Storm #3 and #4 on the way… and what’s up with the Sleet?

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! 😀

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.

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22 thoughts on “Storm #3 and #4 on the way… and what’s up with the Sleet?

  1. Boy, it was sure coming down last night, but then most of it washed away. It’s still on the roofs and lawns here in North Port, but at 11:00 pm last night the roads were covered. It’s turning to sleet again here as I post this.

  2. Comox is getting pounded – we’re getting ripped off! I say that, but was just whining about how the electrical surge from the storm fried my till at work! I still wouldn’t mind seeing some more action out there, though!

  3. Oh my God……a girl after my own heart! It is starting to get a little windy tho’ and it’s pouring rain.I feel your pain Kari

  4. You guys wanna see snow? Go up on to the top of Sutton’s Pass. You’ll get lots there! Was a total gong show today….Came through heading into Port, wasn’t bad then, just somewhat slow going…But coming back, well, 4 plows couldn’t keep up!

  5. wowzers.. i love nature so much this week.. snow.. rain.. wind!! sunshine for a lil bit there.. ahhh i LOVE storm season here in the valley neva know what your gonna get eh.. well to a point.. 😀

  6. Mornin C

    I was night shift last night and we had a nice dry spell until about 4 and next thing u know the wind was comming from the n-e and by 5:45 it was pissing cats&dogs again…

    : )

    Mark

  7. Really wish MoT would put up a webcam in Sutton Pass. Sure is nice to hear that there are horrifying winter driving conditions up there already 🙁

  8. O.K. Chris…………what’s happenin’? That other site(you know…the forum) just scares me! Lets talk weather!!!

  9. LOL.

    Eve… you are a saint.

    I’m a little touchy this evening… probably the towels covering my basement floor.

    I need a good gust of wind and a flicker of the lights to get me back in the right frame of mind! 😀

  10. Awe….I’m wishin’ it for you…..not the need for towels on the floor but the flicker and the gusts would be good!On another note the hard work to bid on the RBC Cup for 2012 is in the works. what the hey….We can only try, never give up!!!We might just get it. For now, I’m in need of a little less boring weather. Hope your basement stays dry! And lets have a wonderfully windy night!

  11. Sorry to hear about your basement Chris, I read about it in a post on alberni.ca. I went through it pretty bad in 2006. Email me if you need any advice on the cleanup.

    By my reading, we are now very close to the rainfall total for the entire month of November, 2006.

    We have had 611mm – the entire month had 616mm in 2006.

  12. Well, its 4:37am (don’t ask) and I have an good attempt at snowfall going on. Its not sticking to the ground, but it is to my Tracker softtop.

    We’ll see what it may look like in a few hours.

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