Roger Smith Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Yes, when it gets hot in BC and WA-OR-Idaho dew points can be quite tolerable, low 50s, to near 70 F is range I have seen, when it's 95-100 F with 68-72 dews, people complain of humidity but I moved here from Ontario and I didn't feel the humidity at all when people were complaining about it, it still felt hot and dry to me. Even in the heat dome event, it was basically the same feel that you have in Las Vegas where it can be 115/45. As to the rainfall, we have basically four NW-SE trending ranges to intercept Pacific moisture, Coast-Cascades, monashees (where I reside), Selkirks and Purcells, then the border with Alberta is the Rockies. So five in total, it's a wonder it rains at all in Alberta after these five are done with their orographic rainfall. I would say Coast-Cascades takes almost half, monashees, Selkirks, Purcells and Rockies all take about one-seventh each. It raises rainfalls to 100-120" annually in peak upslope locations in Coast and Cascades, and to 45-60 in totals in prime locations of the other ranges I cited. Valleys get about 10-20 inches and there are some semi-arid landscapes that are not quite desert but dryland similar to the lower areas of central Utah. This monas ee Range is a bit lower than the others but still has so e peaks of 8,000' to 10,000' but it is not as uniformly alpine, so moisture tends to leak through, I am on the dowslope side but we still get about 30" precip and abut half of it falls as snow. Down the hill near the Columbia River it's a lot drier, 12-15" totals, and 30-40" snowfall averages. We were just down there, and while we have a snow pack of two feet here, down in Trail it was about 4" and bare spots on south-facing slopes even in this rigid air mass. These mountain ranges all cross the border. The Cascades of course go all the way to n California. Our Coast Range intersects the Cascades near its northern end, but your Coast Range is an extension of our Vancouver Island mountains. The Cascades continue north for about 50 miles into Canada. East of them is a fairly extensive plateau region, ten the Okanagan valley. That extends south into the U.S. and merges wit the Columbia valley at the Grand Coulee Dam . The monashees extend just into WA state a few miles and more or less disappear as a few minor hills north of Spokane. The Selkirks and Purcells cross the border into n.e. corner of WA and into Idaho, and both disappear for a while before re-establishing as the Bitterroot Ranges which form the border of montana and Idaho. In BC, the trench between Selkirks and Purcells is filled by Kootenay Lake, part of the Kootenai River drainage (spelling changes to Kootenay River in Canada). That river joins the Columbia near YCG (Castlegar) which is fairly close to my location. Then between the Purcells and Rockies is a deep trench, bot Kootenay and Columbia rise in the Rockies, and flow in opposite directions from a point (Canal Flats) where a lake actually joins their drainages. The Kootenay goes south into montana and picks up several large tributaries in w montana, and also the Pend d'Oreille which drains lakes in n. Idaho, and flows just into BC before hitting the Columbia at the border. That trench between Purcells and Rockies is known as the East Kootenay and the region around Kootenay Lake and the lower Columbia is the west Kootenays. Anyway, that trench is semi-arid around Cranbrook and further south into montana, but it becomes a temperate rain forest further north where the Selkirks, Purcells and Rockies more or less merge into just the Rockies north of about 51 deg N. So further north in BC, the Pacific moisture is contending only with the Coast Range and a few bumps in an extensive plateau before hitting the Rockies. A lot more moisture makes it all the way, so rain forest can be found well out into the plateau to the west of the Rockies in central BC. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavis1729 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 5 hours ago, TheRegionRat said: When did O'Hare dip below zero, Saturday night or Sunday morning? I think the record is 100 consecutive hours below zero? I think that's safe. If it doesn't get above zero there today, is 60 hours reasonable? It went above zero at ORD this afternoon, hourly high of 1F (may have hit 2F intrahour). 36 consecutive hours subzero. But RFD is a different story. They stayed subzero this afternoon, and are up to 42 consecutive hours subzero. If they stay below zero tomorrow afternoon, it could be a Top 5 all time streak. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 It's cold, but nothing really record breaking. So fairly zzzzz overall. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 The longevity of the below zero streak is pretty impressive for some areas. Not record breaking but still pretty rough. Today was the opposite of yesterday when temps underachieved, today was expected to only make -6 or so, but have made it to -4 with temps still slowly rising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalfy Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Nice band has setup in central MO though we've been dealing with virgo for the last few hours in St. Louis Metro. It's looking like some precip is falling in Jefferson and radar looks juicier just west so I anticipate the column to moisten in the next hour or so. LSX is calling for up to an inch which is more than I would've expected. Excited to pad our maybe 3'' season total with another inch lol. Temp is a balmy 9F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Boiling water on the stove to keep humidity up. Bitter air is desert dry. Stays comfortable with a little higher humidity. Furnace runs a little less, as well. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madwx Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 definitely not as cold as areas in E Iowa and N Illinois. Made it to 1 at the house yesterday and 3 today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Temp rose to -2 this evening with a little thermal ridge passing through. Heading back down now though. Below zero streak now at 51 hours. Looks like we'll make it to above zero by midday tomorrow though so streak will end around the 64 hour mark. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King James Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 This sucks 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdIowPitMsp Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 The cold is a real economic lifesaver up here. The lakes are finally freezing up at record late dates, and allowing for winter activities to progress. This upcoming weekend is the U.S. National Pond Hockey championships on Lake Nokomis a few blocks from my house. As recently as last week there were questions on whether or not there would be enough ice. With these temps the lake is making about an inch of ice a day and the tournament will proceed as scheduled. https://www.uspondhockey.com 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michsnowfreak Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 On 1/14/2024 at 9:57 PM, DaveNay said: My coworkers in Germany and UK are simply unable to comprehend the extremes of weather we get in the US. I have a few friends in the UK and likewise, they literally cannot comprehend the weather that we get in Michigan. They don't necessarily understand the US as a whole, just my area, and the amount of snow and cold we see in the winter and the amount of heat & humidity in the summer is insane to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Temps not as cold this am with cloud cover, and a very light (fine) snow falling with a trough moving through. - lower teens to -upper sd's. SW winds 5-15, so wind chills slightly better. Highs still running low sd's. Warm up this weekend will feel nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 4 hours ago, michsnowfreak said: I have a few friends in the UK and likewise, they literally cannot comprehend the weather that we get in Michigan. They don't necessarily understand the US as a whole, just my area, and the amount of snow and cold we see in the winter and the amount of heat & humidity in the summer is insane to them. UK has such a maritime climate, with an occasional Arctic blast. Not surprised. But we in the NC US have the best wx for us weenies to enjoy, even if it can get dangerous at times. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cary67 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Sadly looks like Norgi ski weekend on Jan.27-28th could be a slop fest if rain and warmth next week comes to fruition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 60+ hour below zero streak ended this afternoon as expected. Made it to +2. Back down below zero again now though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madwx Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 you can feel the cold just settling into the house at this point. Also roads are becoming worse every day, the tiny bit of melting from the sun and cars driving over the packed snow has slowly turned it into ice. The warmup later this weekend will be much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjwise Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 Just hit 0 here. We were at zero or below for 72 hours. If we don't nudge up to 1 here, we'll end up with about an 84 hour run at 0 or less. ETA: Hit 1 degree after exactly 72 hours of zero to subzero temps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethtoast Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 Only have had 5 cumulative hours of subzero temps so far. The lakes being nearly ice-free up to this point has definitely helped with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveNay Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 104.5 hours at or below zero at my station. 9:30pm on 2023-01-12 to 5:30am on 2023-01-17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 2 hours ago, DaveNay said: 104.5 hours at or below zero at my station. 9:30pm on 2023-01-12 to 5:30am on 2023-01-17 80.5hrs, you added a day lol. Didn't go below zero till Sat eve the 13th. Very impressive nonetheless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveNay Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 22 minutes ago, cyclone77 said: 80.5hrs, you added a day lol. Didn't go below zero till Sat eve the 13th. Very impressive nonetheless! Correct, thanks. I hate constantly converting between F and C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frostfern Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 On 1/15/2024 at 4:28 PM, Snowstorms said: Nope they didn't, you're right. Dewpoints were in the low 50's. Most of the heat they experience in the PNW is dry, desert like heat. Quite different than the heat we experience in the Midwest and GL's. The lakes, especially if they're ice-free or have very little ice, regulate a lot of the temperatures we experience in the winter. It's even more prevalent in areas adjacent to the lakes. Otherwise our climo would probably be similar to the Midwest imo. Yea. Lake Michigan definitely takes the edge off a bit in both winter and summer. Still distinct seasons, but 100F and -20F are more rare here compared to Northern Illinois. You don’t have to travel far to see those more extreme readings though. The interior north gets a lot colder and Chicago gets a lot hotter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frostfern Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 On 1/15/2024 at 4:28 PM, Snowstorms said: Nope they didn't, you're right. Dewpoints were in the low 50's. Most of the heat they experience in the PNW is dry, desert like heat. Quite different than the heat we experience in the Midwest and GL's. The lakes, especially if they're ice-free or have very little ice, regulate a lot of the temperatures we experience in the winter. It's even more prevalent in areas adjacent to the lakes. Otherwise our climo would probably be similar to the Midwest imo. PNW heat can be muggy, but it’s never “tropical”. Evapotranspiration from all the conifer forests can push the dewpoint up to the low 60s, but I don’t think it ever reaches 70. Triple digits usually happen when the wind blows downhill from the Cascades, and from that direction it dries out some. When it gets muggy (60 degree dewpoints) it’s typically much weaker offshore flow with temperatures in the upper 80s vs near 100. When it really torches the airmass comes from the east side of the Cascades, and then the dewpoint falls into the low 50s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 We have a shot at -20 to -25 here Sunday morning. Some of the favored low/cold spots west of Chicago as well. High pressure ridge will be passing through the area at nearly perfect time for optimal cooling, something we actually didn't have earlier this week. Interestingly, just 24hrs later temps could be over 40 degrees warmer in these same areas as intense WAA takes over just after the ridge passes by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdIowPitMsp Posted January 18 Share Posted January 18 Yesterdays high of 13 was the warmest since the 12th. Got down to 1F last night. Full sun today feels great but still will only make it to around 10-12. 10 days ago there was pockets of open water on the lake. Now the ice is 9-12” thick. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowtie` Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 11 hours ago, OrdIowPitMsp said: Yesterdays high of 13 was the warmest since the 12th. Got down to 1F last night. Full sun today feels great but still will only make it to around 10-12. 10 days ago there was pockets of open water on the lake. Now the ice is 9-12” thick. Which lake would that be? With 10,000 to choose from, it makes a daunting task. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian D Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 3 hours ago, bowtie` said: Which lake would that be? With 10,000 to choose from, it makes a daunting task. Actually, I believe it's around 15,000 an acre in size or larger. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdIowPitMsp Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 10 hours ago, bowtie` said: Which lake would that be? With 10,000 to choose from, it makes a daunting task. Lake Nokomis in South Minneapolis. @Brian Dis correct there are more then 10,000 lakes in Minnesota. Going off Wisconsin standards it’s over 15,000 I believe. Back down to -2F here with some blowing snow. Might drop a few more degrees before sunrise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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