There is no weather situation that I love more than the one that happened tonight. It is the quintessence of the Northwest.
After a period of warm weather, a stream of sea air moves inland, bringing with it strong winds and rapid cooling.
Best of all, the entrance of the sea-air current pushing ashore is signaled by wind chimes, which are now ringing throughout my neighborhood (play video below!).
Low clouds off the Pacific are now pushing inland, as indicated by satellite images visible at 6pm. (see below). But this weather party doesn’t stop there, as unstable air in our region has been linked to cumulus clouds and thunderstorms moving westward, particularly southwest Washington and Oregon. see visible satellite images).
Radar imagery late this afternoon and evening both lit up with strong convective showers, particularly between Olympia and Portland, but east of the Cascades has a portion of it (see 5:43pm radar below) ).
As I write this around 9:20 p.m. in Seattle, I can hear thunder in the distance. In fact, the 9 p.m. satellite-based lightning mapping device showed lightning flashes just east of Seattle (see below).
Changes in our weather are related to weakening of the high pressure/banding north of us and the movement of a weak upper depression into Oregon (see below). Cold air at high altitude contributes to instability and thunderstorms because air masses can become unstable (and thus mix vertically) as the temperature changes with altitude increase.
So if you’re living west of Cascade Crest, open your windows and prepare for a good night’s sleep. Cool air and some thunderstorms? What could be better?
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To the east of the Cascade, you might see a few more thunderstorms tomorrow!
In any case, several days of much higher than normal temperatures have passed.
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Interested in a free lecture at UW on How will we prevent fossil fuels from causing global warming by Professor Myles Allen of the University of Oxford? It will take place at 7pm on May 25 at UW’s Kane Hall, and you can get more information and sign up below. Professor Allen is a very good speaker and is very famous all over the world; Talk will probably fill up quickly, so book early if you want to go.
