Finally we've found a replacement for clicking updates on political polls--clicking for weather updates on Cliff Mass's blog: "There should be an inch or two by the end of the Wed. morning commute. At this point it looks like temperatures will warm up enough by midday that that the snow might turn very wet or even to rain at the lowest elevations...but we are right on the edge." Then later on Wednesday, another system is headed our way that could bring rain or a lot more snow, depends on how lucky we are. Has anyone read Cliff's book? more ›

"The more I look at the forecast models, the more snow I see. Well, at least those who like a white holiday won't be disappointed." That's the beginning of a snow update post by UW meteorologist Cliff Mass, which went up last night. Not only are we expecting snow on Wednesday--"1-2 inches at low levels near the Sound, 2-4 inches at higher elevations"--but there's a good chance we'll see some on Thursday, too. Mass has also become a snowplow pusher, pointing out: "We have a major snowfall (like this year) every 5-8 years and significant snowfalls 4-8 inches every other year or so." Seattle's current strategy is to squish those inches into compact snow and ice, and just wait for the melt. more ›

It's starting to shape up nicely out there. 24 degrees. Larger and larger flakes falling faster and faster. By tomorrow morning, people will be able to cross-country ski down the street unironically. Cliff Mass says the easterly winds forecasted could still hit--but if it doesn't that just means more snow. Where'd we put our snowshoes...? more ›

This morning we were down at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce breakfast and regional economic forecast discussion, which opened with chair Tayloe Washburn being emotionally overcome while talking about how strapped food banks are for donations. (At which point we sorely regretted suggesting the chamber was "populated largely by jaw-dangling idiots," and wished we'd stuck to the rule of vilifying awful ideas rather than the people whose heads they're stinking up.) more ›

Just after our heat-induced smog watch got dropped--Seattle broke the Clean Air Act and now has to perform an act of contrition--the weather has decided to juke to the left. The forecast is for over an inch of rain the next three days. We were just over at AccuWeather watching a caravan of animated clouds inching from Portland to Seattle. Kinda weird seeing water flow uphill like that. more ›

Hey wow, holy shit it is hot outside and it's only 11am. With this weekend's forecast, people will be freaking everywhere outside. We're planning a mountain bike ride near Roslyn on Saturday, other friends are going camping, and another crew is ski touring around Rainier. But lest you forgot your high school chemistry classes, the effect of heat on frozen substances is to cause them to melt. In this case, very suddenly and there's still a lot of snow out there. Much more than we're used to having in mid-May. more ›