a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
Happy Earth Day.
It is a rainy day here in the city of Seattle (55 °F/ 13 °C).
A storm brought thunder, lightning and a little hail to the city today (a quarter inch).
By 6 pm I could go for a walk with my umbrella but I did not venture out too far. It was only 42°F (5 °C).
There was some damage to the tulips and daffodils in the neighborhood.
A Tesla service truck full of Tesla tires was out and about, and had just replaced the rear wheel and tire on a white Model Y by the curb.
It is a soggy start to April here in the Emerald City.
There was a beautiful sunbreak at 6.50 pm, as I stood on the corner of Thomas St and 13th Avenue East on Capitol Hill.
Tonight, there is a full moon in the sky.
Very appropriate— with the Artemis II mission to the moon launch that happened just a few hours earlier from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
White snow flakes started coming down here in the city in the wee hours of the morning, transitioning to a very light snow for most of the daylight hours.
Snow in Seattle during March is uncommon— recorded only a handful of times in the last century.
Temperatures are mild today (38°F/ 3°C), so some of the snow on the ground has melted away already. (About 3 in. of snow on the ground).
I took these pictures shortly after 9 am this morning.
A heat wave in the Cape Town area in the Western Cape in South Africa is driving late-late summer temperatures to record highs.
At Kirstenbosch, the botanical garden in heart of the city, the high reached 42.1 °C (108 °F) on Wednesday, the highest since records began 66 years ago.
Cape Point on the Cape Peninsula also set a record with a temperature of 40°C (104 °F), a first for that location, and verified by the South African Weather Service.
At Alexander Bay in the extreme and arid northwest of the Western Cape province and on the border with Namibia, a reading of 44.8°C (112 °F) was logged.
There were clouds and a little rain today here in the Emerald City.
It was 54°F (12°C) outside when I went for a walk just before sunset.
It was another sunny and cloudless day here in Mazatlán (76°F /24°C ).
This morning, we went for a walk up the main lookout hill here on the shoreline (Cerro del Vigía).
This afternoon, we ran out to the local Sam’s Club (warehouse grocery store) for grocery shopping. We went there by bus and came back with a little Uber car with its trunk and back seat full of groceries.
It has been a cold week here in the Emerald City with the low dipping below freezing on Friday morning, and a few snowflakes in the air this morning.
Highs were in the low to mid-forties (6° to 7°C).
Here is a late afternoon sunbreak on the Cascade Mountains today.
I am standing at Capitol Hill’s 23rd Avenue and Mercer Street.
That is Lake Washington and downtown Bellevue in the foreground.
I made my way to the south end of the waterfront late this afternoon and walked up to Pike Place market.
The day was brilliant and bright out— but with the air temperature still sharp at 48°F/ 9°C.
I took the sunset picture from Elliot Avenue and Lenora Street.
Today was another very mild winter’s day here in the city (57 °F/ 14°C) with clouds and sun.
I walked down to the Melrose Avenue overlook to see if the 12’s flag is up on the Space Needle yet.
(It is not. I believe it will go up tomorrow, Friday).
Dry January has come to an end, with rain last night and today— about a quarter inch here in the city today.
There will be more on Thursday and Friday.
The cloud cover made for elevated temperatures as well: 48 °F (9 °C) in the morning, with a high of 52 °F (11 °C).
This January here in the city, has now seen a record-setting stretch of over 10 consecutive days without rain.
Every day has been sunny and cold, and the massive storm system playing out in the rest of the country is also passing us by.
Late afternoon, I ventured out for a quick walk (39 °F/ 4°C).
The ’12’ flag is up on top of the Space Needle.
(The 12 represents the “12th Man” —a tribute to the dedicated fans of the Seattle Seahawks NFL team.)
Reporters Greg Allen and Ava Berger write on npr.org:
A massive winter storm system is forecast to sweep the country this weekend, stretching from Central Texas through the Northeast.
The National Weather Service says the system will dump heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from the Southern Plains to the Mid-South starting Friday. The storm is expected to move across the East Coast throughout the weekend, according to a bulletin from the NWS posted on Wednesday.
The NWS warned of “treacherous travel conditions, prolonged power outages, and tree damage,” across the southeast U.S.
Government officials in these areas are asking residents to avoid traveling and prepare for possible power outages.
A blast of cold air from Canada will mix with warmer air from the south, bringing significant snow and ice accumulations, forecasters said.
The rain has started again, and there was a failure in the levee alongside the Green River in Tukwila at around 11:30 a.m.
King County emergency officials sent out a warning of ‘life threatening flash flooding’ for the nearby low-lying area of some 46,000 residents.
There were no injuries as a result of the breach, though. Soon thereafter the area under threat was narrowed down and involved only about 1,100 people, who were urged to evacuate.
The county’s flash flood warning ended by 6.30 pm.
Here are updated pictures of the Snoqualmie Falls from the Seattle Times.
The Snoqualmie river was at major flooding level for much of Wednesday and Thursday.
[Photo by Ken Lambert for The Seattle Times. Caption from The Seattle Times]
[Photo by Nick Wagner for The Seattle Times. Caption from The Seattle Times]
The second wave of moisture from a strong atmospheric river filled in across western Washington last night.
All that water is flooding from the western slopes of the Cascade mountains into the streams and rivers below.
Greg Kim writes for the Seattle Times:
River flooding in parts of Western Washington is expected to be “catastrophic,” especially in the coastal lowlands near the Snohomish, Stillaguamish and Skagit rivers, according to a new assessment by the National Weather Service.
Areas facing “considerable” flooding stretch from Bellingham through south of Olympia.
Catastrophic flooding could bring significant risk to life and property, with a high risk of levees being topped and landslides expected in steep terrain, according to the National Weather Service. It could also mean record floods that destroy roads and structures and require evacuations or rescues of people and property, National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Reedy said.
Paige Cornwell write for the Seattle Times:
The opening salvo of a major atmospheric river hit the Pacific Northwest on Monday, drenching much of Western Washington with heavy rain that is forecast to continue at least until Thursday.
The National Weather Service warned of a high risk of widespread and significant river flooding.
South of Puget Sound, the Puyallup, Nisqually, Cowlitz and Carbon rivers were already seeing waters about to spill over their banks by 7 p.m. Monday, with serious flooding expected within hours.
[Photo by Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times]
There was a break in the rainy weather today here in the city— with a powder blue sky, a little late afternoon sun, and blustery conditions.
Tonight the last supermoon* of the year— and the third in a consecutive sequence— is out. (There will be a fourth supermoon in this same celestial series in January 2026).
We have cloud cover and lots of rain here in the city in Seattle tonight, so for now I can only look for pictures of the supermoon online.
*A supermoon is a full moon that occurs when the Moon is at or near its closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit, a point called perigee. This proximity makes the Moon appear slightly brighter and larger than an average full moon, although the difference may be difficult to notice with the naked eye. The term can also technically apply to a new moon, but it is typically associated with the visible full moon.
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I thought it too cold to go for a walk today—44°F (6°C)— then changed my mind at the last minute before dark.
