Weather

[lizkat]

Today is the first time in a week we have not had a dense fog advisory. Instead we have a coastal flood advisory.

Somewhere out in the cosmos there are intelligent beings laughing their behinds off over the fact that we have teams around the world seeking to locate planets "as hospitable to human life as here on Earth."

 

[lizkat]

Weather gods having trouble deciding whether to hammer the Catskills and Finger Lakes or not. But Adirondacks and Green Mountains, Berkshires etc can quit making snow for the ski slopes for a few days.

 

[Clix Pix]

This morning was the first time we had a soft layer of frost on the cars.....I guess winter really is here now!

 

[lizkat]

This morning was the first time we had a soft layer of frost on the cars.....I guess winter really is here now!

Well it's certainly about to leave a big footprint around here! Now they've flipped the forecast for this storm so it's the Catskills and Finger Lakes to take the direct hit instead of only farther to the east. Joy for any who plow driveways or like to ski in their own meadows: 6-14" incoming by time it's done on Friday.

 

[lizkat]

So we got about a foot of snow on Dec 15-16, and now we're going into the treat barrel: all that snow is still on the ground and it's been in the 20s but next up is a rise in temps to mid-30s and then a balmy 47ºF with up to two inches of rain from late Thursday into Friday. Then the hammer drops with a steep plunge to single digits or sub-zero overnights for the Christmas weekend. Well at least the winter solstice sneaks in first as a kind of consolation prize. Pretty strange weather for this time of year. Looks more like the notorious and flood-prone January thaw than a Christmas challenge.

​

 

[Yoused]

Well this might be fun. The weather app tells me to expect sparky bits all next week, starting the 24th. It would be so cool to see a flying sleigh get hit in the night, exploding into a burning shower of hoofs, antlers and toys. Or just a gentle snowfall backlit by a sudden flash of brilliance and anger.

 

[lizkat]

Well this might be fun. The weather app tells me to expect sparky bits all next week, starting the 24th. It would be so cool to see a flying sleigh get hit in the night, exploding into a burning shower of hoofs, antlers and toys. Or just a gentle snowfall backlit by a sudden flash of brilliance and anger.

Some might think the brilliance and anger shown by that 6.4 earthquake quite sufficient... was it Monday or Tuesday?

 

[lizkat]

So now there are so many advisories in our area that the regional map only gets to show the most prevalent one for the current period. Horrible timing for Xmas weekend. Weather gods gonna party down from here to the New Year, I guess. Anyway if you're short of drama in your own weather, drop by the Empire State (if you can shovel out of your own drama, since half the country's going to be blizzard country, apparently).

 

[Alli]

Supposed to go down to 20 here. I know in the grand scheme of things, that’s nothing, but it’s nuts for us!

 

[Eric]

Supposed to go down to 20 here. I know in the grand scheme of things, that’s nothing, but it’s nuts for us!

Sounds like most of the country is getting it, we're getting spared here in California.

 

[Alli]

Sounds like most of the country is getting it, we're getting spared here in California.

I feel horrible for all the people getting snow and real cold. I remember what that’s like and have never missed it. I woke up to 24 this morning. Gadz. On the bright side, the sun is out and there’s not a cloud in the sky.

 

[Nycturne]

Sounds like most of the country is getting it, we're getting spared here in California.

High in Seattle yesterday was 23F, which we hit after sunset.

Today is thankfully going to be better. Snow turning into rain, with temps overnight above freezing. So hopefully we can get back to the usual Seattle winter by Christmas. I don’t mind a white Christmas, but I don’t trust Seattle drivers in the snow and ice, and I would like to visit family this year.

 

[Eric]

High in Seattle yesterday was 23F, which we hit after sunset.

Today is thankfully going to be better. Snow turning into rain, with temps overnight above freezing. So hopefully we can get back to the usual Seattle winter by Christmas. I don’t mind a white Christmas, but I don’t trust Seattle drivers in the snow and ice, and I would like to visit family this year.

Wow, I know you guys get cold weather from time to time but that's pretty brutal, I spent many years in Portland also and while I was used to all the rain I never really liked it. In the CA Sacramento valley it gets hot in the summer but the rest of the year is awesome, it's going to be in the low 60s on Christmas here.

 

[fooferdoggie]

man yesterday was 22 when I left home. my garage lock was frozen so I had to thaw it with hot water then sprayed it with lube so maybe it would not freeze. left three faucets dripping. my bike ride had a low of 17 degrees. and my bike computer and radar were having issues from being out on the cold all night. they were fine on the ride home as they were warm till then. but my wife told me on my way home we had no water. so the nI got home I turned on the heat tape I installed years ago and the one time I used it wafter I installed it it only took a hour or two to work. this time it did not thaw it all out till around 5 am. and even then the water was not normal for a hour or so after. the sink drain froze up too but I got that working with boiling water ombre water was back. it got down to 17 degrees.

 

[Nycturne]

Wow, I know you guys get cold weather from time to time but that's pretty brutal, I spent many years in Portland also and while I was used to all the rain I never really liked it. In the CA Sacramento valley it gets hot in the summer but the rest of the year is awesome, it's going to be in the low 60s on Christmas here.

This isn’t normal for the region. This is more what I’d expect to see in the Northeast. But one bad thing about our normal winter weather is that having night temps below freezing and day temps above is that your snow turns into black ice rather than sticking around as snow or clearing off the roads quickly.

We decided to install a heat pump this year when we wanted to add cooling to our house as summers are getting warmer and harder to manage with just fans and airflow. So we’re getting a good workout on the system to see how it handles some of the worst our winters have to offer. Hooray, I guess?

 

[lizkat]

This storm system is certainly spawning some rare events, now including a huge seiche in Lake Erie...

Tweet link

 

[Pumbaa]

Displaced five hours north for xmas. -20°C/-4°F today. Forecast to dip down to -25°C/-13°F) tonight. Chilly but calm weather.

 

[lizkat]

Displaced five hours north for xmas. -20°C/-4°F today. Forecast to dip down to -25°C/-13°F) tonight. Chilly but calm weather.

Just you and the elves helping Santa load up the sleigh....?! Keep out a blanket or two just in case!

Here we just got an email from the regional power utility. I expected it to be the usual advisory note about how they have staged trucks all over the area to respond to power outages due to high winds etc.

But no. It's instead a notice that they are "experiencing technical difficulties" with both their website and mobile app functions. This is how one generally reports power outages and tracks estimated restoration times, of course. Ugh. Not a great start to the expected "interesting" next 48 hours of weather. Supposed to get down to -2ºF here tonight. Was 47ºF at 6am, so quite a differential.

 

[Pumbaa]

Just you and the elves helping Santa load up the sleigh....?! Keep out a blanket or two just in case!

Something like that. Just helped them unload a bunch of gifts, the Christmas tree might topple over. Almost feel sorry for Niece and Nephew and their cousin, aware of all the gifts under the tree all day and not being allowed to open them until like half past four in the afternoon…

Blankets at the ready. Also leaving a tap in the bathroom running a tiny bit to prevent freezing. Fingers crossed.

 

[Yoused]

So hopefully we can get back to the usual Seattle winter by Christmas. I don’t mind a white Christmas, but I don’t trust Seattle drivers in the snow and ice …

It was some guy from the PNW who wrote "I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas …"