Mt. Rainier time lapse video of lenticular clouds

Yesterday I noticed some cool clouds up on Mount Rainier on my way to work. So did this camera.

TacomaWeatherCam.com captured this great video of lenticular clouds over Mt. Rainier on Jan. 26, 2011.



According to Komo 4 News the clouds are actually very common.

The cloud is formed when warm, moist air runs into the surface of Mt. Rainier. The mountain's topography forces the air upward, which cools and condenses the air -- turning it into a cloud.

As the air sinks back on the other side of the mountain, it dries out and the cloud dissipates. That's why it just hangs over the summit area.

Although it looks like it is "hanging" over the mountain, air is continually flowing over the summit, as the video proves.

You know you're in Spokane summer weather when...

1. You wake up to 85 degrees, go to work and by the time you go home, it's 65 and raining.

2. Tornado warnings? No we don't have those here, but freak dust devils going down Division st. is a common sight.

3. There's nothing quite like the dog days of August when night time temperatures reach a balmy 95 degrees and you're forced to sleep in the bathtub with the shower turned on full cold.

4. You hear "Let's go to the Lake" roughly 4,743 times during the day.

5. You get rained on and sunburnt at the same time. Also don't forget the possibility that you could get struck by lightning.

6. By the time I finish this blog, the weather will have already changed.

The heat is here in Spokane

And I thought Seattle was the only city in the PNW that got triple digit temps :D

The National Weather Service recorded an official high at the Spokane International Airport of 101 degrees today, tying the record for the day set in 1971. It also marked the first time this year that Spokane reached the triple digits, said Laurie Nisbet of the weather service.

Lewiston also tied a record for the day, reaching 106 at the airport. Wenatchee, meanwhile, broke a record for the date with a high of 107; the previous high was 103, Nisbet said.

Omak and Moses Lake also hit 106, while Coeur d’Alene topped out at 99. The warmest spot in the region, however, belonged to Entiat, west of Waterville on the west bank of the Columbia River, Nisbet said. Today’s high reached 108.

Has anyone ever been to Waterville? I'm pretty sure exactly one person lives there. One. And he owns a convenience store. That's it. What a town.

And for some reason, I'm happy I'm in Spokane

It's going to be in the cool 80s today. Meanwhile over on the west side of the state...

"July 29, 2009 looks to be a day that will be written about in Seattle weather history books for years to come," wrote KIRO 7 meteorologist Sam Argier in his forecast. He said he expects the high to top out at 101 degrees.

"The current all-time record high is 100 degrees and has been set twice, back on July 20, 1994 at Sea-Tac Airport and on July 16, 1941, when records were kept downtown at the Federal Building," Argier wrote. "Records for Seattle go all the way back to 1891, so this is a truly historic event."

Let me extend my feelings of sorrow to all the west siders that are feeling their first Spokane-esque heatwave in.. well... ever ... it must be a really tough experience when you're sitting in the drive-thru to get your Starbucks.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to my air-conditioned job.

Hot summer nights and why they suck

So in all the years of my life, I've spent them in:

1. A log cabin with one air-conditioning unit that we turned on sometimes. SOMETIMES. Most of the times my parents would tell me to just go jump into the lake.

2. A cabin out in the humid Maryland Eastern Shore. No AC. Plenty of snakes, bugs I wasn't use to, Jason Vorhees, no television, no radio, dial up Internet and plenty of camp counselor mischief to get into.

3. A basement apartment with no AC. But since it was a basement apartment, and since I couldn't afford electricity, it stayed pretty cool.

4. A basement apartment with no AC. Sometimes it would get so hot, I would go to the nearby coffee shop to drink something warm to cool me off.

5. A large house with no AC. And since I had the upper corner room, with plenty of windows, the heat would rise and I would roast. Luckily I had the world's biggest box fan that probably sucks more juice from the electrical grid than Eastern Washington University itself.

And you know what sucks during the summer with no AC. Trying to sleep. I personally am a winter guy because you never have this problem in the winter because you're too busy freezing your butt off.

That problem is... sweating.

I hate feeling sweaty when I'm trying to sleep. It's quite possibly the worst feeling in the world. And since I live in the rain shadow of Eastern Washington, and since apparently AC has not come to this region of the country - this problem is always constant.

(And please keep your mind out of the gutter with the sweating and sleeping connection. I'll probably write some perverted blog about it later, so hold your horses)

I would like to raise awareness for sweaty sleeping in summer and would even suggest some sort of 5-step program where we pay Spokies to pour five-gallon jugs of cold (clean and Spokie-free) water on us at night. I definitely would be up for that.

Who's with me?

A moose invasion

Another one of those "Only in Spokane" stories as a moose calf crashed into a couple's basement bedroom and had to be tranquilized and removed.

A north Spokane couple that’s expecting a baby got an early arrival Thursday evening when a moose calf dropped into a bedroom through a basement window.

Tony Mantese reported the moose-entry incident around 4:30 p.m. from his home on Stevens Street just north of Francis Avenue. The moose apparently had been taking advantage of the shallower snow around the neighborhood buildings when it fell into a deep window well. As is struggled to get out and rejoin its mother and sibling, it kicked through the window and fell into the house.

“I got the call around 6 p.m. that there was a moose in somebody’s basement,” said Woody Myers, a Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologist trained to tranquilize big-game animals. “I said ‘You’re kidding’ and the officer quite sternly said, ‘No I’m not.’ ”

Myers, a 32-year veteran with the wildlife agency, is the region’s go-to-man for tranquilizing moose and other big game. He said this is a first.

The article also said that tough winters like the one Spokane is currently having is causing wildlife to go places that they would not normally go. Six elk were also killed a little while back when the hay barn they were taking refuge in collapsed due to the weight of snow.

In other words, expect company from the animal kingdom for dinner.

Only in Spokane

Since we're reaching the breaking point here in Spokane, where apparently every mini-van in the city has become high-centered, this was just bound to happen:

One man was arrested by Spokane police after gunshots were fired Monday morning at a private snow plow operator who was clearing a parking lot. Police said the motorist apparently got upset when the plow operator honked his horn.

"It's safe to say that fuses are short, people are frustrated and we are having an increase in neighborhood disputes regarding snow-related issues," said Jennifer DeRuwe, a police spokeswoman.

My uncle's company, Hansen Logging, which has helped out with the plowing in Spokane County, has had someone shoot at their machinery with a pellet gun, and one of their trucks was vandalized.

One of the worst things right now about the snow is the large pot holes that are developing in the plowed snow everyone is driving over. They're developing at every turn-in and turn-out in the city so basically you're taking a chance to get stuck everytime you go someplace unless you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

And I get to go downtown this evening... yessss.....

You know it's cold when...

- The old-timers don't talk about "that winter in '54 that made this look like a tropical vacation."

- The weatherman says that we'll be warming up next week and the high tempretures are still a good ten to 15 degrees below freezing.

- Outside pets are picketing to be let inside.

- Inside pets are making fun of them.

- Fans at football stadiums are making snowmen in the seats where fans didn't show up.

- Suddenly luxury suites in those stadiums don't seem so evil.

- Every guy (and woman) in your town decides to start resembling Al Borland.

- Watching football games in sunny Florida makes you angry.

- So angry in fact that you hope that every warm weather team in the NFL loses in the playoffs (Why do you think the Packers, have such a large fan base? Because they're not pusses when it comes to snow).

- Canada asks the borders to be shut down because they're letting a cold draft in.

- Brett Farve decides to wear a sweatshirt.

- You start to envy fat people because they have more padding.

- You ask for your beer to be served "hot."

March in the Northwest

If there's a bright and warm center to the universe, the Pacific Northwest is farthest from it.

At least in March.

All spring break, there's been snow. Lots of snow.

Nearly every area of the Northwest reported huge snowfalls Friday night and Saturday morning, with outlying and mountain towns receiving well over a foot.

Mt. Spokane Ski Resort, who just announced that their season would be extended by 1 week, reported 16" of fresh snow overnight, with Schweitzer and Silver Mountain checking in at 15" and 6" respectively.

Road crews worked through the night, Friday, to try to keep the roads open, but blowing and drifting snow caused problems in some areas, including Highway 195 on the Palouse.

In North Idaho, a jack-knifed semi briefly closed the westbound lanes of I90 over the 4th of July Pass on Saturday morning, but State Police said that the bulk of the problems were closer to Coeur d'Alene.

The snow tapered off late Saturday morning for most of the area, but a heavy snow warning was in effect for the Central and Northern Idaho Panhandle through Saturday at 11pm.

You can read the full story here from KXLY. Before heading out into the megapolis of Cheney, Wash. last night for some burgers and beers, I thought I'd enjoy a brisk walk. However I was met with this...

We're a week into "Spring" by the way.