National Weather Service

Skywarn spotter News

Summer 2006 Edition

From the National Weather Service - Seattle

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 10^th in Redmond, the other on April 15^th in Marysville. A tornado was reported 4 miles east of Sultan on June 16^th. 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.

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.

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.

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 15^th 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 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.

- 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.

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!