Mid-Winter on Puget Sound
February 29, 10:15 AM
Wintry Leap Day!
Just home from the same walk I took yesterday morning. This time I took my son along and went to enjoy and photograph the winter morning in the park. And, not to disappoint us, it rained a cold rain, with snow mixed in, the whole time. Not much wildlife appeared. Guess they had more sense than we did!
Currently 35 degrees and snowing, but not sticking. Breezy and a raw winter day to usher out February.
February 28, 6:40 PM
Stormy Evening
An interesting day today- I began with a nice morning walk with a good friend through a quiet wetlands/lakeside park along the shore of Lake Washington. It was cool and refreshing, 40's, but calm and the sun tried to peek through the higher overcast. I wish I had brought my camera; I did consider it, but decided to concentrate on my friend and conversation, and that was best anyway. Our high ended up at 51, shortly after noon, and then the approaching front started to darken the western horizon as the day wore on.
By contrast to this morning it is a fun evening to be inside and just listen to the weather outside, with the flicker of the fireplace. The strong front has arrived and it is raining, but at the current 36 degrees I have seen snow mixed into the rain as it splatters against the windowpanes. An easterly wind has risen and so far our highest gust has been 23 mph. Snow is forecast to be more of a feature perhaps tonight, as well as over the next couple of days. Wednesday may be the most likely for snow, but around here, who knows. It is not supposed to accumulate, but, again, who knows. By later Thursday the snow chance will end, but apparently it is not gone for long. Early next week will also have some snow threats. Winter is not finished. In fact it is not at all finished just as close as the Hood's Canal area, where many inches of snow could fall over the next day or two. The unique geography of Hood's Canal, right up next to the Olympic Mountains, usually yields snow dividends for those folks at a much higher rate than typically for us.
February 27, 9:00 AM
Clear and Cool
The sun is beautifully shining this morning! Clear and blue skies---- but cold. Our low this morning was 25 and it is still in the low 30's. It won't be too warm of a day, in spite of the sunshine.
Saturday morning turned out to provide our only snow of the weekend. We did have some brief snow showers on Sunday morning, but nothing stuck and there wasn't much oomph behind those showers. A couple more chances of seeing snow are coming this week, as the cold air will persist and more moisture is coming. But since this is so late in the season now, I don't expect probably to really see any snow, and if we do I am not thinking that it will amount to anything.
The sun coming in the window this morning is exposing a lot of dust that I need to tend to around the house. I guess I am off now to get started on some cleaning. Fun!?
February 25
8:15 AM: SNOW!! Snow started falling here about 45 minutes ago and we are up to about an inch, and still falling. The flakes are big and so beautiful out the window, turning everything white. Love it! The forecast has been kind of around the loop on whether we may actually get any, but as of the last day or two it was starting to look like the chances were improving again. And tomorrow, Sunday, perhaps has an even better chance with a new little system moving through. Colder air will be in place by then. Currently it is 33.
Also, we are supposed to get windy today. No sign of that yet.
February 23, 7:45 AM
I haven't been around WU too much lately and now the month is slipping by quickly. The sun rose a little while ago and currently is brightly peeking over a line of clouds along the eastern horizon. A nice day perhaps lies ahead.
Rain returned over the last 10 or so days, with a couple of them being extra wet and murky. So far we are up to 2.67" for the month. That doesn't seem like much for this time of year, but actually it does seem that February is often rather "dry" and March is maybe a wetter month. Overall it has seemed more "wintry" in recent days, but nothing too remarkable for us. Just this week a good soaking of rain hit the region, especially the mountains, and some flooding has occured, but here in the greater metro area we were somewhat rain shadowed and all we got from that particular rainy day was .61". Pretty standard stuff.
A tease of possible snow for the coming weekend developed early this week, but to me it looks like that idea has all but melted away now. A colder system is coming in but it seems only the mountains will really benefit. Rain down here. Today we are in-between, and the sun should shine until tomorrow, when the rain returns again.
Life is always busy. A surprise visit and two-night stay by my college daughter over the holiday weekend was great. Her wedding dress came in much earlier than expected and we have it in hand, although the alterations still need to be done. The bridesmaids dresses are ordered and a few other things are done. But much lies ahead. So far we seem to be making good progress with little drama and I like it that way!!
Oh, for you serious gardeners, we just passed an old-timey milestone on the gardening calendar. My grandmother, who was a Great gardener here in western Washington with big crops, always used to say the peas should be planted by George Washington's birthday - yesterday. Anyone have their peas planted??
February 14
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!
Hope everyone has a SWEET day!
Our weather has taken a turn toward the definite dull. The clouds are back, and a little rain now and then. In the last eight days we have .49" rain, nothing like we should expect. The highs have been in the upper 40's to 60, and each day is nearly all overcast, with little to show for that cloudy effort.
February 6, 8:45 AM
A beautifully blue sunrise this morning - clear skies and calm air is greeting us- again. Another spell of sunny and clear weather has set in for the last several days. High pressure sure does the trick on wiping winter away; if just for awhile. Our highs have been impressive - hitting 60-62 now for the last three days in a row is beginning to stir thoughts of spring, both in our yards and hearts, but there really is a long way to go and time for most anything to happen before spring truly arrives.
Since there isn't much weather-watching going on, I will instead write about our recent "mid-winter day trip", to borrow an idea from Calpoppy and advice from BriarCraft.
Last Thursday, my husband took the day off from work and just the two of us headed out on a sunny-day adventure: we took two ferries and landed at Port Townsend, on the west side of Puget Sound. The weather was spectacular for the second of February - a bit of a chill (layers felt quite good), but it was mostly sunny (clouds increased a bit as the day progressed, but nothing serious), NO wind, and certainly dry. Port Townsend is noted for its Victorian architecture, dating back to the original Victorian era, but even though that was a highly intended destination, we ended up spending most of our time in two state parks: Fort Flagler and Fort Worden. Both are near to Port Townsend. Both are original forts built just about 1900 to serve as defense of Puget Sound from any invading ships. They have batteries of big guns mostly hidden in hillsides, and are difficult to spot from the water. These two forts, along with a triplet fort on Whidbey Island, formed a triangle that enemies would have to pass through to successfully invade Puget Sound. Unfortunately, all three forts became obsolete not long after construction and never saw any real action, and were not in active duty for very many years. Now all three are state parks and are a lot of fun to just walk around - down in the inner workings of the batteries (guns and equipment long gone, but the concrete rooms and structure still remains, mostly in hillsides, or underground) and all around the old fort grounds, including old barracks (now retreat and conference centers, but still retain the original buildings and "look" of the old forts) and large, open grassy fields and areas. Also all three have magnificent views of Puget Sound from the tops of bluffs, and also beaches. Mr. PSP and I were pretty much the only people around both forts last week, so on the lovely winter day, it was a real treat to have these places to ourselves and enjoy the history and the ambience of the locales and just plain beautiful scenery. It was a wonderful day for us!
Here are some photos from the day:
This is the Point Wilson Lighthouse, next to Fort Worden. A beautiful sunset illuminates Mt. Baker in the distance.
Point Wilson Lighthouse, near Port Townsend
Fort Worden Sunset, near Port Townsend on Puget Sound
Just a tiny portion of a battery at Fort Flagler, Cascades in the distance. There are several different batteries of guns at each fort and the whole complex is very large, spreading over many acres.
One beach area at Fort Flagler
Calm Puget Sound at the Coupeville ferry dock on Whidbey Island
There are a couple more photos posted on WU in this series, if interested.
January in Review
Average High Temp: 45
Average Low Temp: 34
Highest Temp: 54 (Jan. 31)
Coldest Temp: 25 (Jan. 16 and 19)
Coldest High Temp: 29 (Jan. 19)
Highest Wind Gust: 38 mph (Jan. 21)
Number of days with precipitation: 20
Total Precipitation for January (rain plus snow melt): 5.03"
Total Snow Accumulation: 10 inches
February 6
Sunrise: 7:29 AM --- Sunset: 5:17 PM (PST)
(gaining 3 min. 3 sec. tomorrow)
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Updated: 6:14 PM GMT on February 29, 2012
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