The Pineapple Express is tropical rain, sweeping up from Hawaii. This morning we’re being deluged in sheets and waves, the sort of thing you normally see in the near-tropic South, on the Gulf, and this end of Washington is already having flooding from the sudden week-long melt of a foot of snow. NOW an arctic blast is on its way.
La Nina is such a changeable girl. Spokane is in a borderland area, between reliable winter cold, the Continental Divide, and the occasional blast from the humid south.
If the PE doesn’t clear town before the Snow Queen moves in, we’re in for it.
That’s what happened here on the northcoast – rain, followed immediately by lots of snow. (And temperatures too low for effective salt treatments.) The most treacherous driving and walking conditions we get, complicatd by lake effect mini-whiteouts. Luckily, today is overcast but -so far- without any deluge.
And we just found out the cold front’s arriving 4pm TODAY! If that squall line this morning had met it over the city, instead of being shoved ahead of it, we’d be digging out til doomsday.
IT’s here, at 1015. I went out and added (yum!) bacteria to the pond while the water’s still warmed, but it’s cold out there! Any moisture falling now will be snow.
Ah, so THAT’S where that cold front that soggified us last week ended up! 😉
The weather is all over the map here in southern New England. Eight when I got up a couple of days ago, up in the high 40’s and 50’s for the last two days, now back in the twenties. I haven’t had time to look at any weather maps but I think the whole winter is going to be strange. 8)
Poor Katy’s always being told to bar that door. You’d think she’d get a chance or two to knock back an arrow with her longbow or a few good sword thrusts, but no, always with the door. But then, Will’s too busy keeping from being fired at, which is perhaps more unfair than barring doors. They’d fain be dooring bars for a pint, I’d wager.
We’ve had ups and downs with the temp the past two to three weeks, 30’s night before last, warm for a couple of days, then cold again. Not enough rain, despite some one day and night.
At this rate, even redoubtable Rudolph will be hard pressed. — I think I strained something when I said, “redoubtable.”
🙂 So far so good: the moisture got blown on ahead of the cold, so while we’re cold, we’re dry right now. This won’t last, but maybe at least we can get a couple of days free of shoveling. I managed in the one day! one *day* before we got these air filters to so pollute my system with allergens it took me a couple of days to calm down, and I now have the chest-dwelling crud, ie, an infection set in pdq, a not uncommon result in a bad allergy set-to. So I’m taking guaifenisen, that anti-nastiness stuff that will break this up—I have to watch it, because this med can produce nausea for me; but at least not so bad, thus far. At least I finally got through a night without coughing myself silly.
At any rate, a break before Jane and I have to resume clearing the walks of heavy snow is a good thing for me right now.
oh dear, I do hate to hear how ill you get! it’s awful!
we have mist, and the geese are lost, they are flying around above it unable to navigate. we have 10’s of thousands of winter migrant geese and the ones from iceland come inland to scavenge the remains of the sugar beet harvest. I can hear them squeacking and honking, they sound a bit like hounds in full cry …
tomorrow we have rain all morning and then WHAM – cold front and more snow and freeze-up … yuck
Long time reader, first time poster. Indiana weather is crazy this month, too. The temperatures have been in the single digits several times already which is unusual for us this early. We are on schedule for our third snow of the month and it is not even half over. It is already up close to the normal monthly totals. This one may have ice with it. Yuck. After our three month drought late summer/early fall I had been hoping for a milder winter to help the plants survive. And me too.
I’m not that far from RuthMarie, Temperatures have been in single digits, with wind chills below zero. I can sit by my weather station and watch the temperature drop after the sun goes down. I had to dig out of the driveway on Monday and dig back in again Monday evening after getting back from my guitar lesson an hour away.
wish we had that attitude to snow – but it’s our wet snow that makes things so difficult here. supposed to be spending a week over Christmas with friends in a castle in Scotland, overlooking the Isle of Arran – but are we going to be able to get there? looking dodgy.
Sea weather? I’d think there’s a train at least to Glasgow.
booked to fly to Glasgow, two thirds of us, the others decided to drive, train very expensive (isn’t that ridiculous, 3 times as expensive as flying) and arrives too late, it’s not so much getting to Glasgow that could be the problem as driving the next bit, up to the left of Loch Lomond and down again to Campbelltown – there’s a high bit to get over. I don’t think the trains carried on in the bad weather we had a week or so ago … all the delivery companies are not guaranteeing delivery for Christmas in Scotland even now.
we are very feeble about snow in the UK!
but perhaps this time the weather forecasters will have overestimated instead of under …..
I’m surprised about the cost. First trip, I’ve taken the train up from London to Edinburgh, but it was with Trafalgar Tours out of London, so I never saw the ticket price broken out of the rest. I’ve been on the central highland roads, which I am told flat *shut* during snow—and having topped one rise in a big bus with the sudden view of a loch and empty air in front of us (the concomitant weightless effect got screams from the whole bus) I have real respect for those heights. They’re *numerically*( not as extreme as the Rockies, but they’re some of the most spectacular drives on planet Earth. I’ve driven them, on another trip, and have personal respect for the occasional surprises. There could indeed be some real scary bits in a whiteout, and no, I don’t think you’re wimps!
You be careful!
well, I’m flying from Bristol to Glasgow, have to drive to Bristol and drop the dogs off with my daughter, spend a couple of nights with her, then get a rather early flight to meet my friends at Glasgow airport. I HOPE there won’t be any falling snow, not for a couple of days, that they will have managed to clear the roads – then it is just the low temps …
we just had the WHAM – my assistant went out the door, just about time for her to get in the car, then I hear some funny noises – is that the firewood arriving – no, it was a huge gust or three bringing powder snow and whiteout – luckily it only lasted few minutes, so poor Sue shouldn’t have had any trouble driving home ….
So far the really bad weather has missed us. It’s cold and clear with sunny days here in the Okies.
The winter storm warning is issued for southern Ohio along the Ohio River. Dayton has a winter weather advisory, and we just have a “Hazardous Weather Condition” statement, which says it’s snowing. (As if I couldn’t tell by looking out the window.) It is a bit warmer, but not warm enough to shut down the furnace. I think it’s time to pull the groundhog out of his hole and get on with Spring.
About a month and a half ago, my grandmother shut down the farmhouse and went into assisted living for the winter. The farm isn’t very isolated, but it’s on a tertiary dirt road, prone to ice and snow drifting, and power and water outages could be catastrophic in a hurry. She’s 96 and in less than ideal health, so with your weather updates, I think it’s a very good thing she’s not trying to tough it out.
I agree Joekc6nix. I think we ought to drag that groundhog out kicking and screaming if we have to. He wouldn’t see his shadow today. We got snow AND ice overnight. We took our daughter to work in the 4-wheel drive truck this morning because of the “great” snow removal job on the main drag hill past her condo. We’ve had three good sized snows already in December and I’m tired of it already. Way over normal. I’m ready for spring too. But then it is my favorite season. I know it is peanuts compared to the northwest, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Time to curl up with a good book (hint, hint).
we had new england style temps here in atlanta last week, now it’s a bit more of the usual. vero beach fl where my parents live was unusually cold also last week. am waiting to see what we get down here next. already had a dusting of snow last week too ;P have been watching what’s going on over in europe where we have family, they are getting slammed with cold and snow.
and apparently it’s unusually warm in the south east med – fires in Israel ….