Cold season temperature inversions

From about November to February temperature inversions accompanied by low clouds and fog are a common weather feature in the Columbia Basin. These are not unique to the Columbia Basin with many valleys throughout the Western United States and the world also experiencing strong inversions, including the Salt Lake City area in Utah and Almaty, […]

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Winter weather advisory for snow in the Columbia Basin on Sunday

A low pressure system slowly moving offshore is forecast to spin moisture into the Columbia Basin Sunday as it meanders closer to the Southern Oregon Coast. This has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a winter weather advisory for the Tri-Cities, Walla Walla, Hermiston, and surrounding areas in effect from 04:00 to 22:00 Sunday. […]

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Wind advisory for Hanford and Blue Mountain Foothills Monday

A warm front is passing over the Columbia Basin during the day Sunday to bring some rain showers and warmer temperatures. Rain showers are also possible Monday around the region with the highest chance being in the mountains. Look for breezy conditions with winds forecasted to get high enough on the Hanford Site and along […]

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Low pressure in Saskatchewan, high pressure over the Pacific, breezy for the Tri-Cities Saturday

An active weather pattern is expected to continue into the weekend. The Inland Northwest isn’t likely to see much in the way of precipitation as a ridge of high pressure off the Pacific Northwest puses weather systems up into Alaska and down the east side of the Rocky Mountains, dropping most of their moisture before […]

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Widespread flood event not expected with lowland thaw

The lowlands of the Inland Northwest should lose much of their snow this week as high temperatures slowly rise into the 40s. While some flooding may occur in small streams and low lying areas, larger rivers like the Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Yakima are forecast to remain below flood stage. The snow certainly is deep, […]

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Coldest temperatures so far this season coming with a chance of snow

Yes that’s right, we have a chance of snow in the Tri-Cities. The big weather story this week, though, will be cold temperatures. There’s been a lot of uncertainty surrounding what to expect this week, but it looks like the models have finally reached some sort of agreement on what we can look forward to. […]

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Thoughts on our upcoming weather: Interpreting long-range forecasts

Note: This post talks about official forecasts for this winter and is the final part of my series on my thoughts for the upcoming winter. Other posts in this series can be found here. HOW THE FORECAST WORKS Before we look at long-range forecasts from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and Environment Canada, it is important […]

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Thoughts on our upcoming winter: Analog years

Note: This post talks about previous years that had some similarities to our current situation and is part of a series on my thoughts for the upcoming winter. Other posts in this series can be found here. ANALOG YEARS Looking at analog years goes deeper than looking at the Blob and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. […]

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Thoughts on our upcoming winter: Impact of The Blob

Note: This post talks about the impact of the Blob on winter weather in the Tri-Cities and is part of a series on my thoughts for the upcoming winter. Other posts in this series can be found here. THE BLOB The Blob is an area of persistent, unusually warm sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the […]

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