Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts

WeatherWatcher: Wildfire Smoke Season arrives, but should be short lived

Saturday, September 7, 2024

 

Friday September 6, 2024 True Color Satellite imagery from the UW department of Atmospheric Science

As you may have noticed yesterday and today, the sky is hazy, sunrises and sunsets were very red and dim, and it's quite warm. The above visible color satellite image from Friday afternoon shows all the hazy smoke covering the Pacific Northwest. 

We have a heat advisory in place that expires at 11pm Friday evening. The heat and smoke are the result of south-easterly winds. These winds are bringing the warmth and wildfire smoke over the mountains from central and eastern Oregon.

Below is an image from Wednesday where I've highlighted the two major sources of wildfire smoke in Oregon, and a third much smaller source of wildfire smoke in Washington.

Satellite image from Wednesday September 4, 2024 at 5:30pm PDT.
Image from the UW department of Atmospheric Science.

Conditions over central Oregon were favorable mid-week for wildfire activity to explode. It seems to have calmed down today significantly but all that smoke is circulating aloft now. Heating during the day today and this weekend is expected to cause some of that smoke to mix down to the surface.

Air quality as of Friday afternoon was just barely into moderate territory but is expected to get a little bit worse possibly through Friday evening and Saturday.

Lake Forest Park Town Center air quality from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency

Forecast: On-shore winds will start to pick up overnight into Saturday morning, but weak at first. These winds should start slowly bringing cooler and cleaner air into the Puget Sound region through the weekend. We should be back to normal with all the smoke cleared out between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon. 

Morning clouds, afternoon sun, and temperatures back down to seasonal normal with highs near 70°F should also return by Monday. There is even a threat of some rain showers Tuesday and Wednesday. We bring back sunny skies Thursday and Friday to end the week.


For current weather conditions please visit www.shorelineweather.com


Read more...

WeatherWatcher: Thunderstorms leave behind a trail of scattered power outages and small tree limbs

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Sunday's storm
Photo by Jan Hansen

This was probably one of the best forecasted thunderstorm outbreaks for this region. Overall Western Washington received around 3,300 lightning strikes. Rainfall in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park was a little variable by a tenth of an inch or two at various personal weather stations. Winds were also gusty as expected, leading to some power outages, whereas lightning caused some power outages as well.

At the Echo Lake/North Ridge station we recorded 0.92 inches of rain over Saturday and Sunday. No need to water the lawns for about a week now. Saturday was the bulk of the rain at 0.78 inches.

It was windy as well, with gusts Saturday night peaking around 30mph, and Sunday’s isolated storm at about 5pm had wind gusts recorded at 35mph but could have easily been stronger near the treetops. The isolated storm on Sunday also brought another round of scattered power outages.

We are not done with the potentially stormy weather. Monday brought us a little break with just a few light showers in the evening. The possibility of thunderstorms returns Tuesday afternoon and evening. This time around, the chance is down from 30% to only a slight chance.

The threat of some showers remains with us Wednesday, with another slight chance of a thunderstorm Wednesday evening. Chances of showers, but without thunderstorms, continues Thursday and into Saturday night. We start to dry out Sunday afternoon and evening with a return to normal sunny weather come next Monday.
 

For current weather conditions visit www.shorelineweather.com


Read more...

Wayne Pridemore: Lights in the sky but not in the house

Monday, August 19, 2024

Photo by Wayne Pridemore in Richmond Beach

Lots of lightning and thunder over our bedroom deck. This is my favorite kind of photo shoot, the action came to me.

View from Richmond Beach Saturday, August 17, 2024
Photo by Wayne Pridemore

The only problem was that a nearby transformer was hit and we lost power overnight.

City Light workers replacing transformer
Photo by Wayne Pridemore

Sunday morning Seattle City Light came to the rescue and changed out the transformer and we had electricity with a flip of the switch. 

City Light to the rescue
Photo by Wayne Pridemore
Life is good.

--Wayne Pridemore


Read more...

Travels with Charlie: Let’s get thru this Storm

This recent massive lightning / thunderstorm used to be misery for Charlie. Shaking and Hiding was all he did.

But. Back on July 4th… Charlie learned Fireworks were coupled with treats and playing around. (Travels with Charlie: How Charlie learned to love fireworks. 7/5/24)

Now this current Lightning / Thunderstorm meant time for Charlie to take the leap from understanding Booming Fireworks to coping with Bright Light Explosions that shake our house walls and windows. I heard the storm was coming and got prepared with some training kibbles and apple chunks for soothing diversions.

Soon this monstrous storm engulfed us. Weather action all around us...

Charlie and I were in my basement office with the garden door open to the lightning, thunder and rain. 

Lots of weather everywhere.

Flashing Lights and Booming Thunder Cracks all around us.

Charlie did not freak out!

Photo by Gordon Snyder
He was hanging out in a favorite chair.
He already figured out that every storm event was followed by a crunchy treat.

He was correct. We enjoyed the storm energetic ruckus without any shaking fears.
Of course, he loved some treats.

Love 'tis weather.
Cheers,
Gordon Snyder


Read more...

State Lands Commissioner reports 3300 lightning strikes in 24 hours

Sunday, August 18, 2024

State Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz says 

"We needed the rain, but not the lightning. What a show but definitely didn’t need the fire starts it brought. 

"Our firefighters, aviation pilots, dispatchers and all the teams that support our firefighters and first responders behind the scenes are working around the clock to contain the large fires on our landscape and put out all the new starts on initial attack so they don’t grow."

Over 3300 lightning strikes in 24 hrs sets a new record this year.

Fires on state lands along the Cascades.

Read more...

New power outages after isolated thunderstorm on Sunday afternoon

Power outages as of 10pm Sunday August 18, 2024

75 customers are out of power in Shoreline Sunday evening after an isolated thunderstorm moved through the area around 5pm.

WeatherWatcher Carl Dinse reports that winds gusted to around 40mph, with some places as high as 45mph.

The top wind speed he was able to find inside Shoreline city limits was 35mph.


Read more...

WeatherWatcher: Chance of thunderstorms Saturday evening

Friday, August 16, 2024

 

From the archives: Lightning over Lake Washington from Log Boom Park
Photo by Carl Dinse, July 11, 2009

Every few summers we seem to get that one day, or night, or a week worth of active weather containing lightning in the area. 

The last major outbreak of lightning storms was September 7, 2019. This is typical weather for summers here in the Shoreline and Lake Forest Park areas. 

Sometimes we get it two or three years in a row and other times we go up to five years or so without one. Sometimes it is one evening and done, other times we get it spread out with breaks over the course of a week.

Starting Saturday afternoon or early evening, we will start a week of excitement in weather. Our biggest chance will be between 6pm and 11pm Saturday evening. Some showers and thunderstorms might still pop up overnight into Sunday morning. 

We also may see some windy conditions in isolated spots Saturday evening, with some isolated wind gusts that could reach up to 45mph, but it won't be a typical windstorm.

The winds will be short bursts, and isolated to thunderstorm activity areas. 

What can make them particularly damaging, though, is they can switch directions at any time and all our trees are in full summer foliage right now. I can't rule out scattered power outages with this event.

Once we get past the main event sometime Sunday morning, skies should start to clear. We'll be back to our normal sunny weather until Tuesday afternoon. 

Chances of showers return Tuesday afternoon and possibly a slight chance of thundershowers return Tuesday through Thursday. The threat of lightning in these showers should ease off completely by the end of next week.


For current weather conditions please visit www.shorelineweather.com


Read more...

Aurora in the sky over Shoreline

Monday, August 12, 2024

Aurora over Shoreline
Photo by Barbara Twaddell

An Aurora was actually visible from Shoreline. 

Photo taken at 11:19pm looking Northwest from Richmond Beach.

Thanks to Barbara Twaddell for capturing one for us.

"PERSEID METEORS AND AURORAS: The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight, Aug. 11-12, with dozens of bright meteors per hour visible from dark-sky sites.

"The timing is great for northern sky watchers. The shower's broad peak coincides with the expected arrival of one or more CMEs, allowing photographers to catch meteors cutting through the aurora borealis. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

--Spaceweather.com

Updated with time and place of photo


Read more...

Cartoon by Whitney Potter AND Temperatures in Shoreline

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Cartoon by Whitney Potter

WeatherWatcher Carl Dinse reports that Shoreline had temperatures of: 
  • 97°F high temp for Northridge in central Shoreline 
  • 92°F in Richmond beach on Puget Sound. 
  • Both temperature peaked at 4pm.
Heat advisory was extended until 5pm Wednesday.

High temperatures Wednesday should be upper 70s to mid 80s.


Read more...

How hot was it?

Monday, July 8, 2024

Edmonds Beach photo by Lee Lageschulte

I checked in with WeatherWatcher Carl Dinse (see his weather report here) to see how hot it was in Shoreline this weekend.

He said that on Saturday, July 6, 2024, the temperature was 90° in his Northridge station in central Shoreline and 84° at his Richmond Beach station.

On Sunday, we hit 94° at Northridge and 88° at Richmond Beach.

At the beach, people were bringing tents and umbrellas to shelter themselves from direct sun, but enjoying the relatively cooler temperatures and breeze off the water.

Just after midnight on Monday, it was 74° in Northridge and 72° in Richmond Beach. Low temperatures will be bottoming out overnight into the mid 60’s so it will not cool down very much.

Monday will be basically a repeat of Sunday with maybe a degree or two warmer at the peak. Tuesday is going to be the hottest day this week, with mid 90’s expected.

Even when the heat advisory expires Tuesday night, we are still going to be pretty warm for the rest of the week, with highs in the upper 70’s to mid 80’s.

--Diane Hettrick with Carl Dinse


Read more...

Heat advisory -Local cooling centers

Saturday, July 6, 2024

The Shoreline and Kenmore libraries
are designated cooling centers
Photo by Steven H. Robinson
With a heatwave and NWS HeatRisk in the orange and red categories in the forecast, (see WeatherWatcher column) King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA) is activating Severe Weather protocols from July 5-9, in accordance with their Severe Weather Policy.

This information was last updated on July 3, 2024 at 3:45pm
  • Families with Children: Call the Family Shelter Intake Line 206-245-1026 to be connected with a shelter bed and a ride to that location.
Cooling centers - Kenmore
Cooling centers - Bothell
Cooling centers - Shoreline

Read more...

WeatherWatcher: Heat Advisory in effect, temperatures soaring to the upper 80's then lower 90s

From the archives, warm day over Richmond Beach July 24, 2022.
Photo by Carl Dinse
National Weather Service in Seattle has issued a heat advisory, in effect until 10pm PDT Tuesday. A heat wave is bringing very warm temperatures for the Shoreline and Lake Forest Park areas as well as the greater Puget Sound region for the next several days. Generally, high temperatures are expected to reach the upper 80’s and low to mid 90’s Saturday through Tuesday next week. 

From the National Weather Service:

  • What: Hot conditions with temperatures in the upper 80s and 90s expected. This will pose a moderate to major risk of heat-related illness.
  • Where: Portions of northwest and west central Washington.
  • When: Until 10pm PDT Tuesday.
  • Impacts: This level of heat will significantly increase the risk of heat-related illnesses for much of the population, especially those who are heat sensitive and those without effective cooling or adequate hydration.
  • Additional Details: Temperatures will gradually cool during the middle of next week but remain well above normal.

Forecast for Shoreline and Lake Forest Park: Sunny skies all week. There are no clouds or rain in this forecast. Saturday should reach a high temperature into the low to mid 80’s. Lows near 60°F. Sunday high temperatures will be well into the mid to upper 80’s. Sunday night low is also expected to be near 60°F.

Monday through Tuesday high temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid 90’s with low temperatures in the mid to lower 60’s.

Wednesday, we start cooling down into the mid 80’s, with high temperatures coming back down into the upper 70’s or just reaching 80°F Thursday and Friday.

To get relief from the heat without finding air conditioned spaces, your best bet is to get near a Puget Sound beach or take a trip over to the Pacific Ocean. Temperatures along the waters of Richmond Beach up north through Mukilteo and Everett are expected to be around 5 degrees cooler for up to about a half mile inland. 


For current weather conditions visit www.shorelineweather.com


Read more...

Farmers Market closes early because of lightning

Saturday, June 15, 2024

Wild weather shut down outdoor events on Saturday
Photo by Jan Hansen

SFM is closing NOW due to inclement weather and lightning. Thank you to everyone who came out for our second annual  pride celebration

We'll have plenty of goodies to give away for the rest of the month for those who didn't have a chance to celebrate with us


I'm pretty sure that the Edmonds Arts Festival outdoor exhibits went diving for cover as well. That was some wild weather we had!

The first lightning / thunder was dramatic enough, with rain suddenly pouring from the sky as if someone pulled the plug. And then it stopped.

I had an appointment and left the house just as the second strike happened. I swear it was right over my head. I didn't see the lightning but I heard it crack. There was enough time to get to the car before the hail came down, bouncing on the windshield. 

Water was sheeting down the street.

It was altogether too dramatic for my taste.

The blue skies returned. Photo by Jan Hansen

Half an hour late - blue skies.

Planning outdoor events is always a challenge around here. But at least we don't have to water the plants.

--Diane Hettrick


Read more...

WeatherWatcher: Slight chance of thunderstorms

 
From the archives, Lightning at the view from Log Boom Park July 11, 2009
Photo by Carl Dinse

Forecast: Showery weather just in time for the weekend. Friday evening and early Saturday morning scattered showers are moving through with an ever so slight chance of a thunderstorm. 

Saturday as we get more energy from the sun through the afternoon our chances increase for more showers and scattered thunderstorms. High temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid 60’s. Rain showers and thunderstorms start to taper off by midnight Saturday night.

Sunday turns partly sunny, with a slight chance of some showers here and there. We begin to dry out Sunday evening. Temperatures get a little chilly Sunday night with lows down to the mid to upper 40’s.

As the saying goes, what do you call two days in a row of rain? A weekend in Seattle. Summer returns on Monday and lasts all the way through the entire week next week. High temperatures return to the 70’s with overnight lows in the low to mid 50’s.


For current weather conditions visit www.shorelineweather.com


Read more...

WeatherWatcher: Seemingly surprise windstorm strikes Lake Forest Park and Shoreline

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Tree down across NE 185th St at Ballinger Way in Lake Forest Park, WA.
Photo by Phyllis Johnson

By Carl Dinse

We had all this hype of record-breaking rain in the forecast, and instead we got a seemingly surprise windstorm. The National Weather Service had forecast models showing between 1 to 1.5 inches of rain for Lake Forest Park and Shoreline between Saturday afternoon and Wednesday morning. Little mention of wind however, and even mainstream media wasn’t mentioning anything about wind.

Strong winds arrived in the area from Seattle northward initially on Sunday evening. These winds did trigger a few scattered power outages in Snohomish County. A lot of unsecured objects were being blown around, as no one was expecting strong winds (including myself). 

Winds got strongest early Monday morning, long before the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory. The winds mellowed out a little to blustery/breezy conditions through most of the day Monday into Monday night. 

Tuesday morning was mostly calm until after around 11am when the wind advisory expired. Then winds picked up and at my Richmond Beach weather station we recorded nearly an all-time high gust of 35mph after 1pm. This was nearly 2 hours after the NWS wind advisory expired.

Tuesday afternoon winds were strong enough in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park to bring down tree limbs, and whole trees. Several trees were downed throughout the region on Monday and Tuesday. Lake Forest Park had one come down across NE 185th St at Ballinger Way. It snagged a vehicle that escaped with a cracked windshield, and took out major power lines, doing damage to at least one of the utility poles.

Paine Field in Everett showed similar patterns in the wind, strong on either side of the wind advisory but generally calm during the entirety of the advisory. 

Rain wasn’t the big story of this series of atmospheric rivers, it was the wind.

Overall, here are the storm statistics:
  • Sunday, June 2: 
    • Rain: 0.33 inches
    • Wind Gust: 28mph at Richmond Beach, 44mph at Paine Field in Everett
  • Monday, June 3:
    • Rain: 0.49 inches
    • Wind Gust: 29mph at Richmond Beach, 49mph at Paine Field in Everett
  • Tuesday, June 4:
    • Rain: 0.15 inches
    • Wind Gust: 35mph at Richmond Beach, 41mph at Paine Field in Everett

I use Paine Field in Everett for official wind data, as it is the closest, best wind measurement area to Lake Forest Park and Shoreline. The weather stations I operate in Shoreline are interfered with by tall Douglas firs which impact accuracy and ability to measure true peak wind speeds. Good wind measurement sites are difficult to find and very expensive within our cities.

The rainfall amount forecasted came in just under the forecasted amount at 0.97 inches total. Getting within 0.03 inches is pretty good. Our amount of rain was a lot lower than forecasted for Seattle (Sea-Tac) due to the Olympic Mountain rain shadow, but the shadow effect was very well forecasted.

Rainfall for June compared to average at the Northridge/Echo Lake weather station:

Windstorms are possible any time of year in this region, they are just rare between April and October. I don’t really put the rain event as out of the ordinary either. Some years June is very rainy, other years it's summer starting Memorial Day.

Sunny and seasonable weather is here now and expected to last for the next 7 days with temperatures in the 70’s. Saturday could be a little bit warmer, with Lake Forest Park and Shoreline in the upper 70’s, and possibly reaching into the low 80s. We return to the 70’s for high temperatures on Sunday and going on through next week. 


For current weather conditions visit www.shorelineweather.com


Read more...

Power has been out in Lake Forest Park since noon

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Tree took out major power lines at 185th and Ballinger
Photo by Tracy Furutani

By Diane Hettrick

Main power lines run along Ballinger Way, so when the tree by 185th snapped and fell on the lines, it took out power to most of the city. LFP City Hall closed and I will presume that most, if not all of Town Center closed.

The tree fell with such force that it snapped the power pole
Photo by Tracy Furutani

City Light crews have been working for hours and are currently several hours past when they expected to be done in LFP.

Wires, tree, power pole all tangled together
Photo by Phyllis Johnson
Most of the original outages have been cleared. 

Outages were primarily east of the freeway. Ballinger was completely dark. Ballinger Village was completely closed. 

Every other traffic light was dark but fortunately there was very little traffic. The power is back on there now.

Photo by Phyllis Johnson
I didn't see it personally but it sounds like North City also had major outages. They're back on now.

It's very quiet outside now, at 3am, but there is a possibility of more wind.

I checked in with WeatherWatcher Carl Dinse earlier in the day. He said that he was recording high wind gusts at all his weather stations (from Richmond Beach to central Shoreline to north Everett) and was recording the highest winds he has seen in a year.


Read more...

Auroras in Africa

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Red auroras over the Tivoli Astro Farm in Namibia on May 10, 2024
Photo credit: Richard Payne

Space Weather News for May 21, 2024

AURORAS IN AFRICA: You know its a Great Storm when auroras appear in Africa. Over the past week, we have received unprecedented images of red lights filling the skies of Namibia, coastal South Africa and Mauritius during the May 10th geomagnetic storm. Researchers are calling for more low-latitude reports to help them study this historic event. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.

Solar flare alerts: Sign up for Space Weather Alerts to receive instant text messages when strong flares are underway



Read more...

Geomagnetic storm photos outside of city light pollution

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

 
Photo by David Walton

David Walton went to the Skagit Valley to photograph this week's geomagnetic storm in the atmosphere. Outside of the light pollution of the cities, he was able to capture the truly stunning colors of the storm.

Photo by David Walton

He was able to capture more green than most of the photos taken in local cities.

Photo by David Walton
The bands of colors move

Storms continue on the face of the sun, knocking out power in parts of the northern hemisphere.


Read more...

Geomagnetic storm fills the sky with color

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Stars can be seen through the colors

Photos by WeatherWatcher Carl Dinse

THE CME HAS ARRIVED: Arriving hours earlier than expected, a CME struck Earth's magnetic field on May 10, 2024 at 1645 UT. 

The colors shift and change

The big impact sparked a severe (G4) geomagnetic storm -- ongoing now (midnight local time). More CMEs are following close behind, and their arrival could extend the storm into the weekend. Follow this developing story @Spaceweather.com.


Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s corona. 

They can eject billions of tons of coronal material and carry an embedded magnetic field (frozen in flux) that is stronger than the background solar wind interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength. 


CMEs travel outward from the Sun at speeds ranging from slower than 250 kilometers per second (km/s) to as fast as near 3000 km/s. The fastest Earth-directed CMEs can reach our planet in as little as 15-18 hours. 

Slower CMEs can take several days to arrive. They expand in size as they propagate away from the Sun and larger CMEs can reach a size comprising nearly a quarter of the space between Earth and the Sun by the time it reaches our planet. --NOAA


Read more...
ShorelineAreaNews.com
Facebook: Shoreline Area News
Twitter: @ShorelineArea
Daily Email edition (don't forget to respond to the Follow.it email)

  © Blogger template The Professional Template II by Ourblogtemplates.com 2009

Back to TOP