Temperatures in Spring 2006 were near the long term average at Sea-Tac and
rainfall came in around 85% of normal. There was a notable cold period from
March 8th-12th when temperatures were six degrees below normal, and the month
turned in a mean temp that was a degree cool overall. April was again chilly for
a couple days mid-month, but averaged out near normal overall. May turned in a
performance that was a degree warm, with, this time, three rather warm days mid
month including the first day above 80 degrees, with a high of 83 on the 16th.
The first three weeks of June so far have not been as warm as that day, with
highs in the mid 60s to mid 70s, which is about average.
On the first of May, high elevation snow depth was around 170" at Mount
Baker, Paradise Mount Rainier, and Timberline, OR. Snowpack at the six highest
reporting sites averaged 120% of normal.
Spring 2006 will go down as being fairly uneventful. There were the requisite
days of isolated thunderstorms and ice pellets, and two seperate reports of one
inch hail, one on March 10th in Redmond, the other on April 15th
in Marysville. A tornado was reported 4 miles east of Sultan on June 16th.
It stayed on the ground for about one minute, but didn’t cause any damage. There
were a couple of weak funnel clouds that were reported by weather spotters, and
of course there were windy days. Not surprisingly, the windy days included the
first nine days of March and a handful of days scattered throughout April and
May.
Trivia Question
What are
the all-time recorded high temperatures for these locations? And do you know
the year it occurred? The answers are near the end.
Location Degrees F
Port Angeles 94, 96, or 98
Aberdeen
94, 99, or 105
Monroe
98, 100, or 102
Shelton
102, 104, or 107
Toledo
100, 101, or 104
Sedro Woolley
96, 98, or 100
Weather Radio Awareness Month in September
September is planned to be Weather Radio Awareness Month in Washington State.
The awareness month campaign is a partnership between Washington State Emergency
Management and the National Weather Service (NWS). The campaign goal is to raise
awareness of NOAA Weather Radio and have weather radio receivers become as
common as smoke detectors in homes, businesses, schools, and other places where
people gather. NOAA Weather Radio is an all-hazards warning system. Emergency
Alert System (EAS) messages from national, state, county and local authorities
are automatically relayed onto NOAA Weather Radio. The state of Washington and
many local jurisdictions have embraced NOAA Weather Radio as their key
all-hazards alert and warning system. For instance, siren and light systems that
monitor NOAA Weather Radio for emergency messages have been installed at Ocean
Shores (first in the world!), Port Townsend, La Push, Neah Bay and in the
Puyallup valley to notify local residents and visitors of tsunami, volcano and
other hazard warning messages. Another 30 of these systems will be installed
along the coast this summer. In addition, NOAA Weather Radio is a key element in
the state EAS plan and all TV and radio broadcasters monitor their local weather
radio station.
Summer Has Arrived !
It’s June, meaning the summer season is here, our warmest and
driest time of the year. Usually, summer weather is tranquil, yet, hazardous
weather can strike. Our typical significant summer weather events include
thunderstorms, strong winds with marine "pushes", and hot spells. Thunderstorms
produce lightning and can produce strong damaging winds, large hail, heavy
amounts of rainfall leading to flash or small stream flooding, funnel clouds and
tornadoes.
Recall your safety rules. If thunderstorms are forecast, keep
an eye to the sky. If a thunderstorm approaches, seek shelter. Avoid using
electrical appliances, the phone or any plumbing fixtures during the storm. Side
flashes from nearby lightning strikes can get into your home or business wiring
and plumbing. If caught outdoors, find a low spot away from trees or other tall
structures that lightning tends to strike. When safe conditions permit, report
the thunderstorm related events found on your spotter criteria sheet. Some
thunderstorm events occur when a "marine push" begins. A marine push is a surge
of cooler marine air from the Pacific Ocean accompanied by blustery winds that
dramatically cool western Washington down in the wake of a warm or hot weather
period.
Extended periods of hot weather are rare in our area. The
interior of western Washington averages only 3 or 4 days a year in the 90s.
However, when we do get hot spells, residents are not used to it. This is where
the new Seattle Area Heat Health Watch/Warning System that debuted last summer
comes into play. The system is tailored to the Emerald City area, providing
guidance to forecasters when unseasonably hot weather becomes a threat to our
health and could even lead to death. Seattle became the 15th major
American city (<500,000 pop) to introduce this new system that replaced the
traditional heat index formula. Portland, Oregon joined this group of cities
this summer.
It may be hard to believe, but heat is the leading cause of
weather-related deaths across our nation by far, and that includes Washington
state. Statistics show that just in the Seattle area alone, the city has
averaged four hot weather related deaths per summer since the mid 1970s, and had
as many as 60 deaths during the warm summer of 1992. Since our summer weather is
relatively mild compared to other parts of the country, home air conditioning is
quite uncommon. So when it gets unseasonably hot, our bodies struggle to cope
with the heat and experience considerable health stress. In addition to the heat
of the day, the stress is extended when it remains quite warm in our homes at
night, offering no relief from the heat and uncomfortable sleep. Most
heat-related deaths are not direct heat-related illnesses like heat stress or
heat stroke, but rather more indirect health issues, such as heart attack,
stroke and respiratory illnesses. The most heat-related vulnerable communities
include the elderly and the very young.
During these hot weather periods, be sure to drink plenty of
water, avoid strenuous activities during the heat of the day, and find cooler
locations like shade or an air conditioned building if you find yourself or
others beginning to experience heat related symptoms. For more information,
please visit the Weather Safety link on our web site.
Monitor weather forecasts this summer by visiting our web
site at www.weather.gov/seattle or by listening to one of our NOAA
Weather Radio network stations. If significant summer weather is forecast,
you’ll be prepared for it. Enjoy your summer!
Wildfire Season Is Coming
Wildfire season is approaching. Winter and spring were
relatively mild and a little wetter than normal. Our mountain snow pack was
above average and has begun melting off. It looks like this fire season will get
off to a typical start, beginning in mid to late July.
The relatively wet spring helped generate a healthy crop of
grasses and shrubs. July into September is our driest time of the year. When our
warm dry weather begins and cures the grasses and shrubs, these fine fuels will
be ready to accept fire. So what does the outlook for this summer look like? The
outlook through September is for increased odds of above normal temperatures and
equal chances of below, above or near normal precipitation. So, it appears our
fire season will likely extend into early fall when we typically get our first
healthy rain event.
As a weather spotter, what does all this mean to you? From
your spotter report criteria, be aware of days following an extended period of
warm dry weather when thunderstorms are in the forecast, particularly those with
little or no rainfall expected. If you see frequent lightning (4 or more cloud
to ground strikes in a minute), contact our office. If you see smoke from an
apparent wild fire, call 911 and let fire response know. This is particularly
important if the smoke is near an area of homes and businesses that could turn
into an urban interface wildfire if not stopped right away.
In addition, here are some steps you can take to help prevent
wildfires and keep your home safe.
- Be careful with fire outside such as open burning,
campfires or barbeques.
- Use your vehicle’s ashtray to extinguish cigarettes instead
of tossing it out the window. (Also avoid a healthy fine if caught!)
- Avoid taking your vehicle into grassy areas since your hot
exhaust system can ignite grass.
- If you live in wooded areas, be firewise and remove dead
yard materials from around your home, trim tree limbs up off the ground to above
your head, and remove wood piles next to the house. Please visit
www.firewise.org
for more tips to help your
home not become a wildfire victim.
Jim Prange – Fire Weather Program Manager
Skywarn Spotter Notes
Spotter Training Update - We conducted spotter training
this spring at Kalaloch in western Jefferson county. Twenty people attended.
More spotter training sessions are being planned for this fall. Targeted areas
at this time include Whatcom, Pierce, Thurston, Grays Harbor, Lewis, King and
Snohomish counties. Watch our web site or your mailbox for spotter training
announcements.
Pacific NW Weather Scramble Entries Available - The
Pacific Northwest Weather Scramble Golf Tournament is set for Saturday, August
26, at Fort Lewis Golf Course near Tacoma. Skywarn Weather Spotters, friends and
family are welcome to play in this fun networking event. Others involved in the
weather community, such as media, emergency managers, and other agencies, also
play. Entries and more information are now available by contacting Ted Buehner
at NWS Seattle, 206-526-6095 x223. Hurry, the entry deadline is August 16, and
paid entries have already arrived. The course limits our tournament numbers to
44 players.
Citizen Weather Observer Program - Are you familiar with
the new Citizen Weather Observer Program or CWOP? It recently made its debut.
CWOP is a private-public partnership with three main goals: 1) to collect
weather data contributed by citizens; 2) make these data available for weather
services and homeland security; and 3) provide feedback to the data contributors
so that they have the tools to check and improve their data quality. There are
currently over 4500 registered CWOP members world wide. Many are in the APRS
weather network. If you have an automated weather station that is hooked up to a
computer and the Internet, your data can be transmitted every 15 minutes to your
local National Weather Service office, and other users like universities, NASA
and atmospheric modeling centers. At this time, we are aware of three local
Skywarn weather spotters who have registered and provide data to CWOP – Dan
(Clallam 40) in Sekiu, Bill (Skagit 14) in Concrete, and Marion (Clallam 18) in
Forks. If you would like to join the CWOP network, visit this web site
www.wxqa.com/
to learn more about the program and register. We look forward to your reports
as a part of CWOP. Thanks!
Trivia Question Answer
Aberdeen 105 set on Aug 10, 1981
Port Angeles 94 set on Jul 13, 1961 and
Aug 9, 1981