This is the northern migration season for birds and the weather is perfect for northbound flights.
As a result, there is a large northward migration of birds happening and the weather radars are shining with birds every night.
As I have noted in previous blogs, many birds like to fly at night, so let me show you the area radar images of the last 24 hours.
5pm yesterday (Thursday) nothing
At 2 a.m., flocks of birds returned everywhere with radar coverage. Notice our bird friends do not like to fly far from shore. You can also see where we lack low-level radar coverage, like the central and southern coasts of Oregon and eastern Oregon. Oregon bird watchers need to complain!
This morning at 8 o’clock the birds were gone.
I rarely show Dopper radar images (showing winds towards or away from the radar), but this was last night from Langley Hill radar in Hoquiam (the radar is in the center of the circles). Green indicates targets (birds) approaching the radar, red shows targets moving away.
The radar targets are going north!
Have a nice website Birdcast, which collects all radar information and displays migration patterns across the United States. Here’s a picture of them from last night, with arrows indicating the direction of migration. A large flock of birds moves north along the West Coast.
I have noted that birds are a bit picky about the weather flying at night.
They do not like heavy rain and stormy periods. They also seem to appreciate a forward wind.
And last night they had one. Here are the overnight winds at 700 hPa (about 10,000 ft). Small prongs indicate direction and speed. Flows in the south and southwest (south-to-southwest) directions are obvious. Not too strong. Just like our feathered friends like more.
heat wave
Today temperatures will hit nearly 60 degrees Fahrenheit in western Washington, and some places will dip below 60 degrees on Saturday. Check out the Saturday 17:00 surface air temperature forecast (below). Red is warmer than green and blue. OH. The 60s downstream everywhere in the interior of the west.
Warm southerly winds (from the south) overhead plus low-level downhill (eastward) winds over the Cascades are reasons for the warmth. This will be the warmest period since last October (see chart below, with 60F highlighted). And it will feel good.
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.
