: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 29, 2023 The Humidity Inside Our Homes is as Low as the Sahara Desert Shocking but true the relative humidity inside most homes , apartments , and businesses in our region is now as low as the Sahara . Desert According to a number of references , the average relative humidity near the surface in the Sahara is typically around 25 So how close do we come to these dry conditions The wonderful PurpleAir network reports inside and outside humidity . nbsp Considering Seattle , here are the current outside relative humidities from this network . nbsp A lot around 60 which is relatively low for this time of the year . nbsp But now take a look at the indoor relative
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 26, 2023 First Frost in the Northwest A number of locations in the Northwest had their first frost this morning or yesterday morning . nbsp Frost season is . here Below are the low temperatures today for all locations that dropped to 33F or below . nbsp Keep in mind these temperatures are for the standard height of 2 meters roughly 6 ft above the . ground During the cool season , temperatures often get colder towards the surface . nbsp Several locations in western Washington dropped in the upper 20s , as did observing locations over the Columbia Basin . nbsp But if you want real cold , Montana should be your destination some temperatures bottomed out below 0F You
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone has had an amazing week so far! Today should be another beautiful and warm day with highs in the upper 70s. Gustier winds are possible, but shouldn’t be anything too … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 24, 2023 Early Heavy Snow for the North Cascades The mountains of Washington State will get an early blast of heavy snowfall during the next few days , with a particularly heavy snow dump 1-2 feet over the eastern slopes of the Cascades . nbsp If this was a few months later , I would be warning about snowfall over the lowlands of western Washington , but this IS . mid-October Let me start by showing you the snowfall prediction from the NOAA NWS National Blend of Models , the guidance heavily used by local National Weather Service . forecasters The snowfall total through Wednesday at 5 PM is impressive and crazy high over and to the east of the North Cascades---as
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 21, 2023 The First Major Arctic Air Blast of the Season A major , and early , blast of Arctic air will move into the Pacific Northwest during the next few . days Snow will move into the Cascades and large areas to the east . nbsp In a few locations east of the Rockies temperatures will drop into the single . digits Let me illustrate this frigid turn of affairs by showing you the predicted surface air temperatures over the next week . nbsp I warn you you will be thinking about a nice cup of hot chocolate before you read very . far The situation at 5 AM Sunday , shows really cold air white and purple colors up in the Arctic , where it belongs . nbsp Temperatures
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 19, 2023 The Mid-October Temperature Transition One of the interesting aspects of Northwest weather is the mid-October temperature transition to cooler temperatures , and this year will not be an . exception Below is the latest forecast of temperatures at Seattle from the National Weather Service GEFS ensemble of many forecasts , with the black line showing their average generally a very good forecast Warm temperatures today , followed by a plummet towards highs only in the mid-50s for the next . week Another skillful forecast system--the National Blend of Models-- is also going for high temperatures only reaching around 55F for days at a time A similar story in
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! Hopefully most of you have enjoyed these cooler fall-like weather days. If you haven’t, you’re in luck. As a warm front moves through later tonight and into tomorrow, temperatures will rise to the … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 17, 2023 Extreme Precipitation Variations this Autumn The Pacific Northwest is an area of meteorological extremes , particularly for . precipitation To illustrate , check out the regional precipitation totals for September 1 to October 17 for this year see below Quite . amazing On the windward southwest slopes of the Olympics there was OVER TWENTY inches of rain . nbsp In fact , nearly two feet at one location . nbsp But a few miles away on the leeward northeast side of the barrier near Sequim only 0.83 . inches Puget Sound received about 4 inches lower over the north Sound than the south Sound with precipitation increasing into the Cascades . nbsp Large areas of
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 14, 2023 A Dramatic Annular Eclipse over the Northwest The annual eclipse this morning was quite a treat . even here in Seattle where only 80 of the sun's disk was covered by the . moon Viewable through a thin veil of clouds over Puget Sound country , the sun looked like a crescent moon around 9:10 AM see a wonderful photo by my UW colleague Alex Anderson-Frey It was not a little eerie . nbsp Solar radiation is measured on the top of the roof of my building and I plotted the solar radiation over time this morning see plot below , time increases to the left See . below Solar radiation increased rapidly from 8 to 8:20 AM PDT 1500 to 1520 using a 24-h clock then
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 13, 2023 Hamas Rally at the University of Washington Yesterday , a pro-Hamas rally took place on Red Square at the University of Washington , with the sounds spreading across a large area of the UW . nbsp It reverberated in my . office Speakers at this gathering supported the v iolent actions of Hamas and called for the destruction of the State of . Israel Their advertisement for the rally celebrates a death-dealing Hamas : paraglider As many of you know , I am a great supporter of freedom of speech , an essential part of American democracy . nbsp But that does not include calling for violence and the deaths of others thus , what happened at the UW was well
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 13, 2023 Super Bird Migration on Thursday Morning The only creatures that watch the sky more carefully than meteorologists are . well . . birds Our feathered friends spotted a perfect meteorological situation for their flights south and headed into the sky in great numbers on Thursday morning . nbsp Nothing shows up better on weather radar than a nice plump bird . nbsp To illustrate , below is the radar image at 3:30 AM Thursday morning that combines all Northwest radars , with the shaded area showing radar returns greens show more reflected radar signal than blue Normally , radar shows mainly precipitation , but none was falling at this time . nbsp This time it
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 11, 2023 Will You Be Able to See the Annular Solar Eclipse On Saturday morning , an annular eclipse will be occurring over the western U.S . with the greatest sun loss passing across southern . Oregon But will clouds get in the way That is the topic of this . blog Annular eclipses occur when the moon passes between the sun and Earth , covering only part of the solar disk . nbsp Not nearly as moving as a total eclipse , but still dramatic once about 90 of the sun is . covered Below is a map of the path of the annular eclipse on Saturday . nbsp More than 90 of the sun will be covered over southwest Oregon , with Seattle at around 80 The action will be at around
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone has had an amazing week so far! Expect another beautiful day today and tomorrow with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the upper 50s to lower 60s. As … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 07, 2023 The Last Summer-Like Weekend of the Year One of the burdens of writing this blog is the necessity on some occasions to describe some unpleasant meteorological . facts And this is one of those . blogs Today was wonderfully warm and dry , and tomorrow will be almost as good . nbsp But this weekend represents the high point of our autumn- a return of such perfect conditions is highly unlikely for the rest of the cool . season But before I discuss the big cooldown , consider today's wonderous high temperatures see below Upper 70s and lower 80s over western Washington , and low 80s over much of the Columbia . Basin The origin of this delightful period A ridge
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events October 05, 2023 The Jet Stream is Strengthening As Autumn Weather Settles In to the Northwest It is not unusual to have a few warm days in early October , but with a cooling Arctic and shorter days , the atmosphere is rapidly moving into an autumnal . configuration Tomorrow and this weekend will be wonderful , but major changes are in store for us starting on . Monday On that day , a weak front will come through , resulting in general light rain over western BC , Washington , and Oregon see total through 5 AM Tuesday Another weak front will come through on Tuesday , so that total precipitation through Wednesday at 5 PM will be more impressive , with the mountains
Today’s Forecast Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope everyone has had a great week so far and, for those of you who were on Fall Break, had a great break! Today should be a beautiful day. With a high … Continue reading →