Karl Bonner


  • I think it’s pretty obvious now, with daytime temps consistently rising into the 50s over the past several days, that we’re done with any kind of wintry weather for the season. So it’s time to pull the fork and […]

  • I think it’s pretty obvious now, with daytime temps consistently rising into the 50s over the past several days, that we’re done with any kind of wintry weather for the season. So it’s time to pull the fork and […]

    • Karl, being rather new to the PNW (nearly 4 years), it is certainly interesting to experience the “early” winters here, especially having grown up back East (where winter is still occurring as I type), then being 16 years in the San Francisco area (where summers are “late,” maxing in September/October). I look forward to your next blog on this subject. Though I am a snow lover, I am ready for Spring to hit full-force.

    • The year 2011 was an interesting one, in that our hottest weather of the year came in early September (much like parts of California often experience!). Also we had a ton of low-elevation snow in March 2012. Sometimes the “normal” seasonal timetable gets skewed…

  • With the arrival of west wind and temps in the 40s today Saturday, our late February cold snap in the Columbia Gorge is officially over! And what an event it was…roughly six days from beginning to end, and with […]

  • With the arrival of west wind and temps in the 40s today Saturday, our late February cold snap in the Columbia Gorge is officially over! And what an event it was…roughly six days from beginning to end, and with […]

  • This is going to be super short, because I’m still sick.

    I hope you enjoyed “Round 1” of our late February cold-weather bonanza, because Round 2 is beginning even as I write this.

    Over the last 24 to 48 hours, […]

  • This is going to be super short, because I’m still sick.

    I hope you enjoyed “Round 1” of our late February cold-weather bonanza, because Round 2 is beginning even as I write this.

    Over the last 24 to 48 […]

  • We’re now less than 24 hours away from a somewhat historic late-season cold snap in the Pacific Northwest and Columbia River Gorge. And it’s coming on the heels of one of the mildest midwinter periods we’ve ever […]

  • We’re now less than 24 hours away from a somewhat historic late-season cold snap in the Pacific Northwest and Columbia River Gorge. And it’s coming on the heels of one of the mildest midwinter periods we’ve ever […]

  •  

     

    I would like to apologize for my long hiatus from weather blogging. It’s just been time to focus on life in general these past couple months. That’s included several trips to Portland: to search for new e […]

  •  

     

    I would like to apologize for my long hiatus from weather blogging. It’s just been time to focus on life in general these past couple months. That’s included several trips to Portland: to search for n […]

  • What kind of Christmas party Charlie?

  • Wow…what a crazy 10-12 days it has been. Never before in my life as a WX geek, have I seen this much uncertainty & disagreement as to what’s going to happen 7 or even 3-4 days ahead in the forecasts.

    WHAT’S […]

  • Wow…what a crazy 10-12 days it has been. Never before in my life as a WX geek, have I seen this much uncertainty & disagreement as to what’s going to happen 7 or even 3-4 days ahead in the forecasts.

    WHAT’S […]

  • It’s been quite a while since I posted last, but not too much of interest has happened since then. The biggest “story” was our record warm Thanksgiving in The Dalles, at 67 degrees F. We’ve actually had 3 of the […]

  • It’s been quite a while since I posted last, but not too much of interest has happened since then. The biggest “story” was our record warm Thanksgiving in The Dalles, at 67 degrees F. We’ve actually had 3 of the […]

  • 1955 was off the f**** scale. That’s really the only term that does it justice.

  • It begins on December 20/21 and ends March 19/20, if you follow the conventional calendar.
    It begins on November 6/7 and ends February 3/4, if you go strictly by sun angle.
    It begins on December 1 and ends […]

  • It begins on December 20/21 and ends March 19/20, if you follow the conventional calendar.
    It begins on November 6/7 and ends February 3/4, if you go strictly by sun angle.
    It begins on December 1 and ends […]

    • Great post Karl. I especially liked your reasoning for the “real” winter for the Pacific Northwest.

      I’ve always wondered what November 1955 was like… I remember from when I was a kid seeing super low record lows on the KOMO newscasts during mid November and being in disbelief. Here’s the temps at Sea-Tac from that stretch of November 1955.

      11/11: 38/15
      11/12: 21/13
      11/13: 23/14
      11/14: 23/9
      11/15: 24/6
      11/16: 31/21
      11/17: 31/23

      The reanalysis data from NCEP has the textbook arctic outbreak pattern for the PNW – I’m still trying to figure out why this air mass was so cold though. Sea-Tac got 1.4 inches of snow on the 11th and didn’t get any more until 4.6 inches from an overrunning event on the 17th. The lack of snow makes this event all the more impressive.

      500mb reanalysis plot: https://cdn.weathertogether.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/11/USA_500mb_Nov1955.gif

    • 1955 was off the f**** scale. That’s really the only term that does it justice.

  • The most memorable snowstorm of my early childhood in The Dalles was of course late November 1985. Temps as cold as -1F a couple days before Thanksgiving, too….

    Then there was the 1992-93 winter season, where the cold and snow lingered throughout late February and the first few days of March.

    The El Nino season in 1997-98 had a big…[Read more]

  • I hope you all had a happy Halloween these past few days. I enjoyed a weekend stay in Portland, where I attended my first-ever OMSI Winter Weather Conference and got to meet several of my online weather buddies in […]

  • Load More