Record Heat

Today was just extraordinary around here...Sea Tac got to 74F, which tied the ALL TIME RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE for the month. That is a big record to tie.

But Sea-Tac was not alone...Vancouver, Wa got to 72F, which also tied its all time record November temperature.

Astoria at 73F set its all time record November temperature, as did Salem at 74F.

Renton got to 75F...I could go on and on. And all under full sun. Perfection.

The reason for this warmth...we started with relatively warm air over us and that was supercharged by strong downslope easterly flow across the Cascades.

You could tell we had good downslope flow by eye...notice how clear the Cascades were? That is a sign of dry, downslope air (my book discusses how this works). Here is a image of Mt. Rainier courtesy of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency at 9 AM this morning. You see how clear it is? The excellent definition of the terrain?


I hate to gloat...but the UW ensemble-statistical forecast system (www.probcast.com) really nailed it the high temps today. When it comes to warm, clear days it is unbeatable and did for better than the National Weather Service or its statistical aids.

Tomorrow's record high is 74F, which we won't get near and then the records drop down noticeably into the mid-60s. There have been a number of nice first weeks of November, but they rarely last into the second week.

And remember...by ANY measure...rain, wind, you name it...the worst week of the year is the last week of November. I will prove that in some later blog. So by early December we are through the worst. You don't believe me I suspect.

The offshore flow is weakening a bit and tomorrow should be a bit cooler (mid-60s). But this is still 10F higher than normal.

A weak front will move in on Friday, with some light showers and more rain and clouds on Saturday.