So the next few days we’re going to be in for another 100mm of rain and some more wind. The fun never stops! It shouldn’t be as crazy as last nights wind or the weekends rains… but it will be more none the less!

What I find more interesting is that on my way up the hump this morning I encountered heavy sleet in the air and on the road! I thought this was supposed to be a Pineapple Express!?

By coincidence, Dr. Jeff Masters at WUnderground blogged today about El Nino and our serious weather up here. Here’s what he had to say:


Bolds added by me for highlighting…

A strong branch of the polar jet stream laden with moisture is streaming into Washington State and Canada’s British Columbia today, and is forecast to bring heavy rains, high winds, and the threat of avalanches to the coastal mountains today through Wednesday. Heavy rains in the Pacific Northwest this time of year are often dubbed the “Pineapple Express” due to Hawaiian origin of the air, and these events are common during El Niño winters, and can strike from Southern California to British Columbia. However, I’ve been told by Doug McCollor, a forecaster with BC Hydro, that this rain event is not a true Pineapple Express, since the airflow is more west-to-east, rather than from the southwest. He adds, “also, freezing level at Quillayute WA was only 1800m this morning…not that high. In a Pineapple Express the freezing level would be 3500 to 4000m or so. The media here is calling it a Pineapple Express because they look out the window and it’s raining all day. It is raining moderately here, no doubt, but it’s because there is a downstream Rex block forming over central North America that is impeding the usual west-to-east progression of these storms”.

Rainfall amounts in excess of three inches have already been recorded over Vancouver Island, and rains of up to seven inches (Figure 3) are forecast for the region over the next three days. Wind gusts of 44 mph have been recorded at La Push this morning on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

So there you go. 7 inches is 178mm.

I think the take away message from all this is that even with all these warm Pacific winds buffeting us, there might be a winner to the Snow Contest sooner rather than later! :D

Oh, and another snippet from Dr. Masters:

Start Quote:

Within the past ten days, though, El Niño conditions over the Eastern Pacific have intensified from moderate to strong

That should mean some real Pineapple Expresses down the line… which should mean warm temperatures and potential bad news for the winter ski season and the Olympics.