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Weather Blog - February 2013

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How Mariners hitters will find Safeco Field feels 16° warmer
Apr 8, 2013 at 1:30 PM PDT
Northwest Weather Photos: Spectacular winter skies
Mar 6, 2013 at 3:00 PM PDT
Yet another chilly spring on tap for the Northwest?
Feb 28, 2013 at 2:40 PM PDT
Sunshine trick gives Sequim horizon a rather bizarre glow
Feb 27, 2013 at 4:58 PM PDT
3 weeks of Seattle rain = 3 hours of Atlanta rain
Feb 27, 2013 at 12:13 AM PDT
Autumn? Summer? How the seasons got their names
Feb 26, 2013 at 11:05 PM PDT
Watch Friday's Convergence Zone in action
Feb 23, 2013 at 8:38 PM PDT
Tucson now has a snowier 2013 than Seattle
Feb 20, 2013 at 8:28 PM PDT
See how Northwest is a treasure trove of awesome weather photographers
Feb 19, 2013 at 3:00 PM PDT
Incredible video of multi-layered lenticular cloud over Mt. Rainier
Feb 19, 2013 at 2:30 PM PDT
Network of college and high school age forecasters keep tabs on the skies
Feb 18, 2013 at 8:19 PM PDT
Convergence Zone brings radically different weather just 25 miles apart
Feb 17, 2013 at 2:32 AM PDT
Answering some questions on the Russian meteor strike
Feb 15, 2013 at 7:22 PM PDT
Winter's over for Seattle....or is it?
Feb 13, 2013 at 9:02 PM PDT
Dramatic video shows F4 tornado as it moves through Mississippi
Feb 12, 2013 at 11:57 PM PDT
The dazzling result of crossing Dr. Seuss with a blizzard
Feb 11, 2013 at 8:22 PM PDT
New England blizzard, as seen in time lapse videos
Feb 10, 2013 at 7:25 PM PDT
3 feet of snow for New England?!? Here's what that might look like
Feb 8, 2013 at 6:32 PM PDT
UK lighthouse feels wrath of North Sea during windstorm
Feb 7, 2013 at 11:40 PM PDT
Intricate snowflake snuggles up to girl in Connecticut
Feb 6, 2013 at 7:54 PM PDT
2013 to be home of the 'Comet of the Century'?
Feb 5, 2013 at 5:36 PM PDT
How your smartphone can help us better predict the weather
Feb 4, 2013 at 5:55 PM PDT
Proof positive the mountains of the Northwest are gorgeous
Feb 1, 2013 at 6:40 PM PDT

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About Scott Sistek

Meteorologist

Recent Posts

Weather Intense thunderstorm upstages cruise ship entertainment (Photo Gallery)

By Scott Sistek Published: May 23, 2013 at 9:55 AM PDT

It's not often entertainment on board a cruise ship can be upstaged but on this particular night, Mother Nature gave it a shot.

Make that, several shots...

I took this video as the Disney Fantasy sailed into the Gulf of Mexico on May 1 just hours after it left a very hot and muggy Cozumel, Mexico.

(How hot? I went back and checked when I got home and it was 86 degrees with a 73 degree dew point that evening. Or as this Seattleite said: About 3 degrees cooler than molten lava. Though I'm sure many of the Florida residents on the ship probably thought it was a bit chilly.)

Weather Brrr! Seattle, Portland briefly tied for coldest major city in lower 48

By Scott Sistek Published: May 22, 2013 at 11:37 AM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2013 at 1:08 PM PDT

Does it feel a bit like January out there today? Your skin does not deceive you.

A cold system from the Gulf of Alaska has settled into the Pacific Northwest, bringing not only a steady winter-like rain but has kept temperatures stuck in the 40s(!) through the late morning.

In fact, at 11 a.m., Seattle was stuck at 46 degrees -- about the average high for mid January. It's so cold in the Northwest that Seattle and Portland were tied as the coldest major cities in the lower 48 states -- and it wasn't even close! (Boise was at 50. Anchorage was also at 46. If we do lower our population threshold for "major city", Spokane checks in at 41.)

Portland would gradually take the trophy by itself as Seattle later warmed into the low 50s as Portland remained stuck in the mid 40s.

Weather How tornado victims got 36 minutes of precious warning time (Photo Gallery)

By Scott Sistek Published: May 21, 2013 at 12:18 PM PDT Last Updated: May 22, 2013 at 10:43 AM PDT

Thirty-six minutes.

That might not seem very long -- roughly about the time it takes to wade through your hourly drama if you blaze through commercials. But compared to a few decades ago, 36 minutes of time might have saved countless lives during the devastating tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma on Monday.

Years ago, the residents of Moore would have likely had no idea the tornado was coming until the twister was sighted, giving people barely a few minutes' notice. But thanks to advancements in technology, tornadoes rarely sneak up on anyone anymore.

In fact, forecasters as early as Wednesday began sounding the alarm for a potential severe weather breakout on Sunday and Monday. And, on Friday, the forecasts became more specific. On Monday, a Tornado Watch, which indicates conditions are right for tornadic development, was issued at 1:10 p.m. for much of Oklahoma, including the greater Oklahoma City area.

Weather "What does ''EF-4'' mean?' and other tornado questions answered

By Scott Sistek Published: May 20, 2013 at 4:10 PM PDT

With tornadoes in the news lately I figured it'd be a good time to post answers to some frequently asked questions about the powerful storms:

What does "EF-4" mean?

WIth the devastating tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, you'll be hearing a lot of about "EF" ratings -- that's from the Enhanced Fujita Scale that rates tornadoes on a scale of 0 to 5, 5 being the strongest.

The Moore tornado was given a preliminary rating of EF-4 ("Devastating") with estimated tornadic wind speeds of up to 200 mph, although many are thinking that rating could be increased to an EF-5 ("Incredible") once more damage assessment is done.

Sadly, it's not the first time Moore has had to deal with such a catastrophic storm. On May 3, 1999, Moore was struck by an EF-5 tornado which recorded the strongest wind speed ever registered near Earth's surface. this map provided by the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma shows just how close the two tracks were.

Weather Northern Lights peek out in Eastern Washington (Photo Gallery)

By Scott Sistek Published: May 18, 2013 at 9:57 AM PDT Last Updated: May 19, 2013 at 12:55 AM PDT

As we mentioned in the blog Thursday, there's a particularly active sunspot on the sun right now.

It had, as its opening salvo while starting to face the Earth, unleashed a moderately strong solar flare that reached us late Friday, triggering a display of the Northern Lights that reached as far south as Colorado.

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