Sun Dog Sunrise......

This morning we had another awesome sunrise, but with an added bonus....  A brilliant Sun Dog that seems to chase the sun across the sky.  A Sun Dog is a vertical rainbow caused by the sun's reflection on ice crystals in high cirrus clouds.....

And a single image from the video above....

And...  A bit earlier in the morning we had a nice meteor....

A Few Time Lapse Videos and Images....

Thought I'd share a few images and time lapses from the last few days.

On the 21st, we had a pretty active sunrise...  A LOT of wind shear and colors....

This morning's sunrise was awesome....

My night camera has picked up a few meteors the last few nights....

Sunset, Sunrise and a Very Starry Night....

It's been so long since we have seen blue in the sky, pink at sunset and sunrise and stars overnight....  It was almost an out of body experience.....  Thought I'd share some of the images and time lapses since yesterday afternoon....

This is a repeat, but it's worth repeating in my opinion....  Besides that, I am old enough that I have earned the right to repeat myself....  

Last night's aerial sunset...

Another sunset shot....

Here is a time lapse of Sunset into Sunrise...

And...  One more thing we haven't seen for quite a while...  A beautiful starry night....

First Sunset In A LONG Time

First, I'd like to say I had a great time last night at the Hansville Community Center "Tuesday Talk".  It was great to meet a few folks who use my site and an opportunity to share some of Mother Nature's beauty....  Plus have a little fun....  So after all the grim news I shared about the record rainfall since.... well...  A LONG LONG time ago.....  We finally had what could be considered a real sunset.  This is like.. "Breaking News"....  I ran outside just in time to get a few aerial shots.  This one seems the best.  Oh...... It feels so good to see something other than 60 shades of gray in the sky....

How Wet Was It?....

Today is the 14th of April...  Less than half of the month has passed.  I have 12 years of data in my system, not a lot but still significant....  We just passed the highest April rainfall in my system and we still have 16 days to go...  and it's still pouring....  2011 was the rainiest April until today.  We had 2.81" that year.  Right now...  As I type we have 2.86"... and climbing....  Yes... It's wet... Really wet!  It's so wet that our yellow lab that swims in the 52 degree Skunk Bay water when it's 35 degrees out refused to fetch a tennis ball in our back yard while I was BBQing....  Correction...  As I typed we are now at 2.88"....  

Update:  The "Storm Total" of yesterday through 4:00am this morning is 1.05"...

Today.... 2 Different Days In One....

This morning was horrific...  Big rain and then some nasty wet wind and then.... The skies parted....  What a beautiful afternoon...  Here is a panoramic time lapse of today....

HD Link Here:  Panorama Time Lapse - 4/10/18

Winds This Morning and Review of Yesterday....

The winds this morning were stronger than yesterday.  Our top gust this morning is 40mph and we hit 39mph yesterday.  It is starting to calm down now as I type....

For those brave enough to re-live yesterday...  Here it is in panorama....

HD Link: Panorama Review Of April 7th

Some Thoughts About Our Local Forecast For Saturday....

Edit From The 9:35AM Update:

The discussion continues to keep the low pretty far offshore which will diminish the effect of this storm.  Still talk of pretty good winds in the Admiralty Inlet area....

********

"So, in a nutshell, strong low just offshore, strong front, decent burst of high wind likely 

on the coast--some pretty good wind all around Admiralty Inlet, but then everything just sort

of fizzles out with just normal breezy blustery weather Saturday night and Sunday.

*********

There are some interesting points in this morning’s NWS Discussion.  I have taken a few snippets from the discussion and made some comments.  

The models are now showing the majority of the wind staying a little further offshore.  

******

“With the low tracking this far offshore the chances for high winds over most of

the interior are significantly diminished.“

*******

Sounds like we dodged a bullet.....But…..  Wait....  There's more.....  This is where our local forecast might have a little "nuance".....

*******

“With the strong south southwesterly flow aloft on Saturday there is the possibility of a meso surface low forming in the lee of the Olympics in the northeast portion of the Olympic peninsula Saturday afternoon.”

*******

This is also known as a “lee-side low”.  In simplest terms, this is caused by heavy winds coming over the Olympics causing a “vacuum” on the lee side.  This essentially lowers the barometric pressure further in a fairly small area.  The result of this would be higher winds in a fairly small area on the lee side of the Olympics....  Including Hansville.

*******

“If this feature develops expect the strongest winds over the interior to be in an area from about Everett to Whidbey Island.”

*******

This could be in our “wheelhouse”…..  We experience lee-side lows often.  This storm will be nothing like the winds that sank the Hood Canal bridge, but for reference, that was a lee-side low.  

*******

“Expect the strongest winds on the Coast during the day and over the interior ( 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph except possibly higher in the Everett to Whidbey Island area ) in the afternoon and evening hours.”

*******

So….  We are not out of the woods yet.  Localized forecasts can be very difficult to call….  My gut....  I wouldn't be surprised to see a 40+ mph gust on Saturday....  Enough to get our attention, but nothing catastrophic....  

Huge Atmospheric River Coming To The West Coast....

Cliff Mass's blog today is...  well... exhausting....  He used that word at the end and I think it describes it well.  Pretty incredible weather for this time of year....  As bad as it may be for us, the poor folks in California are going to get hit again....  

This is a good read:  Cliff's Atmospheric River Blog