Summer in September continues. Even though it's offically fall, these truly are the dog days of summer. I've been digging around looking at some of the long range computer models. NGM, GFS & MM5 all show this dry pattern continuing. The Tuesday morning GFS keeps rain out of the picture through the middle of October! Granted that's a reach. The daytime high's in the 80's will come to an end later this week. A weak system will pass by to the north of us. The resulting onshore flow will bring some what cooler air inland, a few clouds but no precipitation. I'm sure at some point I'll have to start working hard for a living. Slaving away over a hot radar scope. Keeping aneye on windspeeds and rain totals. Until then don't tell the boss in the corner pocket I'm slacking off a bit... 8-)

Dave

Posted by at 10:56 AM | Permalink

Look up in the sky ! It's a bird. It's a plane no it's the International Space Station! Clear skies this weekend will allow for not only star gazing but also space station gazing! The ISS has been in the news lately with the successfull mission of space shuttle Atlantis, and the arrival of another space tourist this weekend. Anybody got 20 million I can have so I can join club space tourist?

If you're up early on Sunday morning, look off to the SSE. At 5:46 you'll might see a fast moving object about 10 to 20 degrees above the horizon. That object will be the international space station. WIth fair skies in the forecast and the orbit of the Space Station lining passing across our region we may see it during the early morning hours for the next few days.

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/view.cgi?country=United_States®ion=Oregon&city=Portland

Included above is a link to NASA with times the space station will be pass over the Portland area.

Dave

Posted by at 11:12 AM | Permalink

Auntie Em, Auntie Em look it's a twister! It's not that uncommon to see a funnel cloud in the Pacific Northwest. They appear mostly in the spring and early fall when you have rapid changes in the atmoshere. What's unusual about this funnel cloud is where it occured. Bellevue Washington, just north of downtown Seattle!

This funnel cloud appeared just before 8:00 Thursday morning and hung around for about 10 minutes. The "cold air" funnel popped up in the wake of the weather system that moved across the Northwest late yesterday. Remember funnel cloud is not a tornado. A funnel cloud can only become a tornado is it reaches the ground. This one didn't. Still it made for interesting water cooler talk around Seattle today.

Posted by at 12:42 PM | Permalink

Hold on now everybody let's not go jumping onto the El Nino bandwagon just yet. Yes I've seen the data and watched the stories about this being another El Nino winter. George Taylor, down at OSU has revised his forecast, with precipitation tapering off by mid-winter.

Data coming in on the ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) index shows a couple of things. First, this El Nino is getting started late in the season. Usually we see signs of warming trend off the coast of Peru and Ecuador around May or June. Second, the ENSO index at this time is showing slightly above normal water temperatures.

Look at the graphic from the Scripps Institute below.

Buoy data shows ocean temperatures up about .5 to 1.5 degrees at best a small El Nino. Bottom line, I wouldn't give up on a typical Pacific Northwest winter. Rain will fall on the valley floor and snow in the mountains. Maybe even a risk of a little ol' man winter appearing at lower elevations. I don't plan on putting my ski gear away just yet!

Dave Salesky

Posted by at 10:03 AM | Permalink

Our teachers told us it was dark, cold and far away, but it was still a planet. Most of us never knew Pluto's status was at risk.

But recently some of the (only 4% !) world's astronomers got together and held a vote. Pluto lost, it's planet status revoked.

Do you think this is crazy - did Pluto get a raw deal? Believe it or not, one of NASA's scientists wants to know what you think. And he's giving you a chance to vote on the whole thing. Should Pluto's status be re-instated?

www.plutopetition.com

The site has brief arguments for and against Pluto's status as a planet and you get to vote with the click of a mouse. Happy voting!

Bruce
bsussman@kgw.com

Posted by at 5:34 AM | Permalink

You can sometimes see them from miles away. Twisting, turning, racing accross open farm fields on a sunny northwest day. Many people call dust devils mini-tornadoes, and they sure look them, minus the cloud on top. Here's one from the Willamette Valley on Saturday.

I'm not sure who sent this in...other than they snapped the photo with their camera phone on I-5 where you exit for Corvallis. Then they sent it over the Verizon photo network, or whatever it is. You gotta love technology!

Anyway, today was a perfect day for a dust devil in parts of the valley that didn't see rain. The air on the ground was much warmer than the air above us - and when warm air rises it sometimes gets twisted and spinning and everything else.

Here's a cool site that explains it all and has some really great photos!

http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/earthsci/imagearchive/dust_devils.htm

Thanks for checking out the blog - and have a great weekend!

Bruce
bsussman@kgw.com

Posted by at 10:39 PM | Permalink