This morning’s radar image at 5:30 showed a little… heavy rain offshore.
As shown in the satellite image at the same time, much of that area was clear while the clouds observed closer to shore were the most drizzly layers.
What’s happening? In my podcast, I offer the answer: cool air near the surface and warm air aloft create an atmospheric “lens” that deflects the radar beam down toward the ocean surface. Thus, the “target” is not the raindrops but the ocean surface!
I also issued a forecast, which suggests there will be a significant cooldown on Sunday (see next week’s Seattle forecast below), as cool maritime air moves into western Washington.
Finally, in the podcast, I also describe the possibility of strong winds over the eastern slopes of the Cascades as cool, dense maritime air moves into western Washington, increasing pressure there and leading to a pressure gradient. more productive on mountain fences. The pressure difference creates wind.
Expected wind gusts Sunday evening are shown below. There will be a lot of wind power. But I’m worried about forest fires.
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