at Seattle and Pasco compared to normal highs purple lines and lows cyan lines is enough to put a literal chill down your spine . Most days have had lows well below normal and only ONE day during April reached the normal high in . Seattle A plot of the differences of temperature from normal for the past two weeks shows uber-cold maximum temperatures blue color , 6-9F below typical for much of OregonHappy Friday! Today has been quite overcast with a few glimpses of the sun. Our temperatures remain in the low 70s and we will cool off into the mid 50s later this evening. We will have pretty dry conditions for this weekend and temperatures will be in the mid to lower 70s. Weather for the […]
: . Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 19, 2023 Increased Wildfire Danger over the Western U.S . from Wet and Cold Conditions There is an enhanced potential for wildfires over the western U.S . this coming summer and early fall , but it is not due to warming and . drying In fact , just the opposite . nbsp A cool , wet winter has created an increased wildfire threat by producing a bountiful volume of flammable grasses . nbsp A threat that extends from eastern Washington into southern . California Eastern Washington Near Thorp , WA , July 2022 When most people think of wildfires they usually refer to forest fires . nbsp However , grass fires are just as important in the West , if not more so . nbsp
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope you’ve had an amazing week so far and are enjoying the continuous warm temperatures and sun. Today will be another warm and sunny day with a high near 82 and light … Continue reading →: . Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 17, 2023 Where can you get the most skillful weather forecast And a cool week ahead . All in my new podcast One of the most frequent questions I am asked is where can one get the most skillful weather . forecast What are the best sources of weather information I answer the question in my new . podcast In the podcast I refer to a website , , forecastadvisor.com which provides updated comparisons of the forecast skill of various weather prediction websites see sample below for Seattle's March forecasts The WeatherUnderground and WeatherChannel are on top . nbsp The National Weather Service is less skillful . nbsp Do humans help produce better forecasts What about: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 16, 2023 The Northwest Weather Workshop 2023 The Northwest Weather Workshop is the major local meeting for those interested in Northwest weather and is open to both professionals and interested amateurs . nbsp It will take place on May 12-13, 2023 at the NOAA Sand Point facility in northwest Seattle , and is sponsored by the University of Washington , the National Weather Service , and Seattle Portland chapters of the American Meteorological . Society The new agenda and sign-up information are all found on the meeting website : https : a.atmos.washington.edu pnww As described below , this meeting will be in-person with a virtual . option The meeting is going to be
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 15, 2023 Does A Cold Spring Mean a Warmer than Normal Summer I have gotten a lot of questions and comments about the connection between a colder-than-normal spring and conditions during the . summer Several folks are convinced that a cold spring means a warm summer , mainly based on what happened last year . nbsp So let's look at the data and find out Let's start by plotting spring March-May temperatures over Washington State using the NOAA Climate Division dataset for the past century through 2022 Warmer earlier in the period , then cooling in the 1950s-1970s and then warming back to the earlier levels during the past decades . nbsp I then identified the top ten
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 12, 2023 Cold April Follows A Frigid March This is turning out to be one of the coldest springs in a long . time As I noted in a previous blog March was uber-cold over much of the West . Coast And now April is turning out to be frigid as well Compare the temperatures at Seattle-Tacoma Airport with normal highs purple lines and lows cyan since April 1. Wow . not a single day reached the normal high and many days had lows below . normal A similar situation has occurred at Yakima As I noted before , this cold spring is keeping our snowpack in place with minimal melting . nbsp Thus , the latest snowpack numbers indicate a regional snowpack that is above normal even
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone has had a great week and has been enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. Today with sunny skies in the forecast and a high of 76, we can expect pretty … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 10, 2023 Super Rainshadow The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the best rainshadows in the world : nbsp areas of dry conditions downstream of terrain . barriers And on Sunday we were treated to one of the best examples of such features , in the lee northeast of the Olympic . Mountains As many of you know , when air approaches a barrier , it is forced to rise , producing clouds and precipitation see figure below and when it sinks on the downstream side , the air descends , warms by compression , and drys out . nbsp This is where the rainshadow is . found On Sunday , strong south southwesterly flow was approaching the Olympics see a map of winds around 11 AM.gif)
: , Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 08, 2023 Finally , Some Real Precipitation for the Pacific Northwest One thing that really stands out this winter has been the lack of heavy rain over western Washington , particularly since the start of the new year . nbsp One hardly needed an umbrella for the past few . months To illustrate , below is a plot of the daily precipitation over the past six months at SeaTac . nbsp A handful of wet days up to 1-1.5 inches in December and then the spigot turned off in 2023, with the wettest days only hitting around 0.5 inches . nbsp I have cycled to work pretty much every . day The central issue is that there has been a lack of warm , wet atmospheric river events
: : Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 06, 2023 A Dry Winter for Washington State But Not For the Rest of the West Coast : But Change is Coming If one looks at the precipitation for the winter season the water year starting October 1 as shown below , the north-south contrasts have been profound . nbsp California and the Southwest have been hugely wetter than normal some places enjoying over 250 of typical winter precipitation while much of Washington and portions of Oregon have received 70-100 of typical . values During the past month , the differences have been starker , with much of Washington State receiving 50-70 of normal precipitation , while Oregon and California have been very wet see below As
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope you’ve had a great week so far, and enjoyed these warmer temps. Today will continue to be warm with a high near 82. This morning will start out cloudy with a … Continue reading →
: . Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 04, 2023 Record March Cold Over the Western U.S . and Northern Plains This past March brought record cold to a vast swath of the U.S . including the West Coast and the northern Plains . nbsp Here in Washington State , the frigid conditions even continued into April , with snow showers falling to sea-level and serious snow on some of the hilltops near Seattle see the snowfall at 1100 ft in Bellevue on Sunday night April April 2. Bellevue , Washington at 1100 ft . Courtesy Dr . Peter Benda Satellites can observe atmospheric temperatures from space . nbsp The lower-atmosphere temperatures for March from such satellite see below indicate that the coldest temperature
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events April 02, 2023 Alaskan Air Over the the Pacific Northwest Take a deep breath . nbsp If you are in the Pacific Northwest , the air is very . clean Its origin is from far to the Northwest : from the Aleutians and the Bering . Strait Using the NOAA trajectory analysis software called HYSPLIT , I traced the path of the low-level air reaching the Washington coast at 10, 100, and 500 meters above the surface back for 96 h see below Straight to the Aleutians . nbsp You can almost smell the sea . air The UW WRF model forecast for 1 PM on Saturday shows sea level pressure solid lines near-surface winds the wind barbs and low-level temperatures purple and blue are the coldest The