We woke up to temperatures near 70 this morning. That's crazy. Over the last couple of days, I've been asked two main questions:

1) Why is it so warm around here?

and

2) Why is it so incredibly wet?

The answer to #1: Now normally, we'd get storms that are 'born' in the Gulf of Alaska (where it's very cold!!) and then they share that cold air with us as they roll in.

But this series of storms is developing in warmer places. And as they move in, they're essentially sucking massive amounts of warm air from our south right into our skies. We notice that as gusty winds that just won't stop. And bingo! Next thing you know, it's near 70.

The asnwer to #2:
Today's storm is an incredible mix: part of the rain we'll have is what's left of Typhoon Cimaron, which hammered the Phillipines last week. Thousands of miles later, here comes rain from that thing, headed right at us.

And this series of systems has also tapped into warm, moist air down near Hawaii. It's kind of like there's this invisible fire hose in the sky that stretches from the islands to Oregon. And right now, we're at the end where all the water comes out.

There's one final factor: warm air can actually hold more moisture than cold air can...so that's why our warm storms tend to be the wettest we get all year. That's it...thanks for reading...

Bruce Sussman