Stormy Weekend

 Our rainmaking system, a.k.a an atmospheric river has begun pounding part of Vancouver Island and Northwest Washington. This beast of a storm is clearly visible on satellite with the river-like feature evident.

This storm will bring rain and gusty winds to parts Vancouver Island, Interior B.C and NW Washington. Vancouver Island will likely get hit hardest with up to a foot of rain following in some places! Vancouver B.C will receive 3-5 inches of rain, similarly with areas like Bellingham and parts of Whatcom County. NW Washington, particularly the coastal areas will also likely get hit hard. Areas in the Olympic peninsula like Quillayute and Forks could receive anywhere from 4-7 inches of rain. Due to rain-shadowing, places in Western Washington may not receive as much rain. Seattle may receive up to an inch of rain with higher amounts further north. 

Another less talked about feature with this storm are the winds. There are already wind advisories out for parts of the coast and from Everett to Bellingham for gusts up to 45 MPH. The strongest gusts will be near the islands of San Juan, making for a rough ferry ride out there!

After the atmospheric river, our eyes turn to a feature known as a "late breaking wave." 

The tail end of our atmospheric river spins up this feature and it track northeast making landfall somewhere near southern Vancouver Island. Now, sometimes these features can be damaging windstorms but this low forms late and doesn't have enough time to strengthen. That being said, these small-scale features are difficult to predict and pinpoint so I will continue tracking it and updating the forecast. This low pressure will bring gusty winds to Vancouver Island and Northwest Washington. Parts of the Seattle area will also experience some breezy conditions but unless it takes a more southern track, Seattle won't see any of the main wind action.  

Have a good weekend!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Widespread Lowland Snow Incoming!!

Image
 Well it is going to be an interesting 48 hours coming up. We will have snow, ice, sleet, rain, wind, basically everything on the weather bingo card in the next 2 days.  A strong and moist Pacific system will move into the area tomorrow evening, spreading precipitation into a very cold and dry air mass. A ripe set up for a snowstorm in the PNW.  Current satellite imagery shows moisture moving into Oregon.  This moisture will spread north and with the cold temperatures in place, it will bring wintry weather to the lowlands of Oregon and Washington. Winter and ice storm warnings are out for Portland and the Willamete valley. This storm will work effectively to scour out cold air in the upper levels so I expect precipitation type to quickly transition to freezing rain and sleet south of Salem. However, upper levels should stay just cold enough for precipitation to remain snow north of Wilsonville.  The low will pull east winds out of the gorge, keeping things very ...
Read more

Friday Night Update

Image
The much talked about potential for lowland snow is finally here and we are in the range where we can talk about specifics. Tonight, a cold front is crossing the area, evident in satellite imagery.  Behind this cold front is much colder air which will filter into the area tonight. Temps are sitting in the upper 40's currently in much of the Puget Sound, by about 2 AM, much of the area will be in the 30's and a gradual cool down will continue. At this time there are several chances for lowland snow, but accumulations will be spotty as the system is more showery in nature and not organized.  There will be several areas with a heightened potential for lowland snow and I will point it out on this little graphic.  Zone 1 is in Snohomish county and has a heightened potential for snow due to the convergence zone setting up over there tonight and into tomorrow. There is a chance this extends southwards briefly so some of northern King county could also see some snow. I expect abo...
Read more

Evening Update

Image
 We are very close to tonight's snow potential and models still have no idea what will happen. Looking at Sattelite imagery, the low pressure we have been tracking looks to be a bit north of Hoquiam. How north this low goes will determine which area gets the most moisture. Earlier this area looked to be King County and the Central Sound, but now this area may have shifted a bit northwest. Northern King County and the Kitsap peninsula.  As I said earlier, this looks to be a bit more widespread in terms of moisture, but temps look to be more marginal so elevation will definitely aid with snow. Looking at the graphic below, the area circled in blue will have the most access to moisture tonight. In this area, places above 500 feet should see 2-8 inches of snow. Below that, 1-3 inches of snow seems likely. Another wildcard going into tonight is the deformation band as the low passes to the south of us, the models are struggling to nail that feature but if it does form then areas un...
Read more