Friday Evening: Traffic Forecast Bust, But Weather Forecast Looks Good!

8pm Friday

Here we are, sitting on the edge of a big “3 day weekend” that includes the Great American Eclipse.

First, the big question everyone seems to be wondering…WHERE IS EVERYBODY?  Friday afternoon commutes are typically bad in the Portland metro area in the summertime.  My drive in to work was the easiest I’ve seen of any Friday this summer.  In fact there were NO TRAFFIC ISSUES IN OUR VIEWING AREA TODAY.  So much for the first day of “EclipsePocalypse”.  We’ll see how Saturday (when I’m driving to Madras), Sunday, & Monday go.  But this will go down as the first TRAFFIC FORECAST BUST of 2017.  Hey, if we can have weather forecast busts, the traffic planners and officials can have busts too. But this one helped out everyone.

So we’re only 2 and a half days away now and the weather forecast looks the same

As you can see, MOST of us should have excellent viewing for the eclipse between 10:15 & 10:25am Monday morning.  There is one big concern and of course that would be the marine layer, mainly along the coastline.  Notice the cloud cover forecast from the WRF-GFS model for 11am Monday shows the clouds/fog hugging the coastline:

There is a slight chance we get morning cloud cover (mainly before 10am) from the Portland metro area north to Kelso/Longview here in the valleys, we’ll keep a close eye on that.  But with strong upper-level ridging we don’t usually see much inland penetration of the low clouds.

A 2nd minor concern is the possibility of scattered thin high clouds coming in from the northwest during eclipse time.  I’m not worried much about this for two reasons:  First, thin clouds often don’t impede the viewing much according to eclipse-chasing veterans.  And second, only a couple of our models are showing a few thin high clouds moving through anyway.

A 3rd (minor) concern is fire smoke over and east of the Cascades.  As of today I’m not real worried about that either.  First, only a small area of totality will be under any sort of thick smoke, note the midday Terra satellite image from today (click for a better view)

and most fire plumes with the big smoke output tend to form midday and into the afternoons as temperatures rise.  In fact the lack of sun will even (briefly) slow down the morning heating, maybe helping keep those fires down.  Second, thin fire smoke is no problem according to eclipse viewers I’ve had email conversations with.

Let’s summarize a few questions I’ve been asked or heard asked by viewers; some are really interesting.

1. Who needs to wear the eclipse glasses and when?  ANYONE outside of totality needs to wear them at ALL TIMES (the entire metro area).  Anyone in totality takes them off ONLY during totality.  On at all other times.
2. Do I need to protect my pet’s eyeballs?  No, they don’t know there is an eclipse coming and have no reason to look up.  I can tell you I’ve never seen my chickens stare at the sun, same with the dog.
3. What’s different about the sun Monday?  Absolutely nothing, in fact the poor moon is getting the shaft on this one.  The SOLAR eclipse is really all about the moon moving in front of the sun.  The sun is no stronger or weaker compared to any other day.  You can use your eclipse glasses to stare at the sun any day if you want.
4. Do I need to wear eclipse glasses when I watch it on TV?  No, it’s only if you’re looking at it live.  You can watch it here on FOX12
5. Why are all these eclipse events being scheduled on a weekday? More people are off work on a weekend.  Because…the eclipse can’t be rescheduled.  It’s on a Monday.

Well that was fun.  Now for our detailed forecasts and timeline:

Confidence Growing in Good Eclipse Viewing For Most of Us

6pm Wednesday

We’re only 5.5 days away from the Great American Eclipse and things are looking good!  It appears MOST of us in the zone of totality, where 2 minutes of darkness will pass overhead, will have a clear view of the big event.  And if we forget about the eclipse for a moment…the weather itself looks GREAT across the region now through Tuesday.  Are you camping?  You’re in good shape…no need to worry about rain anywhere unless you get some drizzle along the coast.   Aren’t you glad we didn’t tell you it was going to be a rainy/cloudy/cool eclipse with snow up on Mt. Hood?  I just heard today that some of you received an alert saying that on your phones last week!

Over the past 3 days models have been advertising upper-level ridging of high pressure over our region later Sunday through early Tuesday.  Of course the eclipse falls right in the middle of that time period.  You can see the “ridge” in the upper-level flow over us Monday morning.  The opposite would be a dip in the flow.

In this case that means a warmer than normal atmosphere over us Monday.  It also means a lot of sinking motion overhead which warms/dries the airmass.  Thus little or no cloud cover overhead.  The ONE issue of course is the cool layer of marine air west of the Cascades.  Take a look at the WRF-GFS model depiction of that marine layer (green areas) Saturday afternoon (right side) to Wednesday afternoon (left side).  You can see a thin marine layer Sunday through Tuesday, then it thickens quite a bit Wednesday.  Those first three days it’s no thicker than 2,000′, which means you don’t have to worry about those low clouds if your viewing location is above that elevation.

Now check out Newport:

That’s pretty clear-cut, there is a high risk for morning/midday clouds right along the coastline in this pattern.  As we’ve been telling you for many months, planning to view the eclipse at the Coast is quite risky.  Two different models show a similar setup for low clouds Monday morning; likely at the coastline and just a possibility in the central Willamette Valley.  Note the ECMWF shows some intrusion into the Portland area but not down into the valley.  And you can see how the coastline is a bit iffy.

To wrap it all up, here are the forecasts we are using on-air tonight…

 

Episode 43: Oregon’s Total Solar Eclipse Preview

Time for an “Eclipse Podcast”! Lots of detailed information on what to expect on Monday. Enjoy.

Northwest Weather Podcast

This week, the guys dedicate the entire episode to the upcoming solar eclipse that will be passing through Oregon on Monday, August 21, 2017.

What will you see? Where will be the best spots to catch it? What will the weather be like? What should you avoid doing? Mark and Brian will answer all of those questions and more.

We have you fully covered on KPTV.com! Click here for all of the latest news on the solar eclipse and how state and local governments are planning for it.

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Eclipse Weather Update & Thoughts from 26-Time Eclipse Chaser

9:30pm

24 hours have passed and now we’re less than 7 days from our once-in-a-lifetime eclipse in Oregon.  There have been encouraging trends in our long-range forecast models.

The GFS model has now come around and decided there will NOT be a cold upper-level trough swinging through the Pacific Northwest next Monday.  The ECMWF and GEM models have not been showing that anyway, so that trend is very good.  That’s point #1 on the graphic above.  One more reason you shouldn’t make a forecast 2 weeks out calling for a rainy and cloudy day!

Cloud Cover?

Assuming there is no organized weather system nearby, that leaves either: A) Scattered high clouds overhead, or B) Low morning stratus clouds somewhere between the coastline and west slopes of the Cascades as possible weather that could block eclipse viewing.

The GFS shows almost no cloud cover under high pressure and typical summertime weather.

The ECMWF shows thin high clouds from an approaching system, although the contouring on this graphic makes that look a bit “intense”.

Neither implies significant marine cloud cover west of the Cascades, but THIS is the one weather feature that can easily change in the last 1-3 days before the event.

By the way, one of our regular readers just happens to be a HARDCORE eclipse chaser.  I assume Mike won’t mind me re-posting his info.  This is great stuff.  I hadn’t considered the possibility of low clouds re-developing during the eclipse in the moist coastal atmosphere as temps drop:

This is my 26th eclipse trip (16 TSEs seen, 6 annulars, 3 missed because of rain, clouds,and yes, wind). I’ve been using Jay Anderson (Environment Canada, retired meteorologist, who saved my eclipse in Australia by telling me to get off shore) and his blog eclipsophile, which already is looking at the 2 Jul 2019 eclipse. I have access to several other pages there, too, and can attest to what Mark has said regarding the uselessness of predicting cloudiness this far out. A couple of thoughts:

1. High clouds don’t ruin an eclipse; very few of my total viewings were in a clear sky. Puffy cumulus clouds drive you crazy, because you don’t know what they will do. Stratus, of course, is awful. Totally clear is rare; if you get it enjoy.

2. As the atmosphere cools during the partial phases, clouds may form. Then again, any convection (looking unlikely) gets shut off. The most I’ve seen the temp drop is 11 C (20 F). With moderately high dew points, the drop will probably be less.

3. Smoke is likely to be a concern for this eclipse, but the haze we had last week would have been OK, just not optimal, for viewing. I was camped out in northern Washington a week before, and you could barely see the Sun at all.

4. That said, I will be north of Ontario, about 1300 meters if I can (4200′), and have bail out plans in both directions, although it would have to be a major difference to consider going a long distance on eclipse AM. It wouldn’t be the first time. Hope all the eclipse virgins get to see it.

I’ve give a lot of talks from here to Prairie City, and tell people three things:

1. Totality is worth seeing. (Recent TED talk worth viewing).

2. Be safe, both in getting to the path and protecting your eyes.

3. If it’s your first, don’t take pictures. You’ll see better ones, mine have gathered dust, and every second spent looking at the camera takes away from the experience. This may be the only one you ever see. Enjoy it!

 

 

Eclipse Weather: A First Look

10pm Sunday

Now that we’re within 8 days of the eclipse, we can start to see a general weather pattern emerging.   The good news is that we don’t see a big wet weather pattern for next weekend and early the following week.  The (possibly) bad news is that SOME models keep trying to send a weak front or upper-level low quite close to us.  Of course that could possibly send lots of cloud cover overhead at the wrong time (for example…10:20am Monday the 21st).

Let’s check out the big picture:

1. We don’t know YET if large parts of the Pacific Northwest will be covered in clouds OR just under high pressure with mainly sunny skies.
2. Both of those possibilities (or perhaps something in-between) are still in play.
3. There is no need to worry, or freak out, no matter where you area headed this weekend.  We’ll get a more detailed forecast as we go through the week.
4. Do NOT alter your plans or viewing for now.  I know the hardcore folks have plans to move at the last minute if needed.  Don’t worry about that yet.

The general weather pattern for this calendar week is high pressure moving back over the West Coast, but this time it won’t be a big hot ridge of high pressure.  A weak jet stream will be just to our north later this week and through the upcoming weekend.  This is typically a nice weather pattern with varying amounts of morning clouds west of the Cascades.    On most models this continues through the early part of next week.

But SOME runs of SOME models have been trying to push a weak cold front or even an upper-level low through our area either Sunday or Monday.  The (less reliable) GFS model has been most persistent with this idea.  Take a look at its forecast for eclipse time in 8 days…very bad with a cold front moving onshore…solid cloud cover west of the Cascades, but just high clouds east of the mountains.

 

But then check out the ECMWF model:

Totally different with that weather system both staying to the north and also splitting apart well offshore.  This would say great viewing for the big event.  You can see why it would be a really BAD to make a specific cloud forecast at this point.

So is there anything else we could use to get an idea which model might be wrong, even this far out?  Yes, as I’ve mentioned in the past “ensemble forecasting” can help us out.  Take a look at the ensemble forecast from both the GFS and ECMWF for next Monday at about 18,000′.

You can see the GFS in general has slightly lower heights (more members that are giving us stronger upper-level troughing).  That said, even that 2nd map isn’t a wet or especially cloudy weather pattern.  Check out the GFS ensemble member rain accumulation forecast, each horizontal line representing one of those 21 members:

I see 5 members with a trace or more rain on eclipse that.  That’s about 1/4 of the members.  Obviously if we have rain there is cloud cover as well.  So it’s fair to quite a few members of this model have cloud cover over us on the big day.

How about that ECMWF?  The operational run of that model as you’ve seen above is quite nice.  Now look at the 51 ensemble members and their rain forecast:

Again each horizontal line represents one ensemble member.  I see 6 or 7 ( I also looked at all 51 maps!) members that would give us lots of clouds and even showers.  That’s a small percentage.  Odds are, based on this model, viewing might be just fine…but again it’s 8 days away.

One other model, the GEM (Canadian) looks pretty good as well.  It shows no sharp upper-level trough and just continues our fair weather pattern.

Of course I’ll be keeping on top of it all week-long.  I’m working each day through the eclipse…that last 2-3 down in Madras.

Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen

It Rained! Now Keep Watering Your Plants

5pm Sunday

I was camping with the family out at Stub Stewart State Park the last two days (very nice mountain bike trails!), and right at bedtime last night it started raining.  It was a rare summer sound to hear it raining all night, although I doubt it would have been real fun in a tent (we use a pop-up trailer).  Quite a change.

So of course the overnight rain ends our long dry spell in Portland.  This was the longest dry spell since the early 1980s in Portland

We ended up with .06″ rain in Portland; just barely enough to settle the dust

Notice EVERYONE saw the rain west of the Cascades, just not a lot.  I’m pretty sure the Scappoose reading is incorrect since several stations within 1-5 miles had measurable rain.

We would need an inch of rain to even call it a “soaking” and what little we just had doesn’t go far into the ground.  So your plants/gardens/trees barely noticed.  Keep watering because we don’t see a soaking rain for at least the next 7-10 days.

The westerly flow and weak front have given us 3 big changes:

1. No hot weather, today’s high of 75 was the coolest in almost a month.  We remain below 85 for the next week.
2. Fire smoke is gone…it has moved east of the Cascades
3. Humidity is back to normal.  After a week or so of humid weather, dewpoints are back into the 50s, a big improvement!

I’ll have another post later on eclipse weather…it’s only 8 days away now.

Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen

Thunderstorms In Valley Tonight

11:45pm Thursday

Our 12 day hot spell is ending this evening with a few flashes & bangs.  Thunderstorms over the Cascades are slipping westward into the Valley so you MIGHT see a flash the next few hours or wake up to thunder.  Of course as always it’s spotty and some spots will see it; some won’t

Here’s the latest chart showing cloud to ground strikes

So far nothing in the Portland metro area but that COULD change the next few hours…we’ll see.  It would be nice to see nighttime lightning at least once this summer!

Today was our 12th day with a high of 88+ in Portland and 13th at/above 90 in Salem.  But a thicker marine layer means many of us west of the Cascades will wake up to low clouds Friday AM.  This will keep highs below 90.

Fire smoke should start to dissipate tomorrow and be mainly gone Saturday as the airflow turns westerly at the surface and higher up as well.  It’s likely we’ll have our first measurable rain in almost 2 months Sunday as well.  Not a soaking, but at least enough to measure and turn streets wet at some point.

Chief Meteorologist Mark Nelsen