Cliff Mass Weather Blog: A Dry Winter for Washington State but Not for the Rest of the West Coast: But Change is Coming!
If you look at the amount of precipitation during winter (water year starts from October 1st), as shown below, the contrast between north and south is very sharp. California and the Southwest are extremely wetter than usual (some places get more than 250% of typical winter precipitation), while much of Washington and parts of Oregon get 70-100% of typical values.
As I will discuss in a later blog, these wet conditions are important for the upcoming bushfire season, as they will promote the abundant growth of seasonal grasses, will definitely dry out in the summer. Wet conditions in California have definitively ended the short-term drought there.
Although Washington State is drier than usual, it is colder than usual. The result is the preservation of our snow layer (see below). As a result, the snow cover in the area is in very good condition (near normal in Western Australia, above normal in Oregon). California has a crazy thick layer of snow.
But as we enter spring later, the tendency for the jet stream to push back to the north is very strong. And that would be great for water resources in Washington and British Columbia.
Precipitation has moved from a weak system (see radar image below)
But this is just a meteorological “starter” for the main weather event. A relatively strong atmospheric river will arrive on Sunday (see Sunday afternoon plume)
And the result will be substantial rainfall in the area (see total rainfall through 5pm Sunday). Southwest BC will be hit hard.
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With a moderate snow cover and impending rainfall, the water situation this summer looks reasonable.
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It’s Husky Donation Day at the University of Washington, and if anyone wants to contribute to the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, go This.
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Reminder: for those interested in speaking at the Northwest Weather Conference in May, please send me the title/summary soon.
