Washington Weather - Daily Weather pics and reports! (Vancouver: deal, flood zone)

[mayfair]

It's nice out today. Clouds but some sun peaking through and the wind stopped, now it's time to clean up the branches and mess before the next one. The Northwest Interior gets so much wind during fall and winter. Someone new moves in to the area every few years and tries to put up a Costco tent garage and it's in shreds after the first storm. We almost did the same but the neighbors warned us about the winds.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by mayfair

It's nice out today. Clouds but some sun peaking through and the wind stopped, now it's time to clean up the branches and mess before the next one. The Northwest Interior gets so much wind during fall and winter. Someone new moves in to the area every few years and tries to put up a Costco tent garage and it's in shreds after the first storm. We almost did the same but the neighbors warned us about the winds.

Interesting. Before moving to Vancouver, I was warned about high winds which sometimes whip up through the Gorge. Of course, Hood River is famous for its high winds and windsurfing, kiteboarding, etc... So, we were preparing to live in a very windy place. What we discovered was just the opposite. That is 95+% of the time the winds are very calm, the calmest we've ever lived in. They die down greatly after moving up the Gorge. When wind events do occur they are normally short lived in conjunction with major storms coming down from the north. But that's more rare throughout the year.

When looking at locations in the PNW, we had heard about other places with high winds and such. Areas above Seattle have some kind of a polar vortex which make it colder in the winter.

While living in Colorado Springs which is high desert (mile high+), the weather was very unpredictable and changed quickly. The winds were the worst we have experienced, just the opposite of Vancouver. That was something we hoped to avoid. We had blizzards with snow blowing sideways along with freezing rain and other windstorm events in the double digits more regularly. They would often brag about their sunny days annually but fail to mention those with high winds and bitter cold. 5 degrees and sunny with sub zero wind chill is no bueno. I loved it when the weather man said it would be 'warming up' into the 30s. lol





Derek

[mayfair]

Vancouver sounds like a good middle ground without much wind, has lots of winter sun and mild temps.

Western Snohomish County north of Everett through Skagit County, Camano Island, up through Bellingham all get very windy in winter. The wind wasn't so bad in Seattle. It's also worse in areas with southern and western exposure, which are two things people want to get more light in the house. The prevailing winds come from the south and west (in Bellingham they also come from the north, but that's rare south of Bham).

[MechAndy]

Our area has lifted the temporary burn ban due to the weather change.
The area also lifted the fishing an on our local creeks and rivers.
I will start to get rid of some of our yard debris soon.
I am going to hit the river in a couple days for some chinook salmon.
I went to the river just a little while ago.
There were hundreds of king salmon on their run.
I have always been mesmerized watching the salmon run .

[MechAndy]

Took my sister in-law sight seeing in the Elwha area.

[Ruth4Truth]

Well, you guys, I'm scheduled to arrive in your neck of the woods next Saturday. The forecasts show rain nearly every day, though some of that is expected to be only "morning showers", which isn't a problem for me. I don't mind rain as long as there are sunbreaks on and off during the day, like there were last fall. Drizzle on and off most days, sometimes a little heavier for about an hour, then sunbreaks.

But the warnings of flooding in the NW part of the state, between Mt Vernon and southern BC have me worried. And y'all are talking about winds and power outages. I never experienced a power outage all the yrs I lived in Seattle. So I'm wondering if I should just forfeit my cheap fare and stay home. I'll be watching the forecasts, and will be checking in with friends up there, during the week.

Was hoping to visit friends on Orcas for a few days, then Lynden, then spend most of my time in Lynnwood. We havent' decided if we'll try to do a day trip or overnight trip out Andy's way to see that rebuilt visitors' center the S'Klallam recently completed, or some other little outing. Depends on the weather.

[MechAndy]

Those cheap airfares are hard to pass up aren’t they ?

I’m doing a couple trips to the Bay @ $59 each way in the near future.
Luckily I have a ride between my place and SeaTac right now.
OAK to D’ville is the easy part.
I’d do more of them if I always had that ride available.

I’m still trying to figure out how to get cheap tickets.
I normally just blindly stumble onto them.

I want to go to the Keys for a bit when we are in the winter chill.
Hopefully I do good on those tickets.

I know that the NW (if that’s what what that area is called) is going to get hammered.
We keep hearing rain and nasty for here and other than that one windy afternoon it’s been BBQ weather nice (mid 60’s) for me at least.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Well, you guys, I'm scheduled to arrive in your neck of the woods next Saturday. The forecasts show rain nearly every day, though some of that is expected to be only "morning showers", which isn't a problem for me. I don't mind rain as long as there are sunbreaks on and off during the day, like there were last fall. Drizzle on and off most days, sometimes a little heavier for about an hour, then sunbreaks.

But the warnings of flooding in the NW part of the state, between Mt Vernon and southern BC have me worried. And y'all are talking about winds and power outages. I never experienced a power outage all the yrs I lived in Seattle. So I'm wondering if I should just forfeit my cheap fare and stay home. I'll be watching the forecasts, and will be checking in with friends up there, during the week.

Was hoping to visit friends on Orcas for a few days, then Lynden, then spend most of my time in Lynnwood. We haven't decided if we'll try to do a day trip or overnight trip out Andy's way to see that rebuilt visitors' center the S'Klallam recently completed, or some other little outing. Depends on the weather.

Ruth, its been warm in NW with our endless summer for 5+ months. Now, the floodgates have opened back up and the rain is in full swing with no end in sight. There will always be little breaks here and there. But that's too hard to predict even for the weather man as systems slide down from the north. So, its really anyone's guess at this point knowing that there will be lots of rain. I'm always on the lookout for breaks in the weather where I can get out there along with just going for hikes in the forest in the rain or paddles. Its still beautiful with fall colors and more quiet along the popular trails.

Derek

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by mayfair

It's nice out today. Clouds but some sun peaking through and the wind stopped, now it's time to clean up the branches and mess before the next one. The Northwest Interior gets so much wind during fall and winter. Someone new moves in to the area every few years and tries to put up a Costco tent garage and it's in shreds after the first storm. We almost did the same but the neighbors warned us about the winds.

It's doubly bad right in the foothills. We had new neighbors that bought all this backyard furniture, tent gazebo, and one of those lightweight screened metal fire bowls. I thought they'd put it away when the weather got bad so I didn't say anything. Next thing I know most of the furniture was on its way north never to be seen again, the remains of the gazebo wrapped around the transformer box in our yard, which saved it from hitting my car thankfully, and the fire bowl base ended up under our deck.

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

It's doubly bad right in the foothills. We had new neighbors that bought all this backyard furniture, tent gazebo, and one of those lightweight screened metal fire bowls. I thought they'd put it away when the weather got bad so I didn't say anything. Next thing I know most of the furniture was on its way north never to be seen again, the remains of the gazebo wrapped around the transformer box in our yard, which saved it from hitting my car thankfully, and the fire bowl base ended up under our deck.

One of our old neighbors' trampolines ended up 2 doors down in the winter high winds. They didn't anchor it. People from other areas (even some in WA) have no idea how absolutely everything needs to be secured or put away. And no tarps on anything will survive very long. You can't just tarp something like firewood. The tarp will be shredded.

The wind blows the rain in so sheds/garages need to be secure to keep things dry or they get damp and moldy. It's a lot of work to manage "stuff" during the wet season and keep everything dry and undamaged or lost from the wind. You can't leave anything loose in the yard like you can in a more protected, less windy area.