We have had no shortage of rain the last couple of weeks. In fact, we’ve had quite the surplus with many parts of the Mid-Columbia exceeding April rainfall averages by the middle of the month. It looks like this unsettled pattern is coming to a close as the atmospheric river shuts off. While Pasco still […]
Wednesday night system brings record rain, strong winds to Mid-Columbia
While the Tri-Cities Airport is still reporting a deficit for rainfall thus far in 2018, Wednesday night’s rainfall helped to bring our numbers a little bit higher. Parts of the area received record rainfall values, while others are now above average for the month of April (and it’s only the 12th!). For me, at least, […]
Why you should be a Storm Spotter, even in the Northwest
This post was written on April 9, 2018. With Spotter Training coming up again, here’s the list of sessions the NWS Pendleton is offering this year! Tri-Cities, April 10 6:00 PM, 651 Truman Ave (Richland) Webinar, April 24 6:00 PM, Registration details will be at this link John Day, April 25, 6:00 PM, Location TBD […]
Shrinking glaciers on Mt. Rainier
Author’s Note: This is the last of a weekly series on geology for a class I am taking this semester at BYU-Idaho. This week’s prompt required students to show the effects of climate change in our local area. Other posts from this assignment can be found under the “Geology 111” category. If I had to pick […]
Union Gap Slope Failure
Author’s Note: This part of a weekly series on geology for a class I am taking this semester at BYU-Idaho. This week’s prompt required students to find a recent mass wasting or flood event in their state. Other posts from this assignment can be found under the “Geology 111” category. Okay, so no, Union Gap […]
Record Warmth for Western Washington
Meteorological spring began on the first, but Mother Nature is using it to give the West Side their first taste of early-summer. At 4pm at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the temperature was 73 breaking the old record of 68 which was set in 1998. Seattle isn’t the only one breaking records, though. The last time Seattle […]
Earthquakes in the Mid-Columbia
Author’s Note: This part of a weekly series on geology for a class I am taking this semester at BYU-Idaho. This week’s prompt required students to look at earthquake patterns in the area they live in. Other posts from this assignment can be found under the “Geology 111” category. Earlier this semester, I wrote an […]
First hand accounts of Mount St. Helens’ 1980 eruption
Author’s Note: This part of a weekly series on geology for a class I am taking this semester at BYU-Idaho. This week’s prompt required students to interview somebody who had firsthand experience with a volcano. I interviewed my grandparents, who lived in Kennewick, Wash. when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980. Other posts from this […]
Earthquakes in the Cascadia Subduction Zone
Author’s Note: This part of a weekly series on geology for a class I am taking this semester at BYU-Idaho. This week’s prompt required students to find a news article, post it on our blogs and explain how plate tectonics played a role in the situation. Other posts from this assignment can be found under […]
Warm system for Thanksgiving week
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 […]