It's been a tough year so far

Looking back at the ski season so far, I first remember clear dry days in the fall, a week or two of snow around New Year's, then of course lots and lots rain. It's always interesting to quantify it. Here's some selected climatological data from Sea-Tac (source: www.atmos.washington.edu/cgi-bin/list_climate.cgi?clmsea)

NOVEMBER CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT FOR SEA-TAC AIRPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
PRECIPITATION DATA......
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH...... 3.71 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... -2.19
TOTAL SINCE JANUARY 1.... 26.09 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.... -5.35
GREATEST 24 HOUR RAINFALL WAS 0.90 INCHES ON DAY 12

That's 63% of normal for the month of November. Not so bad as long as it picks up. Check out the January data:

JANUARY CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT FOR SEA-TAC AIRPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
100 AM PST SAT FEB 1 2003

TEMPERATURE DATA......
(DEGREES F)
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE.... 45.8 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... +4.9
AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE.... 51.1
AVERAGE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE.... 40.4
HIGHEST TEMPERATURE WAS 58 ON DAY 26
LOWEST TEMPERATURE WAS 32 ON DAY 15

PRECIPITATION DATA......
TOTAL FOR THE MONTH...... 7.95 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL... 2.82
TOTAL SINCE JANUARY 1.... 7.95 DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL.... 2.82
GREATEST 24 HOUR RAINFALL WAS 0.95 INCHES ON DAY 1

..NUMBER OF DAYS..
WITH .01 INCHES OR MORE....18 HIGHS 32 DEGREES OR COLDER....0
WITH .10 INCHES OR MORE....16 HIGHS 90 DEGREES OR WARMER....0
WITH .50 INCHES OR MORE....7 LOWS 32 DEGREES OR COLDER....1
WITH 1.00 INCHES OR MORE....0 LOWS 0 DEGREES OR COLDER....0

WIND DATA.............
THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED FOR THE MONTH WAS 7.4 MPH
THE FASTEST TWO MINUTE WIND WAS 30 MPH FROM THE SOUTHWEST ON THE 2ND.
THE HIGHEST INSTANTANEOUS WIND GUST WAS 37 MPH FROM THE SOUTHWEST ON
THE 2ND AND 22ND.

RECORDS...
RECORD MAXIMUM WAS SET WITH 57 ON THE 6TH AND 58 ON THE 26TH.
A RECORD HIGH MINIMUM OF 48 WAS SET ON THE 30TH.
MEAN MONTLY AVERAGE OF 45.8 DEGREES IS SECOND WARMEST ON RECORD
AT SEA-TAC BEHIND JANUARY 1995.

The precipitation for January was 155% of normal, and coupled with the second warmest month on record means lots of rain. This is reflected in the current snowpack (source: www.seawfo.noaa.gov/products/CLISNO)

CLIMATOLOGICAL SNOWDEPTH INFORMATION
NORTHWEST WEATHER AND AVALANCHE CENTER
ISSUED THROUGH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE

FOR : DAY 1 MONTH 2 YEAR 2003

DATA IN INCHES, -99 DENOTES MISSING DATA

CURRENT CLIMATE PER CENT LAST THRU 2002 THRU 2002
DEPTH AVERAGE OF NORMAL YEAR MAX/YEAR MIN/YEAR

MT BAKER 82 124 66 131 234/1933 17/1981
STEVENS 58 87 67 113 152/1964 10/1981
SNOQUALMIE 41 80 51 108 154/1964 8/1977
STAMPEDE 46 88 52 118 228/1946 2/1977
PARADISE 78 133 59 188 240/1969 27/1977
WHITE PASS 26 53 49 86 88/1997 0/1977
MT HOOD 41 99 41 161 161/2002 15/1981

Let's hope it starts snowing soon.

nice report on the statistics. <br>Whistler-Blackcomb reported earlier this season that there was no need to worry as the last time El Nino came through January was one of the biggest dumping months on record. No so lucky this year. <br><br>Also, how does El Nino effect the New Zealand winter?<br>

Looking at that last table, all I can say is at least it is not '77 or '81 all over again. The current snowpack is looking downright massive in comparison!

I don't know much about El Nino, but do know that it is a tropical pacific phenomenon and that it usually gets going around summer to fall, peaks around December or January and dies out by the following summer which happens to be New Zealand's winter. It is also relatively far south so will feel relatively less effect than locations closer to the equator. I'll pass along this link www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/elnino/impacts.html It discusses a little of the global impacts and contains tons of other links to explore.

At least it isn't '77 or '81 again is right. The skiing right now is actually quite good Charles, check out my trip report info relevant to tomorrow.