West Coast Contrasts: Cool North/Hot South

The recent weather has been starkly different between the north and southern portions of the West Coast.

Over the Northwest we have experienced weeks of typical June weather:  cool with light moisture. And eastern WA has been cooler than normal with no fires. In contrast, southern CA is burning with temperatures reaching above 100F away from the coast; some unlucky folks are experiencing 115-125F.

Here is the departure from average of the daily temperatures during the past two weeks.   Cooler than normal in the Northwest, particular near and immediately downstream of the Cascade crest.   Warm in southern CA and VERY warm east of the Rockies.

Precipitation?  A bit wetter than normal over much of our region during this period.

One huge difference from last year is the mild conditions over eastern WA.  For example, take a look at Pasco, WA during the past month.   After the warm spell in early June, the cooling hit hard, with many days dropping far below normal...some even near 40F.

Wednesday night brought another cool, wet system to our region, as illustrated by the regional radar imagery at 10:30 AM.   No need to water tomorrow.

In fact, the 72hr precipitation total forecast by the WRF model is impressive (see below_, with some portions of the Cascades and Olympics getting 1-2 inches.  Good for water supplies and good for reducing the fire risk further.