Changes

I've had 27 responses to my survey regarding the location of the chat window on the Hood River Weather site. Thanks everybody for your input, it was very much appreciated.

58% wanted it to stay exactly where it was. The rest, all over the field.

My conclusion? The current location of the chat window is definitely a distraction and a tripping point for those not interested in chat. And, as the weather gets more boring, the discussions will probably move further away from weather, which is fine with me, but maybe not so much for others.

So here's the changes coming up. Since I'm all about options, the main entry site (weather.htm) will NOT have the chat window, but a link to it. I'll also provide an identical site with the chat window in the current position. The chat window has its own site, which is here. Myself, I have mostly moved to that separate site for chat, since it isn't affected by the auto-refresh of the main weather site.

In other words, the Hood River Weather site will be an opt-in site regarding chat, rather than an opt-out.

These changes will occur in the next 48 hours. Once done, bookmark the site you prefer, and I'll see you there one way or another.

Click Here

I was just advised of this link. Trader Joe's location request form. For a long time now, I've been hoping TJ's would locate a store here in the Columbia River Gorge.

Thanks for the link, Chris.

Jan 10 update: It has been suggested that a location in The Dalles might be preferable, and I agree.

Extreme Weather: A Theory

The past 4 weeks have brought some of the most extreme and variable winter weather I can ever remember Hood River having. Arctic air, record snow depths, huge icicles, black ice, freezing rain, slush, mountain rain, sudden warming by westerly winds, spring-like days, heavy rain, and flooding. I've almost certainly left some things out.

There's plenty of theories and models attempting to explain the extreme weather this winter. I've really enjoyed the excellent links and discussions in the new Hood River Weather "Live Chat" window. Not having a strong background in weather modeling, I've learned a lot, and have had fun doing it. But, come on. All this talk of models and ENSO and ocean temperatures and ocean conveyor belts is, quite frankly, crazy talk.

I have developed my own (more sane) theory as to why our mild weather turned to extreme weather when it did. It's consistent with my observations, elegant in its simplicity, and, (due to Occam's Razor) almost certainly correct. I see the pattern clearly, and it's a perfect fit.

On Dec 13, 2008, at approximately 16:30, I created the chat room, inserted it into the site code, and turned it on. Within hours, the weather patterns started to change. Arctic air moved in. Snow. Ice. A weather pattern shift of monstrous proportions!

I am now almost certain that, by plugging in the chat room, I inadvertently opened a window into the "Extreme Weather Dimension" (EWD). And, at that moment, the "Extreme Weather Dimension Monster" (EWDM) stepped through into our world. Ever since, it (the EWDM) has been wreaking havoc on our weather.

Now... whether this was due to cosmic strings oscillating off-key, or multiple strings colliding in the d-dimension of space/time, well, I just couldn't tell you. But that's not important. It happened, and I take full responsibility for my tragic miscalculations.

It's clear to me now what I must do next. I've seen the movies. I must somehow dive into the chat room, thereby entering the EWD. I'll do this at a time when there is no one else in there; your safety is of upmost concern. Once in, I must taunt the EWD Monster (who is wreaking havoc on our weather); enraging it sufficiently so that it storms back into the EWD, where I will be ready and waiting...

Oh yes, I will be ready for it. While I engage it in battle, at the proper moment I will pull the plug on the chat room (EWD). Victory! I have lured the enraged EWDM back into the EWD and our weather can return to a normal winter pattern! I have rectified my sins! I have... oh shit...

I have trapped myself in the EWD with the enraged EWDM, and I have closed the portal.

Ok, I've got some work to do on the details. I'll let you know how things develop. In any event, enjoy the more normal winter weather coming up.

Changes ahead for the HR Weather live chat room. Stay tuned...

The EWD Monster in a more restful mood... but getting slightly irritated...

December Revisited

Compared to historical averages, December in Hood River was much colder, with average wind speed and rainfall equivalent (rain plus melted snow).

The average temperature was 3.4 degrees colder than long term averages, and 4.0 degrees colder than more recent averages (2000-2007). Wind speeds were average, with SSE winds predominating. Note that the calculation for wind direction is notoriously skewed, especially when the winds come from every which direction during the month.

The first half of the month was pretty boring, weather-wise. There was a high wind gust of 34 mph on Dec 12, as weather patterns started to shift. The second half: not nearly so boring (to put it mildly). Arctic air moved in Dec 14, followed by weeks of snow and ice. See previous posts for some of the more lurid details.

The variety of weather was also unusually capricious. Relatively warm westerly chinook winds raised morning temperatures dramatically on a couple of occasions, only to plunge back down later. On Dec 31, we registered a chinook gust of 33, while Tom's westside weather station had a gust of 50 mph!

There was at least one official record set in December. That occurred on Dec 1, where the high of 57 surpassed the previous record (56 in 1939). Now snowfall, that's a different story. Since there was snow on the ground from Dec 15 thru the end of the month, and it was snowing/compacting/snowing more/compacting more all the time, I don't have any official daily snowfall amounts from MCAREC for that time period. Hopefully we will at some point. But I am pretty sure that new "snow depth" records were set from 12/18 through at least 12/28. This was the most amount of snow on the ground since 1980, and probably surpassed 1980 in number of days of record snow depth.

The data below is from our home weather station. The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from our own station's 2000 to 2007 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at our station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.

	High	Low	Average	Historical Average
Temperature (F)	57	9	32.7	36.1
Wind (mph)	34		1.7	1.6
Rainfall (in)	0.98		5.57 (total)	5.81

New Year, New Record

If you've followed this blog for awhile, you know that I'm all over the local weather records. Record rain, snow, temperatures (highs, lows, high lows, low highs). It's an obsession of sorts. Relatively harmless, but an obsession none the less.

And my obsession was deeply satisfied yesterday when we officially received 3.12" of rain equivalent precipitation (melted snow and rain), shattering both the local daily record for Jan 1 of 1.60" (1997), and the daily record for ANY day in January (previously 2.48" Jan 6 1948).

Except for some localized flooding and mudslides, it was a moment in weather history to be savored. You were there. Me too.

Happy New Year!