Weather reports on whatever I decide to report on.
Final update: July 2, 2021 at 06:10 PDT. Details below. As we head into July, the heat wave that gripped the region over the past week or so is waning. It leaves behind numerous new temperature records throughout the Pacific Northwest as well as possibly hundreds of deaths and some large wildfires. This article is […]
An unusually strong area of high pressure is forecast to build over the Pacific Northwest during the next several days. The drought in place across much of the West (including the Columbia Basin) also adds a little to what temperatures the region may see. With soil moisture values low, there is little if any water […]
Early Monday morning, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the Columbia Basin. That advisory will still start at 11:00 Tuesday but now extends to 20:00 Thursday. It includes the Tri-Cities, Yakima, Walla Walla, Hermiston, and surrounding areas. FORECAST This heatwave comes just in time for the start of meteorological summer, which begins […]
A ridge of high pressure will build over the next couple days, bringing a steady climb to high temperatures across the Columbia Basin for the remainder of the week. Current indications are that highs will reach their peak Sunday with highs at or above 105°. The warmest locations will be in the lower elevations, such […]
On Thursday afternoon, the Tri-Cities Airport reached 110° for the first time in five years, but it didn’t stop there. Preliminary data from the National Weather Service shows the airport in Pasco reached a high of 111°, solidly beating the old record for July 30 which was 107° set in 2003. The Tri-Cities aren’t the […]
High pressure will remain in place over the region through Friday. This coupled with southerly flow thanks to a deepening low in the Pacific will amplify already hot temperatures in the Inland Northwest, prompting the National Weather Service to issue an excessive heat warning for the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas. This warning goes into effect […]
Meteorological summer (June through August) is over and that means we have lots of fun new data to pour through! This summer ended up being a mixed bag. We didn’t experience as extreme of heat as usual, but our mean temperature was somewhat above average. Interestingly, we were below average for precipitation. Let’s start off […]
Earlier this week, I was hiking up Candy Mountain with my wife. As we were headed up the slope, I noticed a lot of dust being lifted off a construction site on Kennedy Road. There had been occasional gusts, so at first I thought this was just a strong one, but a within a few […]
For my statistics class at WSU Tri-Cities, I had to do a research project on a set of data. Having heard repeated statements and questions along the lines of “since it was so snowy this winter, that means it will be unusually hot this summer, right?” When I learned I had to do this project, […]
Well, I’ll start this update off with an apology. In my last update, I wrote about a major pattern change that would essentially mark the end of our 100-degree days for the season. In fact, I’ll even directly quote myself: “This shouldn’t even lead you to believe that we won’t hit 90 again at some […]