Sunday, July 31, 2011

It Took a Minute

It's 2pm ... where's the sun Jim? It took a minute okay? The clouds started to break up around 2pm today in South King County and now as of 4:30pm most places that were under the clouds this morning in Western Washington is enjoying the sunshine with the exception of the Cascade Foothills, so give it another minute.

With the sun out temperatures are hovering around either side of 70 degrees F, I'm sweating in the Auburn Supermall parking lot. Time for me to catch some indoor mall AC :) Make it an awesome Sunday.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Another Sweet Weekend?


I took this picture just an hour ago and look outside now; clear skies. Or at least my window is showcasing blue skies. Another sweet weekend? I think so! Last weekend packed some heat; we added another 80+ degree day, and this weekend isn't getting that warm but confortable with temperatures in the mid to upper 70’s degrees F. If you want just a number I’ll give you 77 for Seattle and 82 for Vancouver, WA tomorrow. Early risers will wake up to some morning clouds, but if you have the luxury to sleep in tomorrow you’ll wake up to straight up sunshine. The clouds that roll in late Saturday however will drop our temperatures a few degrees on Sunday, and you have to wake up really late… around 2pm… to recover from Saturday night perhaps? to see completely blue skies outside of your window. Now 2pm is my estimate so don't quote me :)


Canoozing is a go go tomorrow as it will be the better half of this weekend.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Cooling Down

Yesterday at this time, 11am, Seatac was sitting at 73 degrees F and right now it's reporting 60 degrees with lightening in the distance; what a difference a day makes.  We'll be hearing squeaky shoes today if you work in an office building as the ground is wet and the rain is falling.  Here in the Udistrict the rain has been more of a sprinkle to rain the back to a sprinkle.

I haven't used this in a while.  The showers are a bit heavy and are mainly concentrated around the Central Sound this morning.

Considering how cool and cloudy we have been Seattle is still below normal for July when it comes to rain measured in the rain gauge... but that will change today; we need to cover .07 inches of rain.  Expect showers, some rumbles of thunder, and even some peeks of sun in between the clouds and showers.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Heatin' Up this Weekend!

Thanks Chelle for reminding me of my Weather Bites!

 Monday, 7/18, morning fog creeping off the bay into the SoDo District and Downtown Seattle. Picture taken by Sandy.

After what seems like weeks of uncharacteristic summer weather, and another week of it; people are feeling the summer blues but are seeing grey. My friends and family are asking me when summer is going start or when we will feel the heat. On our way to Red Mango today Pat and I noticed people are still bundled with jackets and hoods, rain boots, and lugging around umbrellas. Summer much? more like Autumn. We used the car's heater on our way back to simulate summer and complement our cold frozen yogurt and smoothies.

Let's reflect on July for the last five years by numbers to see if we actually are lacking heat this year. It was only two weekends ago that we had a stretch of 80 degree weather, which seems like eternity for some folks :)

These numbers were recorded at Seatac Airport and retrieved from the National Weather Service.

Year         Days >= 80 degrees         Average High         Days w/Precip
2010         10                                     74.9                         7
2009         18                                     81.0                         5
2008          9                                      74.9                         6
2007         10                                     77.4                         9
2006         12                                     78.1                         7
So far this July...
2011         3                                       73.4                         9

According to the Average High we are about 'average' for this corner of the Earth because each day we have been topping off in the low to mid 70s, but what we remember summer by is the stretches of hot weather, and well... sunshine.  With only 3 days at 80 degrees or above this July and only 10 days left in the month, we will definitely be below normal compared to the last five years in that sense.

Good news though, there's a chance to tack on one day to the Days >=80 degrees column for 2011 and if we're lucky... two days.  This weekend we'll be heatin' up!

This is the 500 mb heights forecast for 5pm PST today.  mb is a measure of pressure, and the heights indicate how high from sea level is 500  mb measured.  So the greater the heights the warmer the air since warmer air takes up more space.  Notice how the Northwest is under a shade of red and in the U part of a wave.  That signifies lower heights/thicknesses translating to cooler temperatures and the U part is a trough which spells clouds and precipitation.

This next image paints a different picture.  We are in a lighter shade and in a ridge where the wave bubbles up over us.  Ridges indicate high pressure, clear weather, and solar radiation reaching the ground heating up the lower atmosphere and with higher heights... warmer weather! 

The ridge doesn't look like it will last too long though.  A brief warm up for the weekend that may last into Monday before we return back to whatever you call this kind of weather; clouds, light rain, peeks of afternoon sun, and low 70s.

Today looks gross outside but is drying out as the day goes on with the exception of the Convergence Zone.  We'll all get some peeks of sun before sunset.  The bite for tomorrow; after morning clouds high pressure begins to settle in for afternoon sunshine.

Drum roll please for this weekend. And, put on your thinking caps for outdoor activities. Sunny and sunny up and down Interstate 5 with temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s for the Seattle Area, low 70s near the Canadian border, and upper 80s around Portland for both Saturday and Sunday. That's all I have to write. What happens next is up to you :)  I'll keep an eye on this 'heat wave' to see if it will fall apart when Saturday approaches.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Grey Start

Or shall I say grey starts! After enjoying the 80s (temps, not the time warp) the Northwest is in for a cool down. It is summer after all, so I hate to type unseasonably cool weather. The brightside of unseasonably cool translates to temps in upper 60s which is comfortable for most folks; just not summer like; jackets in the morning to deal with drizzle and that is peeled off in the afternoon for the partly sunny skies; an onion kind of day.

The summer pattern in our corner of the earth has the strong jet further north into Northern B.C. compared to winter with the jet aimed right at us. Instead of having storms come head on, they veer north. Leaving us with the driest season and morning clouds here and there. It's sagging a bit this week. So the effect? More morning clouds, drizzle, and a chance of showers north of Seattle.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Wall to Wall Sunshine

If you liked yesterday's warm day we're in for a repeat. Today's high under blue skies, upper 70s and low 80s across most places west of the Cascades. The coast with the ocean breeze will be much cooler, 60s will be the high there. And of course the foothills... upper 80s. Tomorrow starts out the same but clouds roll in late evening similar to Saturday. Ahh, these days are refreshing as iced tea :)

 Taken at 6:42pm

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Afternoon Sunshine for Sunday

The system was literally in and out. We saw clouds roll in late last night, and some showers here and there this morning. The mighty summer sun will bust through the clouds this afternoon leaving us with mostly sunny skies lasting into next week. And, temps will be on the cooler side with a warm up through next week.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

West Coast Sunshine!

 West Coast Sunshine! From Baja California to the southern tip of British Columbia, Canada. That's something to celebrate with your sunglasses, short shorts, and sandals... where your toes can feel the warm breeze instead of cold water (unless you dare to step into the lakes, rivers, or seashores.) Tomorrow however spells clouds and cooler temperatures; the chance of morning drizzle is high with a strong onshore push when a low drives in to our north, the chances of rain for the rest of the day is less than 50 percent since the systems center will be hundreds of miles north of the Central Sound.  Bellingham, which is closer, will have a better chance for rain. A repeat of Friday is in store for our Independence Day, woot woot Amerrrrica!

Finally congrats to my tennis man Novak Djokovic.  I have been following his game in the early days when he wasn't a well received player because of "arrogance."  I thought he was a young, confident player that is having fun with the game. Check out his hilarious impersonations of Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal from the 2007 US Open.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal has dominated the Number 1 spot since February of 2004 on the ATP World Tour. Djokovic cracked the top ten in April 2004 and has been bouncing between the Number 4, 3, and 2 spot since July of 2007.  Tomorrow will be a battle at Wimbledon between the current Number 1, Rafael Nadal, and the future Number 1 player come Monday's new ranking.  Please welcome the new World Number 1 Tennis Player Novak Djokovic.

 
Djokovic, Ascendant, Prepares to Confront Nadal, a NYTimes article to be pubished in the July 3, 2011 paper. 

Weather Update 3:44pm
SeaTac is sitting at 79 degrees F.  It has been 301 days since Seattle (which is actually SeaTac) has reached 80 degrees, which is the 4th longest streak on record, the longest 319 days in 1960.  You can read about that in Scott Sistek's blog.  It might turn out like the uneventful day this year that Seattle ended it's streak of 70less days by hitting 70 degrees for mere minutes!
Currently in:
Bellingham 74
Mount Vernon 73
Boeing Field, Seattle 79
UW, Seattle 74
Olympia 80
Chehalis 82
Hoquiam 62
Portland 83
Eugene 81 

Weather Update 10:44pm 
The streak ends at 301 days without an 80 degree day. Temperatures rose to 82 degrees F at SeaTac.

Friday, July 1, 2011

This Weather Does NOT Bite

Some woke up to clouds, some straight up sunshine. And for today and tomorrow everyone will catch some rays in the Pacific Northwest with temperatures ranging from the upper 60s near the coast, low 70s around the metro and mid 70s inland. Sunday... is down right cloudy. Monday dry, warm, and surprisingly nice for a July 4th, historically the wettest day in July for Seattlelites.