Powerful Storm Headed for Seattle, Northwest

[freshwest]

Strong winds, rain and very heavy mountain snow are all expected

December 16th, 2012

This next powerful storm is cranking up over the northern Pacific Ocean and will only continue to intensify as it slams into western Washington and western Oregon Sunday night through Monday...[/i


Wind- High wind warnings are posted for coastal portions of Oregon and southwest Washington. Wind gusts to 65 or 75 mph are possible, which could be enough to cause some tree damage or power outages.

Snow- Heavy snow will impact passes throughout the Cascade Mountains. Travel will be difficult on I-90 through Snoqualmie Pass. Up to three feet of snow is expected to fall in the Washington Cascades. Snow will also affect locations east of the Cascades in Washington, including Spokane. Blizzard warnings have been posted for the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon and far southeast Washington. There is also a significant threat of avalanches in the Cascades...

Rain- One to three inches of rain is forecast over the next 48 hours in the lower elevations of western Washington and western Oregon.

Video, maps and more at link:

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-forecast/seattle-portland-northwest-storm-20121215

[freshwest]

1. The traffic cam on Snoqualmie Pass:

http://www.wsdot.com/Traffic/passes/snoqualmie/

[hollysmom]

2. is this part of the Arkstream? Arkstorm?

[freshwest]

3. Not yet. Typical some years. It's an atmospheric river we call it the Pineapple Express.

Sometimes it reaches historic proportions, as it did in 2006. Nothing to panic about yet. Here's a picture of some of the results then. It was not as traumatic an ARKstorm, which is a theoretical event that would harm California.



We have interesting phenomena such as the Puget Sound Convergence zone, the Chinook Winds, etc. LInk to what has happened before here, and the ARKstorm scenario:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Express

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARkStorm

After 2006 because of the wind damage there was a greater push for underground power. Some gale force winds are predicted now.

[hollysmom]

4. thanks

I find weather complex but interesting, but my experience is just east coast.

[freshwest]

5. Well, you guys get Nor'easter's (sic) and Lake Effect Snow, IIRC.

[LiveNudePolitics]

6. Thanks for the post,

we east coasters forget that the west coast gets some wild and wooly weather too! Verra interresting!

[freshwest]

7. I think the East Coast weather is pretty rough. We have warmer, wetter currents.

But the mountains have their own little weather system almost independent of the coast. A good deal of Washington is protected by Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula.

The most interesting event I had was Christmas week 1990. We had snow in the lowlands and thunder and lightning from the snow. I stayed home and cooked. Luckily the power stayed on.

I learned terms like 'groppel snow' which is like kitty litter. But I love slowly drifing snowflakes when it's quiet and the powder blows into drifts. It's a temperate climate here, some call this area maritime. Summers are usually comfortable.

Take care, I think you guys are going to have a heavy winter, too. I hope all of you are keeping warm after all the hurricane and snow storms.

[LiveNudePolitics]

8. NYC has really gotten good at weather.

Thankfully! Yes, I am fortunate in my area, we were one of the parts of Queens that never lost power and had very little damage.

[McCIoud]

9. +1