Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Entering a Period of Stormy Weather

Tuesday, March 27, 2011
6:31 P.M.


Today, I was woken up my multiple birds chirping right at my window. It was wonderful, and even though they woke me up way too early (my first class is at 11:30 on Tuesdays), I really appreciated them.  I even personally thanked the birds, but seeing as it was 7:00 AM, I fell right back asleep.

I'm no ornithologist, but it seems to me that the birds chirp more when it is sunny. I'm predicting below-average bird chirping for the rest of the week.

The first storm of the week is impacting us right now, and it's not forecast to be super strong. But as the diagram above shows, we could be in for some hardcore action Wednesday night and Thursday. Take a look at the model below.

Valid 02:00 am PDT Thu, 29 Mar 2012 - 33hr Fcst - UW 36km 00z WRF-GFS 3-hour precip, SLP

You can see a well-defined front off the Washington coast. This front will give moderately heavy rain in the lowlands (around a half inch for most places), with heavier amounts of precipitation on the coast and in the mountains. Snow levels may initially be above the passes, but they will quickly fall below 3,000 feet, meaning all passes will see gobs of snow from this storm.

Valid 05:00 pm PDT Thu, 29 Mar 2012 - 48hr Fcst - UW 12km 00z WRF-GFS 24-hour snowfall

Widespread amounts of 6-12 inches in the Cascades, with some places receiving much more. And the snow will continue for the rest of the week. By Sunday, Snoqualmie Pass will probably have picked up 2-4 feet of snow.

This pattern looks to hold for at least the next week, and I wouldn't be surprised if it holds on for even longer. La Nina commonly brings cool, wet springs with tons of mountain snow. I'm looking to spend some time looking at the cherry blossoms in the quad, but I'll definitely have to look at the radar before heading out, because it will be pretty busy for the next week.

Have a g00d one!!!
Charlie

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