Weather reports on whatever I decide to report on.
Tuesday is likely to be the warmest day of this weather pattern for the Columbia Basin with the Tri-Cities reaching into the upper-70s (26°C). Temperatures in some areas west of the Cascades peaked on Monday. Portland recorded a high of 77°F (25°C), a new record for March 18, while Seattle peaked a few days ago. […]
A prolonged pattern of upper level troughing and repeated regional storm systems have added quite a bit of snow to mountains of the Pacific Northwest over the past week. As of the end of the day on March 4, the snow-water equivalent (SWE) value for the Northwest was 88% of the median for this time […]
Toward the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, catastrophic flooding surged down parts of the Columbia River watershed as natural dams creating large lakes failed. Some originated from Glacial Lake Missoula, which was created by a large dam of ice in Montana and Idaho that periodically failed. These, often termed Missoula Floods are probably the […]
The Moose Fire started near Salmon, Idaho on July 18, spreading to over 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) by the following morning. During the day on the 18th, smoke from this fire spread to the east and northeast into Montana, driven by aggressive fire activity and upper level winds. Fire activity decreased overnight, with the smoke […]
Doppler radar is one of my favorite tools for viewing weather data. Its amazing to me that using radio waves, we can see light rain and snow, tornadoes, and fine details in hurricanes. Not only can we see where these are, but we can also estimate wind speeds, freezing levels, and hail sizes – all […]
An atmospheric river is set up to douse almost the entire West Coast. Raising freezing levels today and tomorrow will aid Thanksgiving travelers the next couple of days, keeping snow off of the major passes. By midnight Monday night, the freezing level in much of Oregon will be above 9,000 feet with freezing levels remaining near […]
Author Note: I wrote this post on my phone. The ‘featured image’ is from last winter because I can’t figure out how to upload images from my phone. Also be aware that formatting might be weird. I love fall, it’s my favorite time of year. Unfortunately, fall only lasted for about a week where I […]
It’s no secret that I talk to a lot of weather folks in the Portland and Seattle areas, despite living in East Idaho. The “hot topic” (pun intended) of conversation in these circles is the impending heat wave, which spells imminent doom for everyone west of the Cascades who doesn’t have air conditioning. Our good […]
It’s May (obviously), and if you’re like me you’re super angry to see the word snow being thrown around willy nilly. Well, it’s real and it’s coming. On the bright side, this is a quick-moving storm with things beginning to clear out Wednesday and Thursday. Right Now First, here’s a look at the surface analysis […]
Take a look at the Weather Service’s website this morning and south Idaho is a sea of green with Flood Advisories and Warnings. The snow is melting and rain is falling and those two together are causing record flooding that has closed Interstate 86 (archive) between Burley and Pocatello. The Interstate has since reopened, but […]