gallopinggertie

It’s looking like this might only be the beginning of this particular hot period - here’s the new ECMWF forecast for Seattle and Portland, showing a two-week stretch that would average 10-15 degrees above normal for the region. Pretty wild. I’ve lived in western Washington and Oregon my whole life, and the summer climate has really changed over just the past couple decades. Like you posted about, heat waves used to last maybe two or three days - now they stretch on for a week, or longer. Here in Portland our climate averages have historically fallen in the Csb (warm-summer Mediterranean) range, but are on track to push into Csa territory (hot-summer Mediterranean) before too long, perhaps when the new 2000-2030-year averages become the new baseline. Seattle probably will follow a few decades later.

The current rate of global warming is pretty much unprecedented in the geological record. Wouldn’t the current amount of undersea volcanic activity then also have to be unprecedented to be the main driver of the warming? But it isn’t, is it? The Earth has gone through periods of volcanic activity way more intense than anything that’s currently taking place. The rate of CO2 increase on the other hand is also pretty unprecedented…just like the speed of this warming. Hmm. Really makes ya think, doesn’t it?

PDX just reached 100, for the first time this year and setting a daily record. If the next few days reach forecast highs, the majority of August record highs at PDX will have been set in the past ten years!

SST’s are way above average in the North Pacific. Actually, they’re warmer at the end point of that forecast cone than they are where Henriette is right now!

Anyone calling the rapid climate change we’re seeing “minor warming” like you did, is probably a bit daft. Sorry…but there comes a point when if you can’t see reality for what it is, maybe you should spend your time doing something other than constantly posting in this thread.

Apparently, Erick beat the record for earliest-landfalling major hurricane in Mexico. And specifically, it beat the record for earliest-landfalling major on Mexico’s pacific coast by over two months! The next earliest was…August 26.

NWS Fairbanks has just issued its first ever heat advisories. The temperatures are not that unusual for interior Alaska (in the mid to upper 80’s), but the duration of the heatwave will be at least a week. They’re trying to prepare people better for heat up there than they have in the past, which is smart seeing as houses in alaska lack ac and they can expect more and more of these heat events in the coming decades.

Had a nice cold core thunderstorm yesterday in Portland. It poured rain and small hail with some gusty winds and a loud clap of thunder. The NWS put out a special weather statement for it, which was like a consolation prize for the severe thunderstorm watch last week that turned out to be a nothing burger.

This turned out to mostly be a bust. Cape values were way lower than forecast, and the mid-levels were too dry. I didn’t even hear thunder in Portland. Western WA had a decent amount of lightning, but actual severe weather impacts were limited to a couple storms in the Olympic peninsula and Cascades around Snoqualmie Pass. A big letdown for me, since this is the first time I’ve been in a severe thunderstorm watch.

That’s for sure. Not only global warming, but ocean acidification and microplastic pollution will become huge problems. As a random aside, Portland OR (where I live) broke its all-time march record high yesterday, with a high of 82.

A highly unusual severe weather threat is forecast today for the Pacific Northwest. Seattle and Portland are both in SPC’s slight risk zone. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a severe thunderstorm watch hoisted for both cities (that would be the first ever for Seattle proper, I believe).

That storm last weekend was pretty good (by Portland standards), we ended up with about 4” here. That makes it an incredible 9 straight winters I have seen at least 1” of snow, quite the run for the Pacific Northwest.

Round two of this mini storm tonight in Portland. After this morning’s dry snow, the evening brought light freezing rain, and now moderate sleet mixed with snow. Roads are ice rinks!

We finally are getting our first (and probably only) snowstorm of the winter here in Portland, Oregon. It’s a dry snow and we already have a bit over 1” since it started snowing an hour and a half ago. This is the first time I’ve seen proper snow since moving here last winter! Snowfall averages only about 4” per winter here. So anything we get is special, but particularly so when we get one of these cold dry snows that immediately start sticking to the road!

Tropical cyclone Elvis is south of Madagascar, all lonely and heading for the Heartbreak Hotel.